Stoke the Passion

I've been blogging about how to write in a literary fashion.  The beginning place for all good writing ought to be passion.  Do you have a character you love so much you can't get him/her/it out of your head?  Do you have a story that needs to be told, either real or fictional?  Do you have words bouncing around in your skull screaming to get out?  Do you have ideas and thoughts you want to share so much you can taste it?  These are good places to start any piece of writing.  If you don't feel strongly about your writing, neither will anyone else. 

The idea is to communicated that passion.  Get the reader to fall in love with your character like you love your character, the story like you love the story, see their own loves and fears in your poetry to the point that they can't put it down.  Readers and audiences still swoon over Mr. Darcy these centuries later.  People still fantasize about stepping into the plain shoes of Jane Eyre when she finally gets to say yes to Rochester.  People still ponder and discuss the ideas and thoughts suggested by To Kill a Mockingbird, Shakespeare, and so many other pieces.  These great stories and characters transport us because they started in a place of passion.  What makes you excited?  Start there. 

The hard part is to avoid letting that passion flag when the world strikes.  Say you've come up with a character you love so deeply that you can't wait to share her with the world.  You rush to record her story, her adventure beyond the clouds, under the sea, or into the eyes of the man she loves until he opens his mouth.  But then, you fall into the editing pit.  You run into the publisher who says no, the editor who finds plot holes so deep you wonder you don't fall into them and never see the daylight again.  It's time to reread your work,  Fall in love with her and her story again.  Remind yourself of the source of your passion.  Then, never give up until you share it with the world.