Passion

Today's word? I'm glad you asked.

Passion

 

Seems obvious, doesn't it? So instead of explaining why we need passion, I'll tell you five things you should be passionate about, if you want to be writer (or if you are one)

1. Writing

Obvious again, isn't it? Well, sometimes it's the obvious things that we need pointed out to us or shoved in our faces, if only so that we'll be able to see them.

If you want to be a writer, or if you consider yourself one, then you'd better be passionate about it. If that fire goes out, so will your will to write -- and your writing will die. Trust me, because I've seen it happen before. It's happened to me, and it's happened to many others.

If you want to write, then hold onto that passion like its a lifeboat and the ship's going down. 

2. Reading

Another obvious one. Why write if you don't like to read? If all you do is write and not read, then how will you ever know what people actually want to read?

You see my point.

Writers read because it helps us understand craft, because it helps in understanding what readers nowadays want to read, and because it's just plain fun and something we can be passionate about while still sticking within the realm of our love.

3. Grammar/Punctuation

Yes, people won't like you for this one. But we'll just forget about that for a moment.

If you're going to write, you'd better be good at it. So develop a passion for grammar, for punctuation marks and their uses. Find out what every single symbol really means, and then discover for yourself how to use them.

This will both help you keep your writing and reading passion alive, and help you to further cultivate that passion for writing.

Do it.

4. Words

This is my personal favorite. Why? Because I have a passion for words. I look up their etymologies and histories, their multiple meanings and many facets, and I use them every which way I can. Because that's what words are for, and because that's what I have a passion for doing.

I want to write, and writing is nothing but words.

If you want to write, you'll need a passion for these little tools. 

5. Understanding

People strive for understanding. Writers strive to give it to people. We have such passion for understanding that we can't help but put it into every facet of our work so that everyone can see it, so everyone can touch it and taste it and feel it for themselves. We weave it in and out of our stories so the world can see it and find the truth.

But in order to do that, we first must have that passion, that desire, for truer and deeper understanding.

As for myself? I've found a great deal of it. I dare you to ask me where.

[love]

{Rani}