AUTHOR’S GAB, READER TALK.
A LETTER TO YOU, THE READER, SO THAT YOU CAN FINALLY FIGURE OUT WHAT I’M THINKING.
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THIS MONTH: GIVING THANKS
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“If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.”
— Frank A. Clark, American politician, 1860-1936
Dear Reader,
It all started in the ’90’s with Creative Writer. I thought it was the coolest thing. You could basically design anything with it: birthday cards, banners, cute little notes for your friends. I loved it, so much so that my mom told me that I should grow up and make Hallmark cards one day. I would spend hours designing on our chunky, beige, Windows ’95 desktop computer in the den. All you had to do was pop in the CD and bam! Insta-creation.
Ok, so I’m probably dating myself with this story, but it was also about that time that I started writing poetry. And, I started writing poetry because I was making cute little “Hallmark” cards for my friends and family on Creative Writer, printing them out and handing them to everyone for all kinds of special occasions. The defining moment for me was when I made one of these cards for my little brother’s birthday, who is incredibly big and taller than me now but was very little then, and everyone started absolutely sobbing at my poem.
“That was great!”, my family said when I finished reading it out loud in front of them.
“You should get that published!”, they swooned.
“You should write Hallmark cards!”, my mother said.
I didn’t grow up to write Hallmark cards, but that did grow up become a writer, a journalist and a poet. I also got to design more than just birthday cards on Creative Writer — I got to paginate whole papers worth of content. And, I didn’t just write poems and present them to my family, I published them and got the recognition (and sometimes pay) for them getting published. And, for that matter, whole articles of mine have been regularly published as part of my journalism career.
Many times, as writers, we aren’t thankful enough. Another story, poem, article or book goes to press and is published and we wipe our hands and move on to the next writing item on the agenda. It starts to look normal after awhile and we lose sight of that excitement and recognition that thrilled us when we first saw our name in print, or first made our relatives cry over how good they thought our work was.
The days of “Look, Mom! I’m published!” are over and the grind and groan of churning out one more piece, one more story, one more poem, one more chapter, sets in. And, we forget to be thankful for all those times we were published, for the wonderful career God has given us, for the calling as writers He has placed on our lives.
It’s so important to just pull out your old portfolio and reflect. See and remember that first article you had published. Pull out the first draft you ever wrote of the first chapter of your first book ever. Go through old notebooks and see what you were thinking. Dig up that anthology you wrote and had published, or the poem you first had published in that one magazine.
Reminise. Be thankful for the opportunities and the publications you have been given. Unearth that old, “Omgosh, I’m published!” feeling again. Remind yourself why you got into this in the first place.
Writers, if we don’t remember our motivation to write and if we aren’t thankful for the writing we have gotten to do, why, then, do we continue to write?
Personally, I’m thankful for all the times I have gotten to write something, be it in journalism or creative writing. I feel privileged to be called to something so expressive, where I can constantly tell God’s story and give a voice to others, especially others who have no voice. And, I feel honored to be able to express myself with a talent God has given me, all for His glory.
That’s why I write. That’s what I’m thankful to be doing. And, that’s why, every time I get published or design something, it gives me the “Guess what just happened?” feeling.
We have been so blessed to have been given this opportunity to be a voice. Let’s not take it for granted. Instead, this November, let’s give thanks for the opportunities we are given, what we are able to do and have done until today and why we are able to do it. Let’s again feel the thrill of Insta-creation and be thankful for it, sobbing relatives and all.
Keep writing, friends, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Sincerely, Your Writer,
Jessica A. McLean
The Rose 