In the Zone...

Wow, it's hard to believe this is my first blog. And to make it even more wow, it’s my first Bootcamp blog, which gives it a specialness all of its own. In fact, I kinda, sorta feel obligated to write something pithy and incredibly astounding...but since I’m writing this after midnight, the pithy neurons in my brain cells have ceased to fire. Part of that problem has to do with the fact that I’ve been writing a pivotal scene in a new story and I can’t get the plot developments out of my head. So, pithy Bootcamp stuff is definitely at risk.

Actually, I’d still be writing on my story if I didn’t have to sleep. It was amazing...the words just kept coming and coming. How good they are is another story, but tonight, they’re the best words I’ve ever written. I’m sure of it!

I’m always amazed at how that writer’s passion in me can still exist after years and years of writing. When I’m in the zone, nothing else exists. If you’re a writer, you know what I mean.

That passion, that fire in the belly, is at the very heart of what we do. It’s what made me get up at 4 a.m. to write just a few paragraphs before work when I was desperate to finish a book and send it out to an editor, who would, of course, snap it up and make me the next Nora. That passion is what had me hurridly stuffing hard copy of my manuscript into my briefcase so I could edit even a few lines on my lunch hour at work. It’s what gave me the perseverence to write five books over five years in the few spare minutes I had while raising four sons...and it gave me the cojones to spit in the face of rejection upon rejection. Passion is not only an essential part of a successful author’s makeup, it’s a necessary ingredient. It's part of who we are.
http://bootcampfornovelists.com
As writers, our passion has few boundaries. We’re passionate about the process of writing. Some of us love some parts more than others, but we looove the act of writing...the sitting at the computer and keeping our butts in the chair. It doesn’t matter if we get rejections, we still write. We have to write. We can’t quit. We write...even if what we write sucks pond water. (okay, that’s cliché, but it’s now 1 am.) We write even when it feels like drawing blood from a stone. We write because we can't not write!

As writers, we love the art of putting together scintilating words and colorful phrases to create a story that is not only structurally and grammatically correct, but one that is also evocative. Some writers literally feel the words as they flow perfectly from their brain through their fingers and leak onto the page. (lucky them.) Others (most of us) struggle mightily with the execution, but in the end, we looove how our words come together.

And lastly, but not leastly, we looove the story we’re writing. And that passion for your story is by far the most important writing passion you can own. When you’re passionate about your story, you bring your emotions to the page. When you write about something that touches and excites you, it's going to excite someone else. When you write stories that are emotionally significant for you, you’re writing from your heart and your voice rings true. Writing from a place of passion allows your voice and style to shine. It gives your voice and story authenticity. When you write authentically, your emotions are conveyed to the reader and your story will feel deep and personal. When that happens, the reader is compelled to read on.

Infusing a story with emotion isn’t just about how your characters think and feel, it’s also about what you, the author, think and feel. Passion for your story means owning it…giving it your all, no holds barred. Release your passion when you write and it will reverberate in the conviction in your voice...and, as we all know, in commercial fiction, voice is king. To use another cliched phrase, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader."

And that’s an awful lot of words for someone who started out with nothing to say. But, hey, it's my blog...and I looove writing!

Ciao for now,
Linda

PS - Check out my blog on Tuesdays, and on Thursdays, Connie, my partner in crime, will be blogging in her corner. That does not mean we won't be blogging otherwise, but for sure, we will on those two days.

And do let me know your thoughts on writing with passion...or passionate writing...or anything else, because I know you looove to write, too.