Writing From the Heart

When you write from your heart and share a part of your soul, as the poster for today says, your writing will be stronger and more appealing to readers. Whatever you put into your writing is what those readers will feel. 

The following is the opening paragraph of an essay I wrote about writing from your heart: 

I write essays, poems and stories detailing the events that bring basic emotions into my life. Anguish, joy, pain, and hope visit me through the years, some of these feelings are more intense than others. My words spill onto the paper or the computer screen, paragraph upon paragraph, a coping mechanism. At times, I become driven to put emotional experiences into words, both for myself and for others to read. My writing releases a sort of power that can deliver healing or achieve satisfaction. Four overwhelming emotions, four chapters of my life—pain, anguish, love, and hope.

The body of the essay addressed those four emotions at the end of the first paragraph, one by one. The concluding paragraph is: 

Yes, writing has served me well. Words from my heart have expressed great joy, soothed my anguish, washed away pain, and recorded my hopes and dreams. If they also bring encouragement and pleasure to others, perhaps I am twice blessed.

All of us have experienced many different emotions throughout our lifetime. We've all felt most of these at one time or another--joy, elation, pain, love, hate, anguish, pain, misery, tenderness and more. When you write about personal things like these, you are sharing part of your soul with readers. 

I think that when we write from the heart we probably do our best writing. You've opened a door and let the reader enter your world instead of telling what happened as though you are an outsider looking in. It's generic. It's plain. It has no heart. 

Learning to open your heart and share a part of your soul as you write does not come easily for some writers. Some are able to do it easily, while others must work hard to open the gate and let their true feelings pour forth. 

Ask yourself if you can write from the heart. Can you share a part of your soul with your readers? They'll love you for it if you do.