Writing short pieces as gifts

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sparkypants

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Hi guys, hope everyone is well and hope this is the right place! Please move if not.

I've decided this year that I want to write some little stories for a few friends as Christmas presents, and whilst I was (/am) really excited by the idea, when I sit down to actually write I draw a huuuuge blank.

Has anyone done this? Did you include your gift recipient as a character? Did you make it all Christmassy? I find outside of a few classics most Christmas stories are just tacky and cheesy. On a slightly off topic question has anyone read any good xmas stories that weren't total cringefests??
 

alleycat

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They print those children's books with a Christmas theme, where someone can use the name of whatever child they'd like and have it used for the children in the book. I see TV commercials for them here in the US.

Your idea would be similar.

You need ideas for the stories?
 

thothguard51

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Ahhh, kind of late to start on this project for this Christmas...

I think its a nifty idea and would love it if one of my kids or friends did this. But that is not to say my non writing friends or kids, would love the book I write for them beyond...ahh that's sweet, I'll read it when I get a chance...
 

sparkypants

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ideas would be good! and i dunno whether or not to use my friends as characters or not. has anyone ever had anything (fiction) written about them? i think i'd find it a bit weird!
 

alleycat

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I assumed when you said "friends" you actually meant children, or children of friends. Are you talking about writing stories with adults as characters? I think having children in a little fictional Christmas story would be fine; adults, not so much.
 

Puma

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I've used a lot of writing as gifts - for my family, some of my own, some from the prior generation, some genealogy, and even a few short stories about more distant ancestors.

The big question is whether there's any common thread that ties your friends together - college chums so you could write about some of the things that happened during your college days, work buddies so you could write a fictional story about whoever you despise?

You'll want to touch emotions somehow - humor is frequently the best vehicle to use.

Hope this helps a little bit. Puma
 

thothguard51

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Not exactly the same, but I was challenged to write in a genre my best female friend could understand. She has to imagination and does not understand fantasy fiction.

I wrote a series of short romance stories and after reading them, she said she could not share them with her husband because he would see that the main character was her. (I have know her and her husband for over 30 years, I know all their ups and downs. Everyone says if you do not want to be part of Nicks books, don't talk around him...lol.)

She asked me how I knew such intimate details about her and I had to remind her that she is not the only one I talk to but also her husband. She absolutely loved those stories and keeps them in her memento box, which I think is sweet.

Not sure I could have done that with anyone else though, or if I would want too...
 

sparkypants

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ahhh see thothguard51 that's so nice! that's what i want to do, rather than just give something that they won't remember i'd rather give them something sentimental.

alleycat they are (young) adults, early 20's. and christmas does seem to work much better with kids but it gets a bit samey after a while. but it's true most of the few good xmas stories are kid-centric.

we were all at school together but have been closer since we left. hmmm, will take some thinking! anyone got any good ideas or prompts i could start off? (cheeky ask i know!) x
 

jennontheisland

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if your friends are going to be characters, the prompts would be something specific to them.

Joe is an accountant but loves sailing... write a story about him escaping the balance sheets and sailing off into the sunset.
Sally has always dreamed of skydiving, but doesn't have the guts to do it.

See what I mean?
 

alleycat

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I have a friend (who is also a member here at AW) who has written a story or stories about her family's misadventures at Christmastime. Every year they do some kind of manger scene and every year it comes close to being a complete disaster. It doesn't help having three great dane dogs play the animals around the manger, hyperactive children in the scene, a "Joseph" who keeps fiddling with the lights, and a nutty grandma or two.

I've written poems for people (for their birthday, or . . . to apology for doing some kind of guy thing). I put it on a fancy-smancy colored border and it looked nice.

I can still give you some ideas if you're interested. Sentimental but humorous? Or, sentimental and touching?
 
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citymouse

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Including your friends in your work can be risky.
A one time friend of mine wrote a short story. She used many of her friends as characters, using their "real life and situations" while changing their names. Some of her friends felt that her descriptions were too close to the truth and thus readers would figure out their identities. My one time friend made adjustments for her friends.
In my case she used my real name but changed my "real life situation". She made me a truck stop whore! I asked that I and my "character" be removed from the story. My friend refused.
I threatened legal action. The story never saw print, and as far as I know no one read it.
C
 
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whimsical rabbit

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if your friends are going to be characters, the prompts would be something specific to them.

Joe is an accountant but loves sailing... write a story about him escaping the balance sheets and sailing off into the sunset.
Sally has always dreamed of skydiving, but doesn't have the guts to do it.

See what I mean?

Darn, Jenn! You got there first.

I suppose I have to settle with just seconding you :)e2brows:). This is what I'd do, too. Use the recipient of each short story as the MC, and place them in fictional scenarios synthesising elements from their idiosyncrasies, possibly their alter egos, dreams, habits etc. This can work as an excellent character-creation exercise anyway, because constructing characters is all about perception of human mentalities and idiosyncrasies.

This is a brilliant idea. In fact, I like it so much I might just copy it. :tongue
 

Kate Thornton

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ideas would be good! and i dunno whether or not to use my friends as characters or not. has anyone ever had anything (fiction) written about them? i think i'd find it a bit weird!

My husband and I appear in one of Sue Ann Jaffarian's newer novels, MURDER IN VEIN as the "couple next door" - I as a 200 year old vampire and DH as pretty much himself. She plans on killing us off sooner or later...

She uses our real names, too. I really like it, and it was a real fun surprise!

