I wrote an article for a blog the other day. I was thinking about the experience and in a lot of ways it was just another gotta write one – this sounds good – I’ll pump it out – article. After a little reflection I decided I was selling myself short. Yeah, I wrote an article. Not such a big deal until you look at it a little closer.
It was a damned good one. It was conversational and it flowed well. I like to think it may even work to inspire. The final third of the article rose through a thundering crescendo where the main point of the article was driven home.
I also wrote it in about twenty minutes. One draft. Bam!
The point here isn’t so much about yay-me as it is an examination of where that kind of writing is born. It comes from one place. A place that resides in every writer. The lucky ones are able to tap into this energy source. I’m talking about writing that comes from a place of passion. Writing that originates from the passion place is easy writing. Time disappears and the writer is absolutely absorbed. I think the most successful writers have learned how to dip into this well at will.
This crucial element of writing may be the only aspect of writing over which we have no control.
You cannot fake passion.
If you are trying your very hardest to be passionate then you are writing with no passion.
As the great philosopher Yoda once said, “Do or do not. There is no try.”
You do not have control of your passion. You have control over what you are passionate about. If what you are writing about resonates with your very essence, if it rings true to your ear, if the word track continues to run in your head long after the words have flowed to paper then you are in a place of passion. It is only then that you, passion and writing become a single entity.
This is not to say that non-passionate writing is no-good writing. I’ve written enough “have to” articles to fill a moleskin. Yeah, I think they’re still pretty good, but they would all pale if exposed to the glorious energy that surrounds my passion posts. It’s okay if you are not writing from passion central 24/7. I’d be stiffer than a cast-iron lawn dog if I had to expend that much energy. Nope, I’ll take the passion ones when they come my way. It’s just that I’ve decided to not be so random about it.
Realizing that I can’t fake my passion has given me the freedom to explore where my passion originates. Honest reflection while looking at archived posts shows me where my passion likes to hang out and party. I’m planning on crashing a few of those parties. What fun.
Don’t be too hard on yourself if you feel like your passion has gone on an extended road trip. Make some effort to trace where it may have gone but don’t let it keep you up nights. Gently explore the things that interest you. Chances are that is where your passion is hanging out. Sneak out the back door with it, out of the watchful gaze of the other party goers. Engage it in a delirious, moonlit kiss and then take it home.
All good stuff George – and when you’re passionate about something it really comes though in your writing. It’s somehow easier to get that sense of the proverbial writer’s voice across.
Apologies for the lack of interaction recently – busy times at Write for Your Life towers. Weddings and all sorts.
Great post!
Hey George,
Great article! I am passionate about having passion in life, when I have it writing, I just know, that I know, that I know, that it will be great. Even though most of my writing nowadays are texts with friends and family
I will remember this post, saving it under my bookmark passion!
Cheers Jorin.
Jorin,
Sorry for taking a long time to respond.
I’m glad this article struck a resonant chord. Passion in life translates directly into passion in your writing. Hoping for the best for you.
George
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When I saw the title for your post, I was eager to see your take on it. And you didn’t disappoint. Love your writing voice!
I had a passion experience this morning. It was a rant to remind myself of something important, but it got written in no time and felt effortless. Like, shouldn’t this be harder? But, no. Not when passion’s involved.
You’ve got me pondering. Especially when you said, “I’ve decided not to be so random about it.” I’ve got my tricks and methods for getting into the zone, but maybe that could use a shake-up. It will be fun to explore other possibilities for tapping into my passion. Thanks, George.
Boonies Chick´s last [type] ..STOP Listening
Hi Milli,
Passion manifests in so many ways, doesn’t it?
I want to know what kinds of tricks you devise to get in the zone. I know I’ll be able to learn plenty from you on that score.
George
Happy New Year, George!
I want to weigh in on this topic because, well, as a writer of fiction I’m passionate about passion.
Being a parabraphile (lover of words), I looked up the derivation(s) of the word “passion.”
Just as I expected. The Latin points one straight to “a suffering” and the Greek, to “destruction” and then Webster’s goes on to tag passion with “any one of the emotions, as hate, grief, love, fear, joy, etc.”
OK, one might say. So what!
Ah, there’s the rub.
Why do so many writers fail to utilize their innate passion?
It’s because they have not gone deep enough into their mind’s (or heart’s) storehouse to find the source of all true passion.
And why is that?
It’s because we as a culture have been ordered by the Social Police to be (gasp!) politically correct or, more accurately, emotionally sterile.
It’s because girls have been historically taught to be deferential and beautiful at all costs, and boys taught not to be sissies nor be seen crying. Hence, what we are left with is women who trust their body image more than their emotional intellect, and men who think that violence solves everything and who fear rejection above all else.
Kinda grim, eh, George? Well, we writers need not fret. We are the chosen few who know that the coin has TWO sides.
What we need is to give ourselves permission to express that emotion-filled prose or that dangerously daring blog content that just isn’t being expressed these days (except here, George!).
Faking passion is like faking orgasm. It leaves one wanting and empty-hearted. It leaves readers’ joy for reading unsated. And above all, it leaves us with the crumbs of dishonesty. Dishonesty of the writer, surely. But also with that dishonest feeling that the reader should have known better; that “Buyer Beware” feeling of betrayal, after coming to the realization that that book you just paid good money for is crap after the first chapter.
So much for the Dr. Phil diagnosis. Now for the cure.
George rightly refers to “a place of passion.” But where is that to be found?
Writers, ask yourself this:
1) When was the last time you cried with so much joy that you ruined your makeup (or, you fellows, cried with joy in public)?
Was it when your first baby was born? Or when you received an engagement ring? Or when your loved one finally came back home from Iraq or Afghanistan, alive and (nearly) in one piece?
2) When did a song, you know, THAT song, play on the radio and make you long for long-lost love? Or long for one who has passed on? Or long for that innocence you once possessed as a child, but now view through glasses, darkly?
3) When have you felt the cruel lash of inbred hatred? Was it on Facebook? Or in some racially-charged social situation? Or even during that TSA pat-down?
4) When was the last time you reached out in prayer to your Creator? Or meditated. Or truly carved out that precious time for your mind and heart to regenerate? My guess? You haven’t for some time. And your writing betrays your secret emptiness , doesn’t it.
Wake up, people! You can do this!
Wake them up, you writers! You have an obligation to make things right again in this world. You have a creative debt to repay; to willingly, even joyfully, work off.
I could go on but I think you all get the picture. Passion has to do with:
FEELINGS.
SUFFERING.
And CHOICES made.
Or (regrettably) … not made.
That, my Tumblemoose friends, is what passion is all about. Like a diamond in the rough. You know its gorgeous potential. But you’ll have to carve deeply into that mine, maybe even with bloody fingers, to bring it to the surface to be polished.
And to finally let its facets shine.
Regards,
Wayne C. Long
Writer/Editor/Digital Publisher
http://www.LongShortStories.com
Where the short story LIVES!
Wayne,
Sorry it’s taken so long to reply to your great comment. I kinda suspected a post on passion would kindle your fire.
You have nailed passion, Wayne. This is worthy of being posted as an article strictly on its own merit. In fact, I’ll email to discuss.
While I’m at it, any chance you could email me your snail mail addy? I’ve looked high and low and can’t find the durned thing.
George
Happy New Year George,
I could not agree more about passion and tapping into it in your writing. I had a similar experience as a guest blogger for a friend of mine. I was asked to write about a topic which I had zero interest in and the results were disastrous. I was able to redeem myself only after I convinced her to allow me to write about a topic which interested and inspired me. I guess this is the major difference between being a copywriter and a writer.