Can you recall the last time a book, short story, or article sparked a vigorous fire inside your soul? I know I can. I could tell you a number of times something I read sparked a fire inside my soul that made my body sing in pure joy (and sometimes in sadness because I read a lot of sappy love novels that make me more of a hopeless romantic than I already am).

I always found myself desiring the ability to write inspirational content, and maybe you have, too. Somewhere along the line I found myself writing my soul out, my heart out, and my head out. I wrote what I knew, what I felt, and what I believed. And you can, too.

Maybe this will help you as it did me.

1. Find and know your passion.

Passion is a strong and barely controllable emotion. Find a topic(s) that you have a great excitement and enthusiasm about, and let your uncontrollable emotion shine through your writing.

A lot of my articles are related to Christianity, and that's because I am deeply passionate about my God. When you have a passion about something it makes the process of writing so much easier and more eloquent. When you get to know your passion, let it live in and out of you. Make your passion known in your heart and to others, and it will make you an effective writer.

2. Find a goal.

Odds are if you are writing an article (or anything else for that matter), then you must have a goal. If you have an ultimate goal then you know what it takes to meet that goal and achieve it.

I am probably the least organized person in the world, but I know when it is time to write I need to choose my topic and know my overall goal in order to be an effective writer. I could probably sit at my laptop for over an hour and write nothing more than a few sentences, but I know that I will get it finished because I know and see my finish line: my ultimate goal. When you know your goal, then you see your finish line.

3. Find your inspiration.

The biggest and smallest things can inspire you and help you create some of your best works. Personal experiences inspire me, and they always give me that leverage to portray what I think, believe, and feel to incorporate into my writing.

Sometimes (and by sometimes I mean the majority of the time), I feel like I am at a roadblock when it comes to choosing a topic and elaborating on it, but I get through that roadblock by reading dozens of other articles by people who may have chosen the same topic as me. That is why I love Odyssey, because it is a platform used by thousands of others who may be interested and passionate about the same things I am, and reading their works helps me get through my own mess.

Finding inspiration is the easiest thing you can do once you decide to open up your eyes and heart to everything that exists. Find beauty, create beauty.

4. Let your words bleed.

Once you have found your passion, know your goal, and found your inspiration, everything else pretty much flows out of you. Write your soul out. One of my favorite quotes is by Ernest Hemingway, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Except in today's age, you sit at a laptop and bleed, but you get the gist.

Writing is a lot like bleeding. You just have to get past the difficult part of hurt and frustration, then everything will just sort of come out. The first few sentences, sometimes even paragraphs, are the hardest part of writing. Eventually, words start bleeding, and I jump into some sort of writing frenzy and can't stop. Write down your soul, and let it bleed.

5. Allow yourself to learn and grow.

Allow yourself to learn and grow from your mistakes and your achievements. To be a better writer, you have to accept downfall and learn from your mistakes. To be a better writer, you have to grow through pushing yourself daily by exercising your mind. Expand the ideas and thoughts in your mind, and let those things help you grow as a creator.

Don't live in fear of your writing. You will always be your worst critic. Don't be afraid to write about topics you aren't familiar with because that won't help you grow as a writer. Take the plunge into learning new things that allow your thoughts and ideas to grow so that it may help you become a more prominent writer.

6. Always remember why you write.

Writing is such an important thing to incorporate into your life. Whether that is writing stories, articles, or in your own private journal, writing is important. Writing is a form of self-expression, and you should use that as your gateway to allow others to hear your voice about things you are passionate about.

Know why you write and use that as your own inspiration for creating inspirational content for others to read. Give yourself the freedom to create and inspire because that is what writing is.