The Magic of Christmas

Last weekend my family and I traveled about an hour north of Pittsburgh to cut down our Christmas tree. We’ve been going with my brother and his family for the last several years to cut down our trees together. The first few years were rough. Trudging through the snow carrying one son wrapped in blankets in the snugli baby carrier, while balancing the other on my hip because he was too tired or cold to find the perfect tree. One year I thought my husband would have a heart attack after he used a dulled handsaw to cut down the ten foot tree, then drag it by himself from the valley all the way up the snowy hillside to our car. I nearly caved several times and picked the tree already wrapped and ready to go. Almost. But that was seven years ago. My kids are four and eight now, and we’ve all become seasoned tree hunters. We use a chainsaw, a handheld GPS (marking the perfect location of our favorite trees), walkie talkies (in case we get separated), a digital camera to take photos to compare our favorite trees and a measuring tape to ensure we have the right size before we make the cut.

We drive our truck down the hillside and let the kids sit in the warm car with hot chocolate while we cut the tree and lift it into the truck. Not to sound cliché, but we live and learn. It’s the struggles and the triumphs that bring magic to holiday stories like these. If we simply bought a tree every year at our local greenhouse, that would make for an awfully boring story. And our tree would cost $85.00 instead of $20.00. The magic lies within the colorful details and the special memories we’re making for our family.

It’s the same with your writing. You have to get your character from point A to point B. While the beginning and the end are important, it’s the magic that happens in the middle of the story that the reader will remember. All too often as writers, I believe we have a clear visual or written outline of our story, and we don’t want to stray from that structure. But sometimes, if we don’t let the characters choose their own paths, the story becomes contrived and forced. You simply lose the magic because as the writer, you’re not able to give up the control and allow the characters to take over. One time I wrote a scene where the girl reached over and kissed the main character. He was surprised at how forward she had become. So was I. It wasn’t something I had planned for her to do. And that’s a good thing. As writers, we need to give our characters enough independence to get into trouble and create their own magical stories.

If my husband and I weren’t persistent in finding easier ways to cut down our tree, we would still be tired and sore from dragging the tree and the kids or worse yet, given up completely on cutting down our own tree. And where would that have left us? With no traditions or memories to share with our children. The same emptiness a story has without a magical middle. Or the frustration a writer feels getting through a first draft. If you give up, the story doesn’t get written.

So this holiday, my gift to you is five magical ideas to make your holiday special and five magical ideas to make your stories sparkle.

Holiday Ideas

1. Cut down your own Christmas tree. (Wear boots, gloves and park close to where you’ll cut)
2. Make ornaments for your loved ones. (Every year my mom and dad gave my brother and I an ornament to celebrate something special that happened that year. I kept the tradition for my sons. Above is a homemade ornament my mom received over 30 years ago from a boy in her cub scout den. It still hangs on our tree today. Here’s a link to a similar ornament. http://kids.creativity-portal.com/d/projects/sled.ornament/

Or pick up the Big Fun Christmas Crafts and Activities (Williamson Little Hands Book) by Judy Press where you’ll find fun and easy holiday crafts to do with your children. http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Crafts-Activities-Williamson

Little/dp/0824967860/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292129230&sr=1-1

3. Mix together reindeer food to sprinkle on the ground Christmas Eve so the reindeer can find their way. Here’s how:

      Ingredients:

      ½ cup uncooked oatmeal

      ½ cup glitter (sparkly holiday colors)

      ½ cup red or green sugar crystals (used for cake decorating)

Place ingredients in a plastic bag, seal and shake. Sprinkle it on your lawn on Christmas Eve so the reindeer can find their way.

4. Buy used books at your local library or a used book store for a person who can’t get out to purchase new books or make a wreath like this one. Follow this link to learn how: 

http://www.ilovetocraft.com/holiday/christmas-yarn-wreath.shtml. Take the books and the wreaths to a local nursing home for the residents to enjoy.

5. Give a gift of homemade goodies to someone. (See recipes below)

Story Sparkles

1. Write your first draft uninhibited. Tear off the scabs.
2. Make a bad scene way worse.
3. Put your characters in unique or awkward situations.
4. When rewriting, start with a blank page and rewrite it ALL so you’re not tempted to leave in mediocre first draft writing.
5. Write a story that excites you, and it will surely excite your readers.

I will leave you will my Aunt Lee’s biscotti recipe. She just turned 90 last month (Happy Birthday Aunt Lee!) and sent me her recipe and along with four dozen biscotti to eat. Yum.

Biscotti recipe:

Ingredients:

1 C. shortening (if you’re looking for an organic non-hydrogenated shortening, I highly recommend Spectrum)

5 eggs

1 ½ cups sugar

5 tsp. baking powder
4 cups flour

1 tsp. anise extract
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream shortening and eggs. Add flavoring and remaining ingredients. I put my dough (bowl and all) into the refrigerator for at least an hour. The dough will be easier to work with.

Mark the dough into four sections. The dough may be rolled into a log shape. Keep the logs narrow because it will spread when baked. Grease pans (6x12). Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until brown.

When loaves are slightly cool, slice and return to the oven to toast. 

