Passion in Your Writing

By

Christine Stamp

Writing without passion in a story is like eating tomatoes without any salt on them. The tomatoes are beautiful, fragrant, and juicy—but take a bite and they are just average and rather dull.  Nothing out of the ordinary, but take ahold of that magical salt shaker and sprinkle a few marvelous grains of flavor on them and VOILA, they instantly explode with intense flavor in your mouth releasing all those pleasure endorphins in your brain. That—is what passion does to your writing. It’s the magnificent ingredient that intensifies the depth and elevates your writing to that next level. (If you don’t like tomatoes, substitute chocolate without the salt, and if you don’t like chocolate, I don’t know what to tell you.)

Write about what makes you happy, sad, or angry.  The injustice that makes your blood boil. If you transfer all those feelings into your writing, your reader will feel them too, but choose your wording carefully. Make your verbs dynamic and snappy. If you use word combinations that incite your characters and make them believable, then you’ll excite you’re reader.  

In order to give your characters depth and dimension, you’ll have to get to know them as if they were family.  Learn every aspect of their lives.  You’ll need to know what makes them happy,--what makes them cry, --what makes them want to kick the cat. Otherwise they will be flat and in need of CPR.