3 Reasons For Givin' Thanks the Writerly Way

This TG turkey is a BAMF.

Hello, holidays! Can you guys believe the New Year is almost here? Seems like just yesterday the summer heat was beating down like an oppressive heat-beast, and now Old Man Winter is knocking at our doors. (Southern hemisphere buddies: reverse that previous sentence. Sweet.)

The 25th is Thanksgiving in the U.S., which means there will be much belt unbuckling and TV a-watching going down. I'm going up to NYC to hang with fam, which should be mega fun. And as soon as I get back, it's time to finish these book revisions! Hells yeah.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share with y'all some thoughts this crazy brain's been having on the reasons writers can feel thankful - reasons that may sometimes slip our minds. I know they tend to slip mine, so it was nice to think of these little reminders in the spirit of the holidays!

So what is there to be thankful for as a writer? Well, to write, you need to have...

The Ability I really love this infographic - it points out in a radly designed way the fortunes that members of first world countries often take for granted. Most notably: those amazing literacy rates!

If it weren't for our ability to read and write, well... we wouldn't be able to read or write. Which is an idea that can't be phrased in a more fear-inducing way. Having this skill is one of the easiest things in the world to take for granted, but at the same time, it's an incredible gift that opens up a gazillion doors. Like the one to the world of Harry Potter nerddom! That's, you know, obvs a top one.

The Means With NaNoWriMo coming to a close, it can be assumed that those amazing participators among us have been spending lots of quality time with their keyboards lately. (The best kind of time!)

It's true that it's 100% possible to write with nothing but paper and a pen - heck, that's how it's been done for centuries. But with the advent of technology like computers, the process has been made easier, faster, funner, and many more fabulous -ers. And you know that little tool called the Internet? It lets writers share knowledge, help each other, keep each other sane, and more. So fantastic! Personally I don't think this 'Net trend is going to catch on, but that's just me. Yeah.

The Right We're all at different stages of getting published, if we're going after that goal yet at all. So most of the time, censorship may seem like a problem only for well-known authors who write apparently controversial material. Plus, it's generally a scattered occurrence - one that literary forces work to fight against every day.

But the fact that censorship is a relatively scattered occurrence in places like the YA world... the fact that writers like you and me have the right to write about most anything we want, using most any language we want, and that right is protected by our governments? Now that is cool. Freedoms FTW!

Overall, I feel like the chance to be a writer is a lucky one. Often when we're engrossed in a certain way of being, it's easy to see nothing but the stressful or the objectionable. We all have so much invested in this art we love, and when something goes wrong, it can - understandably - feel like a blow.

But it's important to step back at times and take a look at the things that enable us to have this life - one that, more often than not, delivers happiness and meaning all over the place. Plus, if we couldn't write, who KNOWS what we'd be doing... (Uh-oh.)

What are you thankful for as a writer? As a regular ol' person? (I think there's a difference.) Happy Thanksgiving, guys. I hope your holiday season starts off with a bang! Not the lethal oven-accident kind. The awesome kind. Wh00t!