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Monday, June 28, 2010

4 Ways to Write with Passion

William Wordsworth advised about writing, “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” In other words, write with passion.

To write with passion, to have your words sing, you must give of yourself. Rather than tip-toeing through the puddles of the worlds you create, wade in, and then immerse yourself.

If you aren’t willing to fully enter your world, then your readers won’t either. You’ll be cheating yourself (and your readers) from everything that makes writing (and reading) such a trip.

Below are four ways to tap that passion:

1. Get involved. Get involved in the lives of your characters. Get under their skin. Find out what motivates them. Learn their likes and dislikes. Discover their quirks and imperfections. Care about the details. Nurture them. Help them to grow.

2. Get poetic. Don’t settle for the everyday way of description. See the world through the eyes of an artist – because we are artists and our paint is words.

3. Be true to yourself. Don’t try to imitate someone else’s art. Make your own. Write the stories inside you that cry out to be written. Be brave and don’t hold back.

4. Care. Care about what you write. Care about the impact your writing may have on another. Extend yourself. Learn about your craft. Do your best and never settle for less.

What is it that makes you passionate about your writing? Can you think of other ways to tap that passion?

8 comments:

  1. Oh, great post! I hate to say it but I often forget to write with passion because I'm so busy worrying about grammar and word count. THanks for this reminder.

    CD

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  2. Yeah, word count is my big distraction from passion as well

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  3. A great post. The first two, get involved and get poetic, really hit home with me. When I'm in my characters' skins and heads, I dream about them.

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  4. What makes me passionate about my writing is being so darn mad about secular novels, especially sci-fi, that blast conservative Christianity. I want to counteract that. Plus, I'm liking my characters enough that I hate it when I have to kill them or just have them struggle.

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  5. I agree. You have to write what you know and from experiences that are often painful or embarrassing...but having the courage to do so pays off tenfold!

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  6. Helen, yes, when I immerse myself in my stories I'm constantly thinking about my characters that I begin to dream about them as well. lol.

    Bonnie, it's great to get mad. Strong emotion is another great thing that builds the passion in us. Plus, I had to chuckle: killing off characters is always difficult. I had to do that yesterday.

    Johanna, yes it does take courage, but, like you said, it does pay off.

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  7. Just want to thank you for the visit and follow. I'm following you now, too. Great blog. Tips? Who wouldn't want any writing tips? Awesome! God bless.

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  8. Thanks for the comment and follow. So glad you like the tips :)

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