Writing as a Gift

What am I supposed to give Anthony as a wedding gift? I asked Kristin, my maid of honour and person-who-was-married. I mean, what kinds of things do brides give their grooms? I was thinking of hiring person to clear the home before we left for the honeymoon so wed move back to a immaculate house. Is that a nice wedding gift?

Um, no, she aforesaid gently, so as not to do me feel like an idiot. It should be thing personal. Like, you could paint him a picture, or do a scrapbook, or write him a poem...

A poem? Why, I had at least a dozen poems Id written simply about him that hed ne'er seen. And if I wrote a few more, Id have a whole chapbook!

Thats exactly what I did. Over the next couple of months, I wrote more poems. I wrote the final one the day before our wedding, capturing my feelings on the eve of our marriage. Then I written them out, three-hole-punched them, ready-made a cardstock cover, and tied the pages together with ribbon.

On our wedding day, I took him aside after our ceremony and see him the last poem. It was a perfect gift.

But you dont have to wait for such a monumental occasion to use writing as a gift. One of my friends writes childrens books and illustrates them, then gives them to her grandkids on their birthdays. A booming salutation card publisher started out her business because she used to write innovational cards for all of her family and friendsthey admired them so more that they bucked up her to offer her sentiments to the masses.

Ive besides given personal essays to anthologies, simply so I could give the book as a gift to the person the essay was about. I wrote a love letter to Anthony and sent it off to be promulgated in the collection Love Letters of a Lifetime, then gave it to him for Valentines Day.

A verse form I wrote for my grandma was ready-made into a plaque by the James Lawrence Company. A verse form to my parent was ready-made into a plaque as well, which I gave her for Mothers Day.

For my bridal shower, a family friend gave me two journals: one for Anthony, one for me. On the card, she wrote her instructions: We were to write in our journals every day, and exchange them on our 1st anniversary.

Your words dont have to be promulgated to be gifts. You can design your own prints, cards, banners, and books on your computer, or go truly hand-made and pick up a pack of construction paper and markers.

If you want to get fancy, you can hire an creative person to do you a cover or design your activity for you. Finding them couldnt be simpler: try Googling illustrators, graphic designers, or artists and see for yourself!

You may write and self-publish your family history as a gift for all your relatives and futurity generations. Print-on-demand companies do this an low-cost option if you shop about and do away with the extras.

You may use a program like Greetings Workshop to design a calendar. You can insert your own photos and poems or short sentiments, and even as write in your own ingenious holidays.

Write your own romance, leading you and your significant other, as an day of remembrance gift. (Could be a short story, or a novelette if youre feeling ambitious!)

Write a story to be see every Christmas as a new family tradition.

Write an sacred verse form for a relative whos in the hospital.

Write a limerick to stick in your daughters lunchbox.

At the local printer, a personalization shop, or several places online, you can have your words ready-made up into a t-shirt, mug, poster, bumper sticker, magnet, or plaque. Its fantastic to find that strangers enjoy your promulgated words, but it can be even as nicer to find that your words can light up your childrens eyes, or your spouses, or your parents. A gift of your talent and your heart is generous, and more important than thing you could get at the local mega-mall. Spend several time now writing for person you love.

About The Author

Jenna Glatzer is the editor-in-chief of Absolute Write (www.absolutewrite.com). She has written for hundreds of national and online magazines, and her latest book is Do A REAL LIVING AS A FREELANCE WRITER, which you can find at www.jennaglatzer.com. Find out how to get a FREE editors' cheat sheet with this book!

Copyright 2004 Jenna Glatzer. All rights reserved.

This article may be freely reprinted as long as my bio and copyright remain in tact.

This article was announce on Gregorian calendar month 31, 2004