A Writer's Thanksgiving

Every writer shares the following items for which they can be thankful. Truly, in the history of the printed word, there has never been an era more 'writer friendly' than that which we now live. I will support this statement with the top ten things I am thankful for as a writer.

10) I am thankful for technology. Yes, that vexing computer that loves to crash when you can least afford the aggravation either creatively or financially. The computer placed at the writer's fingertips a tool that places publication directly in his/her lap. I love the fact I can key a story, transfer it to a thumb drive and propagate it onto various hard drive storage devices. I love the fact that I do not have to use correcting ribbon or white out (younger folk, look up 'typewriter'). I love the fact that I can edit on the fly instead of using the above torturous devices or have to totally re-key the manuscript. Yes, spell check has it's flaws, but rather than stopping to grab a dictionary to look up a word like 'proprietary' for spelling, I know I can get close and fix it on a once-over read. I love cut and paste and other tools that allow me to follow a thought thread where inappropriate and later place it in the proper position in the piece I'm writing. As a tool, the computer has increased my ability to produce the written word.

9) Software. Yes, software is related to the computer, but it still holds its very own category of thankfulness. I cut my writing teeth (computer-wise) on a word processing program called First Choice. I loved that program. It was simple, easy to understand, and had a limited amount of features. Then I went to Word Perfect which has been my all time favorite, but the plethora of options were dizzying. I still don't know how to use at least 50% of the capabilities of that program. Now I use Word, not as much by choice but because it is "industry standard" software. That complaint aside, like Word Perfect, I do not use at least half the features available and wouldn't know how to if I wanted to. But, word processing programs make a writer's life so much simpler. Editing is a breeze with time consumption reduced dramatically from the old typewriter days. Programs like Photoshop and Publisher and Frontpage add immeasurable distinctiveness to writing these days. Through these and many other software programs, writers can add dimension and spice to their writing through visuals and sound and internet.

8) The internet. Yes more technology. Writers should be very thankful for the ability to blog, webmast, webcast, YouTube and FaceBook. The internet options for writers could be listed in huge volume. Tweets and Hubs and all these wonderful interconnectivities allow writers to voice themselves as well as trot out their writing 'babies' and get feedback. The advertising capabilities of the internet are a writer's best friend. Making a name for yourself as a writer must be tied to reaching an audience. Today, your audience is a close as your closest link up to the net.

7) News. Yes, on the whole news is disgusting. Most of it is doom and gloom, blood and guts, illicit sex and corruption. Crime and mayhem, murder and rape, child abductions and all the ills of society. Holy cow is that writing fodder or what? Any writer who claims writer's block is exposed to their cop out by the immensity of material available to them. Yes, I realize they may be blocked on a specific piece, but that does not preclude them from starting up another piece about a news item that riled them up or impassioned them. As soon as the writer begins writing that piece, they will find soon enough that they'll be ready to continue on the one they were once stuck on. Our news is a constant breeding ground for writing topics. The great thing about news is that no matter what you're writing, you can always find a news item related to it.

6)Family. Ok. This can be a detractor from your writing as well. Children constantly interrupting. A spouse not supportive of your seemingly lazy type of work. Friends whose eyes glaze over as soon as you begin talking about your passion to write (for new writers, never talk more than one or two minutes about writing to a non writer - save longer conversations for other writers, they'll appreciate what you have to say). So why should writers be thankful for family? Other than the reasons listed above (you can go off on those subjects and find an audience, believe me), many of us have supportive spouses. Many of us have drunken aunts or uncles or skeleton's in our family tree closets that offer us writing ideas. Family has molded each of us in some way or another in the way we interact with others in this world. For good or ill, family helped shape our views and our passions. Even if this falls on the 'ill' side, be thankful for the person/writer you've become partially die to family. They impact your life far more than many of us give them credit.

5) Daydreaming. One of my favorite pastimes. Writing affords us the legitimate experience of daydreaming - bringing our creative minds to a place of wonderment and possibility. This is not solely the land of the fiction writer either. Daydreaming can give you insights and angles on real life issues and often you can find application for what you casually let float through your mind. That person you have a conflict with in your office or an editor that pisses you off can float through your daydreams as voodoo dolls until you realize what they're trying to say is not what is coming across well or you may find a compromise solution that does not involve removing their fingernails with long nosed pliers... Daydreaming relaxes you as a writer and allows your writer's voice to come to the fore when otherwise it hides and shakes in its quiet prison of refuge. For the fiction writer daydreaming opens up possibilities. In all cases, daydreaming allows the writer to get (I know, cliche alert) "outside the box" in their thinking.

4) Working hours. The person who dreamed up nine to five as being the time people should work was certifiably insane. I like hours like 9:00pm to 3:00am while the children are asleep and 10:00am to 2:00pm while children are in school. I also like the fact I can take my laptop (see computer above) to the park, swimming pool, mountains, prairies, ocean, restaurant, conference, and any million other places and write with FULL writer's tools accoutrement's (another word I guessed at and let spell checker fix...). I pick my times to write. and as I've already bled into my next thing to be thankful for ...

3) Place. Above I listed many places I can travel and write. I can simply walk out my front door and set up in my hammock. I can be like Green Eggs and Ham's Sam I Am. I can write with a mouse, I can write in a house, I can write with a goat, I can write on a boat, etc. This allows me to people watch and create characters too. By being mobile, if I need a sexy young woman in my story, I can go to the swimming pool, pick someone out that would look good as my character, get a good description of her and her mannerisms, the way she brushes water from her eyes, the way her posture presents itself relaxed and how it presents when interacting with others. I can use location for description in my stories or articles. Or I can simply go someplace I feel is serene and enhances my writing capabilities. Sometimes this can be a busy restaurant...

2) Writers should be thankful for their very own, mixed up, warped, insanity. Many of us feel we are challenged upstairs in one way or another. We each have a need/desire to expunge that which feels trapped within us. We have ghosts and goblins, passions and truths that crave the light of day for survival. If these things remained trapped within us, along with their death, so too a part of us dies. Writers have a long history of issues internal. These issues have lead many to suicide, alcoholism and various other self inflicted madness. Yet it is from this madness that incredible works spring forth and it behooves us as writers to give significant credence to that part of us that desires to create in the form of the written word. Lord knows for most of us, it is not the lure of wealth. It does not take long to discover that writing is not a get-rich-quick plan. Writing is a passion. A need. A must. Be thankful for your drive, for yourself and for your muse.

1) In many respects, my number two should be number one and vice verse. But I leave them in this order because as writers we need audience. We should be VERY thankful for the absolutely voracious appetite for the written word out there today. Seriously folks, the internet is starved for great writing. Trade magazines are paying good money to writers and doing just fine financially. There are more books written and published today than at any point in the history of man. Audiences are now global and writers are needed to satisfy these people. As we progress further, the need for fresh material is only going to escalate. Writers should be super, uber thankful for the sheer volume of writing our world requires today. There is so much lame material spread out there because of the dearth of good writing. This is opportunity folks. Anyone who has read a crappy book, watched a lame movie or TV show or read an article that absolutely sucks has come face to face with the fact that all media are clamoring for good writers. So be thankful for that half hour of wasted time watching some stupid show a third grader could improve upon. Realize this is a call for you to get out there and impact your world. Be thankful you are a writer when the world needs you most - now.

Happy Thanksgiving fellow writers. Live long and prosper and if not, at least give the world your creativity before you leave...