How to write with it, and about it
"Passion" has several meanings, from Christ's Passion—what he suffered before the Crucifixion—to great love, great feeling or emotion, right down to the insane love of a favourite chocolate treat. "He had a passion for TimeOuts that could not be satisfied." :0)
But generally speaking passion goes beyond the ordinary. We talk about a TD making an "impassioned speech" to the Dáil, i.e. a speech full of fire and great feeling. Or a barrister making a "passionate plea" on behalf of his client, to save her from going to prison.
In each case the speaker believes in what he or she is saying. And the speech moves the audience.
How does this translate into your writing? For a start, you the writer must put yourself in your character's situation. You must feel their joy, pain, fear—whatever great emotion is gripping them. You must experience their emotions as if they're your own.
Here's how Dan Brown, in Angels and Demons, describes the predicament his hero has landed in. He's trapped.
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Like a recurring theme in some demonic symphony, the suffocating darkness had returned.
No light. No air. No exit.
Langdon lay trapped beneath the overturned sarcophagus and felt his mind careening dangerously close to the brink. Trying to drive his thoughts in any direction other than the crushing space around him, Langdon urged his mind towards some logical process . . . mathematics, music, anything. But there was no room for calming thoughts. I can't move! I can't breathe!
The pinched sleeve of his jacket had thankfully come free when the casket fell, leaving Langdon now with two mobile arms. Even so, as he pressed upward on the ceiling of his tiny cell, he found it immovable. Oddly, he wished his sleeve were still caught. At least it might create a crack for some air.
Langdon probed the blackness for any other sign of light, but the casket rim was flush against the floor. Goddamn Italian perfectionists, he cursed, now imperilled by the same artistic excellence he taught his students to revere . . . impeccable edges, faultless parallels, and of course, use only of the most seamless and resilient Carrara marble.
Precision can be suffocating.
"Lift the damn thing," he said aloud, pressing harder through the tangle of bones. The box shifted slightly. Setting his jaw, he heaved again. The box felt like a boulder, but this time it raised a quarter of an inch. A fleeting glimmer of light surrounded him, and then the casket thudded back down. Langdon lay panting in the dark. He tried to use his legs to lift as he had before, but now that the sarcophagus had fallen flat, there was no room even to straighten his knees.
As the claustrophobic panic closed in, Langdon was overcome by images of the sarcophagus shrinking around him. Squeezed by delirium, he fought the illusion with every logical shred of intellect he had.
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Notice the short paragraphs when Brown wants to get across his character's thoughts. Those one-line paragraphs really pull the reader up short. They focus on the passionate feelings.
Your choice of words is very important too. If you're writing about fear, you'll want to use words like "nail-biting"
... or frightful, horrible, grim, awful, dire; horrifying, alarming, shocking, distressing, appalling, harrowing; ghastly, fearful, horrendous...
You'll also want to describe how your character is responding to the situation. Is he trembling, sweating, shaking with fear? Is his heart thumping, his mouth dry? Be vivid. Remember the most terrifying situation you were in and use those emotions you felt.
BTW, I had to shorten this post. Reason? The server wasn't responding. I don't know what's wrong. For instance, it wouldn't let me do italics or colours on the page, which is annoying.
I'll come back to it because it's a very important part of writing. Watch this space!
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