by Patricia Bradley, @PTBradley1

A friend and I were talking the other day and my friend mentioned something about writing being like a present in a nice nicely wrapped box. I agreed and we went on to other conversations. But later, I thought about what she’d said. 

At first, I thought about how a gift box is received, how it has to be unwrapped, starting with the ribbon, but thinking of it that way was backward to the way writing is—the ribbon ties everything up at the end. So I shifted to the other side and thought about how you wrap a present. 

You start with the gift itself. For a writer that would be the idea that sparks the story, because that’s a gift for sure! Some sparks are only big enough for kindling or a short story, or they can be big enough to start a forest fire. Sometimes the ideas come full-blown and then there are those times we have to coax the story out by playing what if?

But once you have a solid idea, you put it in a box, which is the setting. It can be a big box, small box, tiny box just like settings can be mountains, beaches, the oceans, islands, big cities, small towns—you pick. But be sure to use all five senses when describing your setting. How does the air smell? Salty? Cold? Does honeysuckle curl around your nose, reminding you of long summer nights? Or is the air dry and arid, maybe dusty?

Next, the box is wrapped in pretty paper—your characters. Your characters can be smooth like shiny paper or elegant like embossed paper, or maybe they’re colorful like the Sunday comics. And just like you have to take time to crease the paper to fold it, so you have to take time to get to know these people you’ve created. The tape represents conflict for those characters because it resists the present being opened. Without tape, there’s no anticipation of discovering what the gift is, and without conflict, your story will be boring.

The bow is the pièce de résistance! It’s the narrative and dialogue that moves the story from scene to scene to the climax. It’s where you mostly show what your character is up although there are times to tell the story. A writer shows when information is important and tells when you want to quickly move from point A to point B.

And the ribbon is, like I said before, where the writer ties up all the loose ends and wraps the story up with a satisfying ending. It’s where the boy gets the girl, the murderer is caught, and justice is served. 

So, can you think of any other ways where wrapping a present is like writing? 

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Winner of an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award in Suspense and a 2018 Carol finalist, Patricia Bradley lives in North Mississippi with her rescue kitty, Suzy. Her romantic suspense books include the Logan Point series and the Memphis Cold Case Novels. She also has written sweet romances for Harlequin Heartwarming available as e-books.