Writing Special Days

Writing Special Days

Some days you write to keep writing, other days are special. Those days when the words seem to flow from your finger tips, or from your brain to your mouth so quickly they trip over your tongue. Actually there is more than one type of special day to write about.

Writing on those free flowing days is wonderful. It’s on those days you tell yourself, you wish you had more time to write. Sometimes you do have more time, writing page after page with great ease. Those days reassure you to continue your writing journey, and make up the difference on those other days.

The dreaded days are when you stare at the screen, page, or voice recorder with nothing to say. Those times when you have all the time in the world to write, but you can’t, so you do something else. Frustration invades those days, but in the dreaded days can in their own way be special too.

They are an opportunity. First to be grateful for the good days. Second, they open you up to consider ideas you would not normally consider. Necessity may be the Mother of invention, but desperation has produced many an idea that normally would not be considered.

One example of unusual choices has little to do with writing, but it connects with the idea. Before digital music, CD’s, audio tapes, and eight tracks, there were records. We just call them vinyl today, back then artists would do singles with an A side, and a B side. The A side was the big song, the B side filled the other side.

A famous singer in his day, Gene Autry was producing a project for Christmas. He had an A side song about reindeer already, but his Wife convinced him to include another one. It was to be the B side song, a little tune called Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. Autry didn’t make the choice, but he wanted to make his wife happy, so he sang it. I have no doubt he was forever grateful he had listened to her.

This leads me to another type of writing special days I want to mention, writing for the holidays. Some one has dreamed of writing a special Christmas story, this can be a daunting task. I know because I’ve written more than I can remember, and sought to make each one special.

I’ve also written a number of Thanksgiving and other special day writings. Whether the special day is a holiday, a day of honoring someone you care about, or in recognition of a specific event, there are some tools for it as well. One may seem obvious, but focus on the positive, this will leave the reader smiling, even if through tears.

Second, I would encourage you not to take the obvious route in the story. Whether it be in the beginning, middle, or wrap of the tale, the route you take to your story is important. It can include traditional elements, or characters such as Santa and Rudolph, but avoid the easy way. This will make the story you tell more interesting, more enjoyable, and give even an old concept a taste of freshness.

Third, and I believe this is important in writing special days, avoid cynicism. You’ll notice Scrooge was grumpy in the beginning, but over time he not only changed, you saw what had made him the way he was, and what remade him. People read this type of writing for positive reflection, especially from the narrator or person telling the story. I’ve seen instances where the positive message was lost or overshadowed by a cynical storyteller.

The final type of writing special days I want to mention, is when you write the last page of your current work. When you type, either physically or mentally, the words The End on the page that’s special. This is the day writers dream about. To get there you have to endure the dreaded days, bank the special days of productivity, and be grateful on the most special of days that there is more to you, and your world, than just writing.

You will get there, even though it seems challenging, you are already closer to it than a few days ago. In a few more days, you will be even closer, you just have to keep writing. When you do, a special day is ahead, the day when your idea goes from a thought to an actual book. That’s a special day of writing.