Writing that lacks passion and fervor is dull and uninteresting. The writer will be short of the desire to make the work the best it can possibly be. Of course, that will show through in the writing; readers cannot be fooled.
What is this enthusiasm? It is an expression of the writer’s worst fear, greatest anger, or deepest passion. These feelings must be apparent in the writer’s work. It can be in nonfiction and fiction. A sports writer must be devoted to athletics as a participant as well as an observer. A novelist must believe in the premise of his or her story.
This passion for the idea must be deep-rooted and original. It must flow from the writer’s experience and knowledge, but that does not mean that it cannot be cultivated and nurtured. With this affinity and empathy, the writer must dedicate him or her to development of the focus by continual practice. Nor does this mean that the subject matter must be narrow and circumscribed; it means that the writer must expose his or her worst fears, anger, and passion.
Where does this passion become apparent in a writer’s work? It appears in the interests of the authorhis or her beliefs, convictions, culture, and life-style. From this comes the choice of record: article, essay, short story, novel, etc. Once the form is chosen, and then it is a matter of style, syntax, grammar, etc.
This becomes a love of expression, subject matter, issue and conviction. A writer must be devoted to words, their meanings, their denotations, their connotations, and their resonance. Through words the subject matter is expressed with the biases and the partiality that is the author’s passion. Without it writing lacks conviction.
Charles O. Goulet has a BA in history and a BEd in English literature. He has several novels published. His latest is The Venturers, a historical novel of early Canada.
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