“A loving heart is the truest wisdom.” Charles Dickens
“What comes from the heart goes to the heart.” Samuel Coleridge
It is hard sometimes to remember that our finest, truest, deepest work as writers comes from the heart. We are so often trapped in our heads and in a maze of thoughts that can blind us to the straight and simple path we are inwardly called to follow. I know I’ve been hampered by this myself.
In writing my children’s fantasy, which remains a long-time work in progress, I’ve often found myself spending time and energy second-guessing what agents or editors might want to see in my story. Sometimes, I’ve bent and reshaped it, hoping to make it more appealing, more “marketable” to the gatekeepers I’ve reached out to.
Whenever I’ve done this, I’ve found that my words have a hollow ring to them and I’ve always ended up restoring what seems to me to be the true heart of my story. And when I’ve done this, Coleridge’s words have been a steady source of inspiration to me: “What comes from the heart goes to the heart.” From now on, I’ve decided to use this as my touchstone. After all, it’s the hearts of my young readers I’m really eager to reach—not the gatekeepers who stand between me and those readers.
How about you? Have you found yourself putting more head than heart into your own writing? If so, have you found yourself less than satisfied with the results? Even nonfiction, I believe, can suffer from too many facts and not enough heartfelt experience or real-life anecdotes.
If a story doesn’t have a beating heart—if it isn’t heart warmed by us as writers before it reaches our readers—then I believe we are missing our mark. To my mind, informing or amusing our readers isn’t enough. We need to touch them with the deepest wisdom we have to offer. “A loving heart is the truest wisdom,” as Charles Dickens said so well.
What about you? Have you found greater success and satisfaction when you’ve put more heart into your work? I’d love to hear from you! Write on!
