Write from the heart Tip#6

Dear Storyteller,

Write from the heart Tip#6 is as equally important as Tip#2-Daydreaming.

Why is writing from the heart so important?

Let’s unveil 7 reasons together.

Reason #1

Most likely this reason is overly self-explanatory, but when you write from the heart, you’re drawing from an emotional sphere you wouldn’t otherwise tap into. It’s a beautiful place to start your journey because when you write from the heart, you’re penning your utmost thoughts and feelings without reservation.

reason #2

It’s a chance for you to let your heart be free. It’s a chance to fully and completely express yourself without fearing the rejection of others. Why? Because writing from the heart is nothing more than one of the very first steps in your writing journey…at least the part where you’re actually putting words down on paper or the computer screen. It’s where you just work on untangling and free flowing all those ideas locked up inside. Basically, don’t think, just…write. There’s no pressure to be evaluated or assessed. It’s just you and your computer or pen and paper. What better time to let yourself go and dream?

Reason #3

It encourages you to reveal a part of your inner self you might not otherwise be willing to share with others and the world at large because of your own insecurities, fears, or worries regarding what others might think if they ever read your story.

No pressure also means more creativity. It means you are able to write in a way you wouldn’t otherwise be able to because you no longer have the fear that: the story “won’t be right;” the words have to be in the right sequence, manner, or poetic form from the start; what you write will disappoint others or-worse yet-not meet their expectations. It allows you to bring the best part of yourself out into the open.

At this point in your writing journey, the story is about you, and you alone. No one else matters. Don’t even think about others reading your work. This temporary exclusionary mindset allows you to be more humorous, engaging, mystifying, daring, or romantic than you would be if you knew that you were immediately going to show your work to someone.

Furthermore, at this stage, your draft is your own. No one’s going to read it. No one’s going to critique it. It’s yours alone, for your eyes alone. Don’t be afraid to gush those words out onto the page in the most riveting and mind-blowing way possible. Because the only one reading it right now…is you.

Reason #4

Write from the heart means forget perfection. To reiterate what I just shared in Reason #3, you don’t have to write exactly what others expect of you or expect from you. Nor do you have to write what you expect of yourself. Rather, you can actually surprise yourself by what you produce. When you write from the heart, nothing else matters except what you’ve got bottled up inside.

reason #5

When you write from the heart, it sets you apart. While conforming is in some regards a good thing, expected at times even in the writing world, not conforming is, IMHO, the one thing that allows you to stand out from all the others in a way that still reaches your audience, yet at the same time, it gives them something they’re craving, all without your reader thinking that your story is really vanilla and no different than any other story they’ve read. In fact, it enables them to see that you’re so different in the way you share your story (i.e. elements included in a story, your approach, your ideas, your banter, etc.) that they actually realize yours was the exact story they’d been looking for without knowing it.

Reason #6

Don’t underestimate writing from the heart. While this mindset may seem overly simplistic and so straightforward there’s no need for listing any reasons why it’s important at all, this is actually where you can go wrong. Why? Because writing from the heart is where you connect best with your audience. It allows them to see the real you without fully sharing it initially with the public or anyone close to you. It’s a layer you’ll use to build upon. It’s a foundation for fashioning your story into the best it can be.

So pour out your heart. Write that one thing you wouldn’t otherwise normally write if you believed someone else would see it once you typed out each one of those daring words. Let your “heart be on your sleeve” and see where it takes you. You might very well be amazed at what you have hiding inside your writer’s brain if you just release the bonds of perfection, expectation, and conformity.

Reason #7

Last, but definitely not least, writing from the heart allows you to convey what God would like you to write. By setting yourself free of expectations, perfection, and the need for conformity, you open yourself up to conveying God’s principles, values, virtues, and truths in a way He created specifically for you. He knew before the creation of time that He had plans for you. To do the good works for which He created you. This includes writing. Don’t copy others. Be unique. You’re a writer. Believe it. Embrace it.

In truth, you don’t have to look to others and what they’ve written to understand how to write. If God’s truly set this in your heart, then you have the stories waiting inside you. They’re there, just let Him unwind them into what He would have you eventually share with readers. It’s truly that easy.

A simple caveat to this latter reason…

A caveat to reason #7 is that while you truly do, I believe, have the ability to write a story without looking to others’ works to formulate your own, I also believe you may draw inspiration from reading others’ stories. Does this make sense?

Typically, I find reading the British Classics (or really anyone’s work, even contemporaries) is more of an inspiration to get back into my own writing. I know I could never write like, say, Chuck Black, because I’m not him. BUT, I can draw inspiration from how he beautifully places words so simply and succinctly on a page that it completely ignites a fire within me to finish my own WIPs (works in progress) in a way that’s unique to who I am.

Would this change your writing style?

Now knowing all the reasons why writing from the heart is so important, if you use Tip#6 and write from the heart this week, how would your writing change? What do you think would be the result of writing directly from the heart and foregoing the orderly requirements of the mind?

Let me know.

Miss my other writing tips?

If you missed tips #1-5 of The Writer’s Nook, click here to read them all.

Until next time…I hope you take this to heart and write from the deepest part of yourself that has the most to say in the best way possible. Bottom line: keep using Tip#6 to write from the heart and make your story shine. God bless xoxo