(Sue Ann is a friend of ours, btw)



.
 

thothguard51

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ahhh see Thothguard51 that's so nice! that's what i want to do, rather than just give something that they won't remember i'd rather give them something sentimental.


I think the reason this worked is because the recipient was very receptive to the idea. She knows I write and she knows I will stop and talk to anyone who shows an interest, and she always shows an interest.

Had I done this for someone else who was nothing more than a casual friend, or even some of my family, I don't think it would have been received as well.

But that is just my opinion based on what I feel.

IF you know the person well enough to know they would appreciate something like this, then by all means...go for it. My friend cherishes the stories I wrote for her and I cherish her sentiment, so there was no harm or foul done...
 

thothguard51

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My husband and I appear in one of Sue Ann Jaffarian's newer novels, MURDER IN VEIN as the "couple next door" - I as a 200 year old vampire and DH as pretty much himself. She plans on killing us off sooner or later...

She uses our real names, too. I really like it, and it was a real fun surprise!

(Sue Ann is a friend of ours, btw)



.

That is very cool. I like it when authors do stuff like this with their friends. They are meant as inside jokes of course, but it is so cool to the people who support our habits...
 

Kate Thornton

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I wrote a series of short stories for a couple of my Army buddies a few years ago - things like "How Artie Broke His Ribs" - fiction account was a hoot, the real rib breakage not so much, so it was good to get a laugh from him - and "How Marc Taught The Utah Guard" - wherein Marc, an exemplary instructor, suffered a day of classroom mishaps in the desert. I did one for each of the guys in my small platoon, and gave them printed copies with Starbucks cards and they were delighted. It was some time back, and they still remember it.


.
 

Miriel

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For stories about Christmas...

Currently I'm reading "Alphabet of Dreams" by Susan Fletcher (who wrote my favorite YA book ever, "Shadow Spinners"). The characters are involved with a magi, but I haven't finished yet.

Which reminds me that there's an O. Henry story about gifts with a pocket watch chain and hairbrushes.

I also love the movie "While You Were Sleeping," which isn't cheesy and is set around the holidays -- a lot about family in there. And hilarious.
 

Phaeal

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Fan ficcers write stories for each other all the time, and many communities run "Secret Santa" events in which stories are exchanged. If your friends are fans of anything, you could delight them by writing them a fic in that universe, and you could give them a cameo or larger part interacting with their favorite characters.

Christmas stories don't have to be about Christmas. M. R. James and his circle exchanged ghost stories to celebrate the holiday -- such fireside tales are traditional, too.
 

quicklime

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Hi guys, hope everyone is well and hope this is the right place! Please move if not.

I've decided this year that I want to write some little stories for a few friends as Christmas presents, and whilst I was (/am) really excited by the idea, when I sit down to actually write I draw a huuuuge blank.

Has anyone done this? Did you include your gift recipient as a character? Did you make it all Christmassy? I find outside of a few classics most Christmas stories are just tacky and cheesy. On a slightly off topic question has anyone read any good xmas stories that weren't total cringefests??


wow...I guess it depends on your audience and what you want....

I've never considered such a thing, but you need to think of the people you're writing for and their impression as well as your writing. It could be interpreted as the work of someone so cheap they did some scribbling to avoid spending ten bucks at Barnes and Noble, or the work of someone with such an inflated ego they are saying "This Christmas, I wanted to give you the gift of ME".

Because of either of those I would not "go there", but I can understand where some friends and parents might also go absolutely and adoringly bugshit over their very own story. You'd have to look at the recipients and go from there.....well, that and get yourself to write something.

Good luck,
Quick
 

quicklime

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if your friends are going to be characters, the prompts would be something specific to them.

Joe is an accountant but loves sailing... write a story about him escaping the balance sheets and sailing off into the sunset.
Sally has always dreamed of skydiving, but doesn't have the guts to do it.

See what I mean?


and in this case, tread carefully....

John may not be nearly as amused as you are if you write him as a booze-happy philanderer, no matter how much he jokes about it inconversation, when you take the time to present it in detail and in print.
 

heza

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My writer friends and I give gift fic, usually it's fanfic of a favorite show or movie that they get to be a character in. But sometimes it's also (usually by either request or permission) sort of a fanfic of their original work or an original character of theirs.

I have a friend this year who is going to draw me a character sketch and I'm going to set up a time to do narrative role playing with her, her in the role of her original character and me in the role of dashing rogue. *waggles eyebrows* That, or I'm just going to write her a bunch of drabbles lauding her original character's awesomeness.

But, yeah, I only gift fic with other writers. I don't think my family would enjoy it at all. I have artsy friends who would know the effort that went into it and would be all about the "from the heartness" and creative energy--the gift of self and all--but I still probably wouldn't do it for them either.

This year, I briefly considered creating short kids' books for my nieces and nephew (4 to 8 yo) as stocking stuffers, but didn't have the time to really ponder it.


Hez
 

seun

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Interesting idea but a little dangerous. The closest I've come is writing a poem for a friend as a wedding gift a few years back. It was more for his wife than him and she seemed to like it.

They got divorced two years later.
 

Radhika

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I'm doing this for all of my December birthdays - I don't believe in Christmas.

@seun

Agreed, creations can be dangerous. Good luck?
 

jaksen

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I wrote a comedy-adventure series for myself and a Swedish friend years ago. It was all posted online. He and I saved the world on numerous occasions. I wrote it for his amusement and now it's gone, unless he saved a copy.
 
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