The Write Way: Tips & Advice for Writers

What's Your Passion?

When starting out as a writer, many will say "write what you know." Talk about a blanket statement in randomness. What does that even mean? What do you know? Do you know what you know? Most likely you have no idea what you know until after you start writing about it. Or try to start writing about it.

You may be passionate about a wide variety of different topics or subjects of interest, but your knowledge of these things are sorely tested the moment you try to write about it.

Case in point... I recently wrote a post about online dating and as I wrote, it became glaringly obvious that although I had a lot of opinions on the subject, I really had no idea what I was talking about.

So my writing struggled. My brain became muddied with a multitude of irrelevant tidbits and facts that try as I might, couldn't fit into a single post about online dating.

I found myself writing and re-writing entire paragraphs. I realized I didn't have enough information or experience on the subject to allow me to compose an entire article on it.

So back to my topic. What do I know? Well let's see. I have knowledge of dating, sex, relationships, life events, writing, photography, alternative health, intuition, metaphysical/new age things, social media, special needs children, early intervention programs and parenting.

But of those topics, I would be hard pressed to write anything coherent or worth reading on every single one. Most likely I would have to delve deeper by doing more research and reading a lot more. Otherwise I'd be unable to compose a well-written, well-rounded article that wasn't entirely based on my own opinion.

I have a lot of opinions, but it doesn't mean that I also have the depth of knowledge or experience to write about it with authority.

If I want my piece to be informative, research is mandatory. Just because you have a passion for something doesn't mean you can write about it. And that is the key to writing well.

You can't just go with what you're interested in or even with what you know. It has to go further than that, you have to be passionate about it - with clearly defined feelings, opinions and more knowledge than you currently have.

Without passion, you will not have enough to work with when you write,  and your lack of passion will show itself to your readers.

How do you know if you aren't passionate about your subject? You will find yourself constantly struggling to find the right words, or the thought of doing research in the middle of writing a part of your piece exhausting and too much work.

Bottom line, a lack of passion will not reflect good writing. It will be riddled with tangents, run-on sentences, poorly executed scenes, bad grammar and sloppy paragraphs. You probably won't like it very much and it could very well stop you from ever writing anything again.

So those who say "write what you know" aren't being clear. It's not as important to write what you know, as it is to write what you're passionate about. Passion for your subject, whether fiction or non-fiction is the most important elements for a well-written and well received book.

With the never-ending supply of readily available and free books on the market today, how do you expect to stand out if you don't have passion?

Know what you love, know yourself, and you will truly come to love your own writing.

All you need is passion.