What's Love Got to Do With It?

If you're a writer, and if you're reading this, you are. You know that writing can seem confusing and complicated. So many things to write about, so many decisions to make.

The choices seem endless; plots, characters, settings and themes all require choices. Whether you're writing about faeiries, werewolves, vampires, space aliens or just regular people, you need to decide what they look like, what idiosyncrasies they have, where they live, and what they want.

There is something that can help you make good choices for your stories. Love. Yes, you read that correctly, love.

When you begin a story, start with something that you really love. You know, something that gives you a little tingle, and makes your heart beat a little faster.

Maybe it's a setting; the woods, with ancient trees and filtered sunlight. Or maybe it's a character, a tall handsome loner, a bad boy with a heart of gold, or a girl that takes on the world and wins!

What you love could be a theme, like Right triumphs over Might, or the Guy gets the Girl, or even We are Not Alone. You can even sneak in things that you love, A pet, or friend or parent, or mentor can make a cameo appearance in your story.

The crazy thing about love is, it will show itself in your work. It will come across as more true, more real, and will expand your story, because you will be writing about something that you know and love.

There's something that I learned when I worked at M&M Mars, besides peanut M&M's are delicious. I was in customer service and we were told to smile when we were talking on the phone to clients. The reason is simple. Even though they can't see you, they can hear the smile in your voice. This is 100% true. And if you write about something you love, your readers will be able to see that love in your stories.