note: This is a bonus post for the workshop I held on MuseCon (also known as the Muse Online Writers Conference).

A personal story

At the start of this year I was very ill. Pneumonia in both lungs. To "entertain" myself while being ill, I decided to write a project that had been floating in my mind for a while. A paranormal romance, with a special kind of vampires. My own brand so to say.

I wrote, and eventually finished the book in june/july of this year. I have no desire whatsoever to go back and edit that book. Why? There is no passion for it in me. I don't care whether my main character gets staked, sauteed, or snarfed up by the werewolves. He isn't talking to me, I never connected with him, and I doubt I ever will, given my complete lack of love for purely alpha males.

Even though I did finish that first draft, and I am very proud of doing that, I know I broke my own first rule of writing.

Write what you love, and write it passionately.

Write what makes the joy you felt in typing every word sizzle off the page. Write with fire, and care deeply for your characters, fall in love with them, or, in case of an antagonist, hate them with every fiber of your being. Care what happens to them, and they will pay you back tenfold. Care about your readers, make them fall in love with your main character like you yourself are, make that love show in every page, in every sentence.

When you write with that passion, there is no room for fear. There is no room for nagging doubts, for what if questions, for the vice grip of fear on the in your stomach.

You just write whenever and wherever you can, because you can't wait to find out what happens next.

The non-fiction writers amongst you, can use this same passion to make your readers empassionate about your subject, you can use that same fire, to really get into the research. Love your subject, it is all the same as fiction writers love their characters.

Right now I am working on a plot for a science fiction novel. It is hard work, as I need to do a lot of research, and the plotting needs to be tighter than anything I have written until this moment. But it is SO much joy, fun, bliss. My inner two year old is engaged with everything she has in her. She is too happy to play to realize she really would be scared otherwise.

As for me, two events led me to finally realizing what my true writing passion is. The first was realizing you need to write something that touches on your interests, thanks to the "How to think Sideways" course from Holly Lisle. The second was reading the first Stardoc novel from S.L. Viehl, a book I won in a contest she ran during the Left Behind and Loving It workshop.

I went back to my folder of writing projects, and just dug in there. I put the stories that didn't say anything to me in a separate folder. What was left over? A couple fantasy tales and 10 science fiction stories.  My inner two year old just jumped up when I realized that. She loves the stars, she loves to discover, she loves to learn, to engage her mind. She loves to muddle over things, figure out how they work.

Science fiction.

I know isn't the easiest passion to have, lots of research involved for the new novel project I am plotting, but damn, I am so in love with the genre. It touches on so many of my interests, and that is why I love to work on giving these characters the book they deserve. I am also editing a novella that has been on my hard disk for almost a year now. Why did I never edit it? Because I didn't realize how important it was to me. Because my inner two year old still managed to toss fear in front of me, until I realized how important it was.

The funny thing is, I started writing the novel project I am planning, and abandoned it. There was no passion in it. I tried to apply a plot that came to me for a mystery novel, and turned it to a SciFi novel. That SO didn't work. But I love my main character. Only now I am sitting down, and let her come to life on my computer screen. I know I can give her a book that does her justice now.

And in writing that book, there is no room for fear.

What is your passion?