Nothing in life is easy, and if you try to accomplish something without having a passion for it, it’s even harder. The same goes for writing - even after you’ve gotten published by your dream publisher.
I’m not talking about deadline stress, (I personally thrive on that), or how editing and promoting and the business side of things can often overtake the writing. I’m talking about how your creative side can sometimes just fall flat. I believe that it’s crucial for a writer to always remember that to write about life, you have to live life. As thrilling as getting caught up in your stories, blogs, careers and promotions are, it’s imperative that authors take the time to “refill the well”. Be it a nightly, weekly, or monthly thing, be sure to always take some time for yourself, to remind you what’s important in life. And that’s finding the passion in living. Remind yourself what it is about people you love, and hate. What it’s like to hang out with friends, experience romance, and even be a couch potato. You need to experience the things that make you who you are, so that you can go after what you want.
It’s so very hard not to become totally immersed in the worlds we create for our characters, and the online communities that share our love for stories and romance, but it’s even harder to write about passion, if you can’t find it in your own life.
This is a lesson I’ve have to remind myself of often, and yet somehow, the passion still slipped away from me. The hardest part about that was accepting the fact that I did lose it…finding it again has been easier than you’d think. I firmly believe finding the passion in my life – through travel, photography, and just hanging with friends - helps me to share all aspects of passion with the world through my writing.
