Writing tip 23 - write about something meaningful to you

On the weekend I went to a book launch for Swamp - Walking the Wetlands of the Swan Coastal Plain. This is a compilation of poetry by Nandi Chinna, published by Fremantle Press.

Nandi is a dedicated campaigner for the preservation of fragile ecosystems, and her beautiful and deeply moving poems reflect this. Here is a taste of Nandi Chinna's Manning Ridge from this remarkable collection. The black birds mentioned refer to the Carnaby's cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris). There is some evidence that these gorgeous birds are under habitat threat if the proposed Roe Highway extension goes through:

At 6pm

the black birds flew over

so low I could see into

the dark shafts of their eyes.

They were all coming in.

The sky was filled

with what I have always known.

Then everything began to recede.

I was the last person left,

the black bird bursting

inside my chest,

squalling and flapping against my ribs. 

This volume of poetry, like almost all books, represents years of dedicated work and passion, and in this case an undoubted love of the life dependent on the wetlands around the Perth metropolitan area. It is passion combined with talent and writing skill that makes this volume so special.

I would suggest that a level of passion, or belief in the subject matter of a book (or short-story), is absolutely needed to maintain the impetus to bring a work to publication standard. I believe it is this passion and enthusiasm that transfers to the reader and encourages him or her to care enough to read on. So, this week's tip: write about something that is meaningful to you.

Writing prompt:

Make a list of all those things that are important to you, and those things that fire you up with indignation. Which is most important to you at this time? If what you are writing is boring you, ground yourself in your values and start again in a place that rekindles that spark.