Notes on Passion Driven Writing

The Word and Syntax Writer Wake UpNothing is perfect, especially when it comes to writing. You can always tweak for better wording. The time to tweak most is before publishing. Yes, it seems self-evident but searching for the mot juste that isn’t quite yet or refining the language of a sentence are part of the writing process.

Effective writing takes thought and time, and an ear for the vocabulary and syntax muse.

When you wake up with a new version of a sentence you wrote in your last chapter—yes, one sentence out of the entire chapter—you don’t write a note to yourself in the notebook near your bed. You get up out of bed, bring up the manuscript on the computer, and change the sentence. You do this because you know you won’t get back to sleep until you make the change.
The One Word ​In the days before the internet and quick but boring results in an online Thesaurus, writers made telephone calls in the middle of the night. Who else would be up then? But, even if someone was already in bed, they woke up to talk about writing with sometimes devastating results.

What’s another word for phoenix?

The bird’s fire-fangled feathers dangle down.

Sigh. What are you writing?

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And the conversation continued. If you need a translation for my fellow writer’s answer: It’s been done with excellence.

Here’s the modern day online Thesaurus answer.
 gemstarmasterpiecestartreasurestarcharmstarfindstargeniusstaridealnonesuchstarnonpareilstarparagonstarpearlstarphenomenonstarprizestarprodigystarraritystarspecialtystarwonderstarYep, pretty boring. As writers, we still need to hash out word ideas.

Now we have social media, where because it’s there 24/7, doesn’t require an immediate answer. You can post a question and although the response may not be immediate because your fellow writer lives in Bulgaria, you get an answer.

Because writing is a process, you don’t get immediate gratification, but sometimes just asking the question to another writer, gets the internal wheels turning for an alternative word choice.

Your passion shows when you care about that one right word or strengthening a sentence.Connect with WritersConnecting with other writers enhances your passion for writing. Writing groups can help you spot the sentence or paragraph that lags, or a better way to sequence events in a story, and even suggest the right mot juste.

One of the rewards of connecting with other writers is shared passion.

Zara Altair
Zara Altair writes traditional mysteries set in the time of Ostrogoth Rule in Italy in The Argolicus Mysteries. Argolicus uses his observation and reason, with help from his tutor Nikolaos, to provide justice in a province far from the King’s court. Join the reader's list.