A Gift For You — Holidays For Writers

Where are you in your writing life? Looking for a good idea? Slogging through that first draft? In the glory of revisions?

Here’s the gift. You have already gotten the holiday present you always wanted.

Remember when that idea came to you? The seductive, encircling beginning of the possibility that you, just like you always hoped, had thought of an idea for a book. A book! that would be yours.

You sat at your computer, wrote the first—how many?—thirty five pages. Or so. And then, blam. You worried —“I’m not sure this is going to work.”

What did you do after that? You went on, right? Because that’s your gift. You are a writer. You write, through doubt and fear and uncertainty. You write. That is your gift.

Let me go on a bit of a tangent. I’ve been a TV reporter for 40 years now. And when that’s your job, the days on the calendar look different. Holidays? Sure. But news still happens on holidays, so reporters have to work. So in the past however many years, when I was a general assignment reporter, holidays as “days off” did not exist. I’ve worked on so many Christmases and Thanksgivings and New Year’s Eves, I can’t begin to tell you.

For a reporter, holidays are just like any other day. It’s often, though, more difficult to come up with a story.

One year? I went to LL Bean, which stays open on Christmas Day, and did my story as a Christmas carol. To the tune of Deck the halls.

Deck the halls with racks of Hollofill

Parkas, vests and pants, and hullaballoo

It went on to:

If you hate your new apparel

Never mind

Stand in line

Take it back!

Another day I had to do a story about the people who were working onbChristmas. So I did that to the Twelve Days. I wont batter your sensibilities with the entire thing, but here’s part of it that I remember:

On the first day of Christmas, I found a worker bee

A barista giving coffee for free.

And then:

On the fourth day of Christmas, I found some worker bees

Two firefighters waiting

Three cops patrolling

Four nurses smiling

And a barista giving coffee for free.

And then

On the fifth day of Christmas, I found some worker bees:

Five EMTS!

And it went on.

But the thing is—as a reporter, there are no personal Christmases. And you still have to write, the very most creatively you can.

As an author, now, in addition, that may disappear, too. My deadline for the new book is January 1. Ah, do I write Christmas cards? Or write my book?

Do we get a tree? And decorate it with all red bows and candy canes? Or do I write my book?

Do I make Christmas dinner for my family and grandkids, with prime rib and Yorkshire pudding and puffy apple tart? And then light the Chanukah candles? Or write my book?

Okay, I make the dinner. And the candles. And then I write the book.

But no tree. And you’ll get your holiday cards from me—for New Years. Okay?

The holidays are the time you realize the glorious wonderful challenging life-changing glory of writing your book is your first priority. Always. Always.

Usually.

So yes, we’ll go back to our keyboards the 26th.

But we know we will do it.

The need, the obsession, the joy to the world of writing is something is personal and timeless and yes, we can take a break. We can! Because there’s nothing that’s going to keep us from it.

Happiest happiest of holidays, my dear ones.

And the gift is this: We have our imaginations, and our creativity, and our passion. What could be more glorious than that?

—

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, winning 36 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. Nationally bestselling author of 11 thrillers, Ryan’s also an award-winner in her second profession—with five Agathas, three Anthonys, the Daphne, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. Critics call her “a master of suspense.” Her novels are Library Journal’s Best of 2014, 2105, and 2016, and her highly-acclaimed TRUST ME was chosen for numerous prestigious Best of 2018 lists. Hank’s newest book is THE MURDER LIST. The Library Journal starred review says, “Masterly plotted—with a twisted ending—a riveting, character-driven story.”

http://www.HankPhillippiRyan.com

Insta  @HankPRyan

Facebook. @HankPhillippiRyanAuthor

Twitter  @HankPRyan

THE MURDER LIST, Hank Phillippi Ryan

“An exhilarating thrill ride that keeps you turning pages.. Ryan deftly delivers a denouement as shocking as it is satisfying.” —Liv Constantine, bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish and The Last Time I Saw You

Law student Rachel North will tell you, without hesitation, what she knows to be true. She’s smart, she’s a hard worker, she does the right thing, she’s successfully married to a faithful and devoted husband, a lion of Boston’s defense bar, and her internship with the Boston DA’s office is her ticket to a successful future.

Problem is—she’s wrong.

And in this cat and mouse game–the battle for justice becomes a battle for survival.

The Murder List is a new standalone suspense novel in the tradition of Lisa Scottoline and B. A. Paris from award-winning author and reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan.

BUY THE BOOK HERE

 

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips