Elements of Writing

What are the elements of writing?

This question came to me as I sat in an art class. My teacher, a little woman with yellowing teeth and thinning grey hair, was lecturing on the elements of art. With a passion in her frail voice she told us how texture, material, lines, perspective, and symbolism are all used by the artist to portray something to the viewer, be it just a beautiful painting or some underlying message. 

Now I have always considered art and writing to be very close. They are both lifestyles and art-forms that seek to express or capture something, some ideal, some beautiful thing. Indeed, it can be said that writing uses symbolism and perspective and even material/texture in the format used or the book cover.

So are those the elements of writing? Does writing only possess symbolism, perspective, and material as its elements? I say, "no!"

There is something else, even though these things are indeed necessary and helpful in both writing and art, that is behind writing. This thing is emotion. No matter how precise we get with what we use in writings, writing in itself is dry without emotion. Humanity connects with humanity.

A reader, or in the case of painting, a viewer, can feel what the writer/artist puts into a piece of work. They can touch and be touched by that piece of soul any truly creative person puts into their work. This soul element is the most important, indeed it is the fundamental, element in writing.