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Writing With Your Head, Writing From Your Heart

By Rose M. Garland

It is because we are not robots that journalists, contributors, bloggers, and writers of all kinds have a dilemma. Do I write from my head or my heart? Writing from the head may include writing about topics that will appeal to a large majority of readers, even if the writer is not passionate about it. Writing from the heart may mean writing about something that will apply to few readers, which may not advance a writer's career.

Writing in the third person with an impartial view is often-times appreciated in newspapers, journals and other sources we all go to get news. Writing about the earthquakes in Haiti for example, may mean putting your personal feelings aside to write about the facts.

Facts: 7.0 earthquakes cause devastation in Haiti, leaving many people without shelter and in need of medical care.

The facts are what get the story out there, but the heart is what makes one write about it in the first place. The heart of a writer may sympathize deeply with those who have been hurt by these quakes.

Heart: I can't imagine the suffering those poor people are dealing with right now. I can't imagine losing my home or watching the suffering of people I love, or the feelings of despair and uprootedness that they must feel. I feel so much pride in our country for banding together to help these suffering individuals.

'Heart' unfortunately, because it is an opinion, is not always news. It may be interesting, but it won't appeal to a large variety of readers, because some people only read news to get the facts. That leaves the writer in a bit of a personal conundrum.

I go to NewsBlaze for all of my news, and have realized that writers are the observers and the filters of the world. And because we are also the filters, we do need to write fact-based articles as well as heart-based articles so that our readers can develop their own thoughts and feelings in reaction to the words we put out there.

Part of me still has difficulty with it however, and I'm sure it's the same for writers everywhere. I have solved this conundrum for myself by writing my fact-based articles on topics I am the most passionate about.

Whether you typically find yourself writing from your head or your heart, the most important thing to remember is that the story is still getting out there. As writers all over the world prepare to write the next page - as we simultaneously pose our fingers over our keyboards - we can only be absolutely sure of one thing.

It may be facts that come dashing out from our minds onto our page, and it may be facts that encourage readers to read our writing, but it's our hearts that give us our own unique and authentic voices.

Rose M. Garland is an active writer, editor and contributor. Contact Rose at her blog www.risingupward.com or at NewsBlaze.