The Eye in the Heart

Original Artwork by
Bonnie Hadfield

Short story writer, novelist, and writing mentor, Tom Paine, gave a presentation discussing a concept I would like to share with you. It had to do with what he called “The Eye in the Heart.”

“You have an eye in the heart,” he said. “What you write on the page is an image of who you are.” And who you are comes from your heart—what it is you love and how you love. “Go find your heart,” he went on, “and you will be a better writer.” Or musician or artist. However it is you pour out of your heart all that you are.

So how do we go about finding our hearts?  The answer to that, I believe, is very much the way we love. Most days we go about with chain link fences around our hearts. We don’t allow others in, we don’t allow even ourselves in to feel what we are feeling. So we must open ourselves to being truly alive, allowing ourselves to want badly. Remember the first time you fell in love? The tug in the stomach, the excitement, how you could be pierced by love? Oh, it could be ecstasy or it could be a world of hurt. We allow ourselves to be vulnerable when we love, and we need that same kind of vulnerability when we write.

In the cartoon strip Peanuts, from time to time we see an image of Snoopy sitting atop his doghouse with his typewriter. “It is a dark and stormy night…” he writes, or “His was a story that had to be told,” and in the next frame, “Maybe not.”  We are all Snoopy at our typewriters wanting something wonderful to emerge as our fingers strike the keys. Sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. In another cartoon, Snoopy again is pecking away at the keys and a thought bubble rises above him “Writing is hard work.” This is true. But also “Writing is heart work.”

Right now I’m revising a novel I’ve been working on for some time. And I’ve discovered that when a particular chapter or scene is limping along, it may be due to either one of two things:  1) “bad” writing or 2) the writing is too much with the head than the heart. Of course, there are many more ways a piece of writing can go wrong, but these are two biggies for me.

We are often fearful of sentiment, not wanting to be overly syrupy or saccharine. This is a legitimate concern, but I would suggest that if we must err, let us do so on the side of the heart. If we see a piece is overly sentimental, we can always edit. But let us first write with the emotions, let us write from our hearts.

Writing Exercise:

1. Think about your childhood, about the times you were in trouble, sick or hurt, the time you got your first bike, the kinds of games you played. Make a list of these memories.
2. Read “The Dancing,” by Gerald Stern about a powerful memory from childhood.
3. Choose an item from your list and write. If you’d like a starter line, you might begin

“I have never____________the way I did________. Allow yourself to become absorbed in the memory of that time with all your emotions, and write with the The Eye in the Heart.

For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com. Or follow this link to purchase Writing in Community or our latest book, The Fire Inside.
–Lucy Adkins