Passionate Reason

I tell my writing students that to write an effective argument essay they need to be passionately reasonable. This means that they need to be passionate about their subject matter in that it has to have some significant relevance to them. Without this passion, they are not able to achieve the argumentative edge that creates good, persuasive writing. To convey this passion, they must use selective language, meaning language that is emotionally charged and that will evoke the desired response from readers. But along with all this passion, they must also be reasonable. They must be credible to readers and present ideas in such a way that readers will listen and learn. Being way out on a limb, eccentric and unable to relate to readers' values and emotions is going to turn readers off and squelch any possible power of persuasion. So passionate reason is what I ask them to strive for. This is good advice for all types of writing. If you don't truly care about your subject matter, whether you're writing fiction, nonfiction or poetry, it will be painfully evident in your writing and your readers won't care either. But passion alone will not suffice with readers. Your ideas must resonate with them on a level that makes sense. That means you must appeal to readers' intelligence and their ability to discriminate between sound, credible writing and hogwash. Readers look to writers for answers to life's great questions and they are very selective about which answers they will accept. Be one of those writers who writes with passion and reason and your readers will follow you anywhere you want to take them because the journey for them will be well worth the effort.