I think it's harder to write fiction and not have feedback than it is to post art. I feel like art can be a more solitary endeavor, but writers need an audience.

*ponders* I think that - depends on the situation? I know a LOT of people who write things (stories, poems, etc) that they shove into dresser drawers because they don't mean for anyone else to read it, it's truly a private expression. But writing is certainly a solitary process in the moment, or used to be before the internet. And I know that my partner is constantly frustrated by the lack of an "audience" for her paintings. The artists I know want their stuff to be seen, NEED it to be seen.

Then there's the fact that we have all these icontests, every single week. There are tons of 20in20 challenges out there, too many to count. There are comms with fic prompts like sb fag ends, but it's not the same thing. Imagine the Wicked or SunnyD memorial or Willowy goodness awards being held every week or month. That's pretty sterling proof that artists do indeed need an audience.

There's also places like deviant art which is basically a huge online artists community. (I found some pretty text textures that I wanted to use but the makers only allowed them to be used if you had a deviant art account which I don't.) LJ really isn't as conducive to that.

And then there's the fact that writers are, well, writers. They are comfortable with language and with writing and talking about what they do; whereas a lot of visual artists may not be as comfortable with language and talking about their work. that's not an absolute but a high number of visual artists are said to have learning "disabilities" of some sort. (My sweetie is dyslexic for example.) Of course there are tons of exceptions, and people who are good with both art forms.