Writing your Joy and Passion

Writing Your Joy and Passion

This post is inspired by a Pinterest pin I saved, probably of a screenshot of Tumblr. I fully intend to post a link to the pin, but knowing technology can be volatile, let me summarize.

The pin tells writers not to bother trying to make up elaborate fantasy languages for their book. There is only one J. R. R. Tolkien, and we are not him. This is then expanded upon by another that the reason it worked for Tolkien was that Tolkien was a professional linguist. He not only knew and understood how languages worked but it was something that he simply loved. No wonder he was so successful at it.

But because Tolkien is frequently considered to be essentially the founder of fantasy as a genre, writers frequently take their cues from him on how to do it. While this does lead to an unfortunate preponderance of cliches, this isn’t the worst advice. Unfortunately, in this case, we’re taking the wrong cue.

Don’t invent a language just because Tolkien did it. Put your joy and passion in the story, just like he did. Not only will that probably be something you know a lot about, but because you love it, you’ll want to learn more. Put in something you love because that will keep you writing when the obstacles pop up. And believe me, the obstacles will come.

What do you love? Is it mythology? Awesome! Mythological worldbuilding can add so many layers to a story. Do you make your own clothing? Neat! Your characters can have the coolest custom clothes with plot useful pockets and tricks. Do you love politics and political intrigue? Cool! How do the politics play out in this world? Are animals your joy? Great! You can write animal characters and/or develop different fauna for worldbuilding.

This doesn’t just play out for fantasy either. It works just as well in Science Fiction, or indeed, any genre. Do you want to go in depth into robot societies? Are you more interested in space exploration? Maybe neither of those appeal to you, but you are fascinated with hackers and how humans tend to anthropomorphize everything. Write what you love. Write what intrigues you. Write what you want to know more about.

You may also find yourself liking something more because you spent so much time writing and learning about it. I love foxes far more than I did before I started writing the Moonlit Memories series, with its Werefox protagonist. Saskatchewan was basically just a place with a funny name that was fun to say for me before I started writing the Hyde Chronicles, with a school set in a remote part of Saskatchewan. I created pack lizards for my characters to use in their quest, with the plan they would trade them out for something more cold weather friendly when they got far enough north. But I ended up loving them, and they stayed.

Writing is hard. Being creative takes energy and discipline. Our biggest reward is the story we create. Make it one that brings you joy.

What passion would you put in your writing?

P.S. Stay tuned for a new update on that quest story.