Thursday, December 10, 2015

The Gift of Writing for Fun





The Gift of Writing for Fun
By Terri Weldon
 

Terri Weldon
This year the holiday decorating theme for my office at work was Gingerbread men. Each of us were given two felt Gingerbread men and told to create a scene. Now I had the entire door to my office to decorate and these two little guys didn’t come close to filling up the space.
 
I’m not the least bit crafty. So I stared at the blank door and my two little people without a clue what to do. After a good while I decided to see how the others in the office were progressing. So I looked at the scenes on the walls and admired their creativity. My mind, as it often does, remained blank. Finally one of the gals in the office suggested I make a Westie to go with my people.

That simple suggestion jump started my brain. I went back to my desk and created a Gingerbread woman. I won’t bore you with the details of her cute little outfit, but it was quite fun. Next I whipped out my IPhone and searched for Gingerbread men. I found a man in a red and green outfit and busied myself with dressing the hero in my story in a similar fashion. Yep, you heard me, the hero.

From the minute I decided to make a Gingerbread couple the romance writer in me began formulating a story. So the one page novelette A Gingerbread Romance was birthed. And yes, I actually wrote it. The story became the inspiration for my door. My decorations played out the story and I even went so far as to cut the dialog out and attach it to the door in the appropriate places. I had a blast. In fact I received an unexpected gift – at work of all places – the gift of writing for fun.

This wasn’t written for publication and while I did the best job possible on the story I didn’t have to worry about pleasing a publisher, agent, or reader. A Gingerbread Romance was designed for my enjoyment and mine alone. As silly as this may sound, it was liberating. Reminded me of my love of writing and creating.

 
When was the last time you wrote something just for fun? Probably too long. I hope you’ll take a few minutes today and write a quick holiday story of your own. Let my Christmas gift to you be the gift of writing just for fun.

Merry Christmas!
 
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Misty Winslow is determined to find her prince, and she meets the man of her dreams through an Internet dating service. Or is he, because the new dentist in town also sets her heart aflutter.

It's love at first sight for Tyler Davenport, but before he can finish his first root canal, Misty is involved in an exclusive online romance with Wes99—Tyler’s online persona. How can he tell her he’s the man she’s been waiting to meet, and how rational is it for him to be jealous of Wes99! Soon Tyler's pulling out all the stops to woo Misty.

As Christmas approaches, Wes99 and Tyler both ask her to meet them under the mistletoe. Which man will she choose?

Terri is a lead analyst by day and an author by night. She enjoys gardening, reading, and playing in the hand bell choir. One of her favorite pastimes is volunteering as the librarian at her church. It allows her to shop for books and spend someone else’s money! Plus, she has the great joy of introducing people to Christian fiction.

She lives with her family in Oklahoma. Terri has three dogs – a lovable mutt and two adorable Westies.

Terri is a member of ACFW and OCFW, a local chapter of ACFW. Her dream of becoming a published novelist came true in November 2013 when Mistletoe Magic released from White Rose Publishing. To learn more about Terri visit her website at www.TerriWeldon.com.