{"id":37706,"date":"2026-02-04T17:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T22:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/?p=37706"},"modified":"2026-02-04T17:08:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T22:08:17","slug":"bring-the-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/2026\/02\/04\/bring-the-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"Bring the Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019ve never seen Bob Ross (the painter), you should check him out. For him, there were no mistakes. There were only \u201chappy accidents\u201d, opportunities to make something beautiful. Watching him paint was both meditative and inspirational. Every choice was considered and celebrated, every moment a chance to enjoy the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d like to say that I write like Bob Ross painted, but that\u2019s rarely true. As often as not, I\u2019m gesturing and pacing. I often read aloud as I write, and I always do it when I\u2019m editing. Swearing happens. So does laughing. Sometimes, I have to take breaks to punch something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does any of this sound familiar? Or are you one of those \u201cgaze softly into the middle distance as the words drift gently down from heaven\u201d sort of writers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either way, I\u2019d like to make the case for passion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My primary takeaway from Bob Ross isn\u2019t to stay peaceful. It\u2019s to stay open. Try things. Consider incorporating your mistakes instead of discarding them. Be fearless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throw words at the keyboard. Write stupid things. Get mad at what you\u2019ve written, or fall in love with it. Whichever\u2019s appropriate. Feel all the feelings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re not crying when you\u2019re writing a death scene, how can you expect your readers to? If you\u2019re not scared to write the next page, you have to know that your reader won\u2019t be scared to read it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you just discover that one of your main characters is a jerk? Lean into it. Hate him. Consider making him even more of a jerk. Share your hate with the reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is nothing sounding good? Everything\u2019s awkward? The words aren\u2019t coming? Sometimes, you need a break to clear your head. Every once in a while, though, try holding yourself in the fire. Embrace the frustration. Treat it like a personal attack. Type faster and harder. Instead of stressing over quality, dig into the substance. You can always go back and edit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing can be solitary and sedentary and isolating. Don\u2019t let it be boring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What kind of experience is your writing? Is it passive and intellectual, considered and thoughtful? Here’s another way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[20,96],"class_list":["post-37706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing","tag-craft","tag-writing-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BringTheHeat.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DpYi-9Oa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37706"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37708,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37706\/revisions\/37708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}