Holiday Writings as Gifts

As a writer with not much money to spend on gifts for my extended family, I've discovered that a Christmas-themed short story works wonders. I write a piece of flash fiction, print out enough copies for everyone, and stick them into everyone's Christmas card. I make sure the story is short enough so it fits on one printed page, though since it's not going to a publisher, I can fudge the margins, text size, and other formatting features as necessary. I've been doing this for four or five years, and it's become a hit with the family. Since I've been doing this for a number of years, I've gotten into a rhythm. One year I'll write a heart-felt nice story, and the next I'll pen a more lighthearted story.

I print my stories out on regular white paper. To gussy it up a bit, I'll go through the fonts and pick a fancy one that matches the mood of the story. For example, if I have a sweet story about an angel reuniting a young girl with her family, I'll use a flowing, flowery font, while if I have a story of a PI interrogating Santa, I'll use Times New Roman. The possibilities are endless. You could go with fancy multi-colored paper; you could, if you're a crafty sort of person, add lace or other ornaments to the page; you could write a short poem and needlecraft it; or you could do anything else your imagination can come up with. The great thing about family (for the most part) is that they tend to appreciate the hard work as much as the gift itself.

To sum up, I like to use my talent for the written word as a gift for my family. It's unique to my family--no other family out there in the world is getting that story as a gift. You can make it as elaborate or simple as you want, and it's still a special gift. I hope this has inspired some of you to use your writing talents--be it flash fiction or poetry--to give as gifts this (and every) year! Have a Happy Holiday season!

The Holiday Story

With Christmas coming up, don't forget that a great gift writers can give their family and friends is a short holiday story. This doesn't cost much at all (maybe a few pennies when you factor in the printer ink and paper), and it's a unique gift that only those closest to you will receive.

I try to write one that fits on a single page (usually ends up being single-spaced with bigger margins than normal) so it's easy to fit into Christmas cards. My family has expressed that they love opening up their cards and finding a short holiday story to read. Though I usually write speculative fiction (more often than not on the dark side), I stick with nice and happy themes and ideas for this story. There's no wrong way to go, however. If your family and friends prefer that walk on the dark and scary side, by all means write it for them.

While I keep my family holiday stories simple black on plain white printer paper (though I usually type them up with a fancy font), you can dress yours up with colorful paper and ink. The sky really is the limit. So if you're searching for that little something extra for your loved ones, why not take the time to write a short story for them (or a poem if that's more your style)? They'll love the special feeling that such a unique gift can bring! Happy holidays!

Holiday Stories

My wife is a crafter, and she's created special gifts for family members for many years, but I've never done anything of the sort. How can I, as a writer, really do anything with my skill to give to family at the holidays? I've seen poets write nice poems for their family and friends, but I write fiction, not poetry. I found the answer to be easy and fun to do. I decided to write a short holiday-themed story to include in our Christmas cards. I started this tradition last year, and I continued with it this holiday season.

This is a gift you can make as simple or ornate as you please. Personally, both stories I've written have been one single page long on plain white paper; this makes it feel like an easy read for anyone, even those who prefer to do their reading by watching the movie. I may experiment in the future with such ideas as colored paper and possibly even decorations around the edges. It might be something my wife and I can work on together to make it a true family gift. Really, like all of fiction writing, the possiblities are limited only by your imagination.

I wrestled with the idea of creating stories with my family members as the stars, but I felt for the purposes of this nice, simple gift, that was going too far. The story would need to be quite long to tell a convincing story (maybe not long in the traditional sense of fiction, but I would classify a story longer than a page or two as too long for this endeavour). If you feel this would be best for your family, however, go for it. It's your gift to them, afterall! In the end, all that really matters is that you give a gift that you are truly proud of, and that will give your family a sense of pride and joy that you'd take the time to construct a special story just for them.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holdays!