I will also share with you my Grandma’s delicious pizzelle recipe:

Ingredients:

2 C. flour

1 ½ C sugar

¾ C butter or margarine (melted and cooled)

1 Tbsp. anise extract or vanilla

4 eggs, slightly beaten

2 Tsp. baking powder

Preheat pizzelle iron. Mix flour, sugar, butter, anise extract and eggs. Drop 1 tablespoon onto heated pizzelle iron and close. Cook about 30 seconds or until golden brown.

Both of these Italian cookies go great with coffee.

Happy holidays!

Holiday Gifts: A Hanukkah Celebration for Writers and Readers

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was dumping a leftover turkey carcass into my crock-pot along with an onion, carrot, celery and eight cups of water. Then the next thing I knew, it was time to celebrate Hanukkah!

Oh wait! It was just yesterday that I was making turkey soup - and it is already time to celebrate Hanukkah. The celebration of Hanukkah is determined by the Hebrew calendar which changes each year in relation to the Gregorian civilian calendar. This year Hanukkah happens to begin quite early, on December first. And since the Route 19 Writers are blogging on the theme of "Giving and Receiving" for the month of December, I'm here with timely Hanukkah gifts for our readers. Enjoy!

The first gift is a little info about Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights. The holiday, a relatively minor one in the Jewish calendar, celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. There’s a hero named Judah Maccabbee, a candleholder called a Menorah and a miracle involving oil that burned for eight days. For a good read about Hanukkah I’d recommend the Caldecott Honor Book by Eric Kimmel, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins and for kids celebrating both holidays, My Two Holidays: a Hanukkah and Christmas Story by Danielle Novack.

Your next gifts are a series of tips on writing how-to books. These days I'm spending a lot of time working on fiction, but I’ve written a few craft books in my day, all for Williamson Publishing, which is now an imprint of Ideals Publications. For several years I was also a contributing editor for Parenting Magazine where I devised crafts based on various found materials, my favorite being the lowly toilet paper tube from which I crafted a noisemaker, elephant, ring toss, candle holder and tree trunk! In the process of writing directions for literally thousands of crafts and supplemental activities and from teaching lots of arts and crafts classes, I've gotten pretty experienced (and efficient) at writing nonfiction instructional books.

Tip Number 1 Begin by asking yourself why anyone would want to read your book. It may sound like a harsh first step, but if you aren't pretty sure you have something to offer a decent-size audience, there's probably not much point in proceeding. 

Tip Number 2  Come up with a unique twist on your subject. There are lots of how-to craft books out there, not to mention lots of free stuff on the internet. In Big Fun Christmas Crafts & Activities I included a section titled, “Customs Around the World” that offers a multicultural learning  experience for teachers and home-school parents, and I always include plenty of supplemental material to make each craft a “whole learning” experience; these features make my books worth their cost to my audience. While you're at it, it's not a bad idea to come up with a title that's an attention grabber - one that promises to provide the reader with entertainment as well as knowledge - but as my titles show, the winning selection is likely to be one that clearly states what the reader will find within.

Tip Number 3 Write an outline of your book. Structure is incredibly important so begin with the major sections of your book. It sounds obvious, but it's overlooked often enough that I'll say it anyhow: group like with like. That's better than being clever for busy users. Then flesh out your table of contents. Subtitles need to be explicit - and appealing.

Tip Number 4 Keep directions clear and concise. It's harder than you'd think - so find some testers to give them a shot. Are you missing steps? Unnecessarily wordy? Is anything confusing? Remember that illustrations, diagrams, and other images can add clarity so don't duplicate their information.

Tip Number 5 Do your research and check your facts whether you’re writing biography, history, travel or memoir. It may be time-consuming but there’s nothing worse than having a reader report an “error” to your publisher after your book has been published. A reputation for inaccuracy will end your career faster than an indifferent review.

The next gift is a craft that is quick and easy for all Little Hands to make as a holiday gift. Pair it with an appropriate book for the perfect present:

A Snowman Bookmark

Here’s What You Need:

1. Construction paper (any dark color) cut into a 2” x 8 1/2” strip, plus scraps

2. White stick-on dots (found in office supply stores)

3. Clear Contac paper

4. Hole punch

5. Ribbon

Here’s What You Do:

1. Stick dots onto the paper strip for a snowman. Use markers for the snowman’s eyes, mouth and arms.

2. Cut out trees and other decorations from scraps of paper and glue them on.

3. Wrap the bookmark in clear Contac paper then trim around the edges.

4. Punch a hole in the top of the bookmark and thread ribbon through the hole. Ta-Da!

And one final gift: A simple, healthy recipe to polish off the last of the turkey leftovers:

Easy Slow Cooker Turkey Stock
1 turkey carcass (you can add the giblets and other gross bits if you'd like)
1 med or 1/2 large onion, skin removed
2 small carrots, scraped
1 stalk of celery
8 cups water (you can substitute chicken broth for some of it if you want)

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 5-6 hours. Discard solids and strain stock and it's ready to use in your favorite soup recipe. It also freezes well.

So all in all, that makes eight gifts - one for each night of Hanukkah!