Writing from the Heart

I have read and heard much advice: write what you know, write grammatically correct, write accurate information, etc. While this well-meaning counsel may help on many levels, it won't sustain me when I desire my written results to say exactly what I mean; my writing needs to reveal my soul, my heart.

I recently viewed the life of Ernest Hemingway. His "Old Man and the Sea" won a Nobel prize. After finishing this novel, he said he was emotionally exhausted. Another author, Val McDermid said she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown upon completion of "A Place of Execution."

Although my experiences are not as extreme as theirs, I have felt emotional upheavals. This occurred when I wrote a little essay on walking to school with my second grade teacher. I had always remembered our walks fondly and, in my best of times, I would imitate our walks with a song in my head and a bounce in my step.

As I typed, punching words on the computer page, emotions welled up in my chest. The more I continued, the more I could not contain my emotions; my feelings passed from my chest threw my arms and flowed out through my uncontrollable sobs as my fingers typed away. The sobs continued as I thought of her, a spinster. I visualized a tall, thin, erect fifty-year woman with her gray hair pulled back in a bun. As we walked down Church Street in Poughkeepsie, New York, she sang quietly -- just little ditties. I, being seven years old, walked next to her on the slate sidewalk leading to Smith School. It was spring; crocuses bloomed in the grass; elderly oak trees lined the curbs. She and I walked to school that entire second grade. She hummed and sang, most of all, she had a happy walk which I developed.

As I clicked the keys, tears ran down my cheeks; I missed her. I knew she was dead and I wondered about her life. I was indebted to her because she gave me a real gift which I have appreciated all these years. Regretably, I have never had an opportunity to thank her personally for her special quiet gift to me. I still can't fight back the tears as I think of her unselfishness and her dedication as a teacher of an impressionable, isolated seven-year old girl.

Afterwards, surprised and alarmed by my experience, I vowed I would never go there again; the emotional eruption was just too painful. I have since learned that emotions, while uncomfortable, need not be avoided and can actually create genuine writing. Writing from the heart contributes to the writer's ability to deliver real characters and real feelings.

My advice is: Readers don't want trite, wooden writing. They want to feel; they want to experience life -- a life they would not ordinarily have. They want to read your work because it enhances them not only through identification with your characters but by helping them reach the very depths of their souls and hearts.

Georgia Lee Arnt