You can’t see the writer

You can’t see the writer grip the pen tighter, bang the keys harder. Not like you can hear the musician hold the note longer, take the pitch higher. Or the dancer throwing their body into a move.

With performance art, you can see when the artist is really into it, letting themselves bleed into it. Singing the lyrics they wrote, reliving the hurt. Dancing to release something that can’t stand to stay still.

You see their emotion and how it influences their art.

With writing, all you get are the words. That’s the form. You don’t see the performance of the writing. The state the writer is in when they’re writing. In a bath towel hair still dripping. Crying on the page, but not the page you will read. You’ll read a mass-produced copy.

If it’s good, the pages will still be wet.