Gratitude With Attitude

Given that we’re well into April (and partway through Holy Week) I thought I’d start with a Christmas question – what’s the most boring part of Christmas? Is it:

 

a)    Watching The Wizard of Oz for the thirty-fourth time?

b)    Peeling the sprouts?

c)     Singing an obscure carol with nineteen verses?

d)    Writing thank you letters.

 

I hate to admit this in such an illustrious company of writers, but for me – as a child – it was definitely writing my thank you letters. True, the first sentence was always easy – “Thank you for the soap-on-a-rope (remember those?)/chocolate orange/threepenny bit”. This was usually followed by a large sigh as I chewed my pencil and wondered what else I could possibly write that would be of interest to Great-Aunt Ethel (whom I hadn’t met since I was a baby).

 

However, thankfulness – or the lack of it – can be a useful tool in our writing. Do our characters frequently display gratitude, or do they tend to be critical of life in general? How would Ebenezer Scrooge’s approach to writing thank you letters have differed from Father Cadfael’s? Writing such a letter also offers our characters an opportunity of self-reflection, so can provide fresh insights for the reader.

 

Even in non-fiction, the writer’s tendency to thankfulness (or otherwise) can come across on the page and have an impact on the reader. I’ve recently read a review copy of That Gentle Whisper, by Bill Cahusac, which is infused with the author’s thankfulness to God. Reading through Twitter, on the other hand…

 

So, here are some suggestions for using gratitude in your writing:

 

·       Write a thank you letter from the perspective of one of your characters

·       Write a short piece on a topic that interests you using a thankful voice – then rewrite with a critical voice

·       Many of the Psalms are filled with expressions of gratitude – have a go at writing your own

 

Let me know how you get on – I’ll be very thankful/appreciative/obliged/indebted to you/grateful if you do!


Fiona Lloyd is Chair of the Association of Christian Writers and writes regularly for Together magazine. Her first novel, The Diary of a (trying to be holy) Mum, was published by Instant Apostle in January 2018. Fiona also works for Christians Against Poverty.

 

Twitter: @FionaJLloyd & @FionaLloyd16


Comments

  1. So I'm not the only one writing about Christmas in April! (It's my A to Z Challenge theme.) I remember taking until halfway through January to finish my Christmas thank you letters, but the ones that I had to thank by phone were really scary. I never knew what they might ask!

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    1. It was always letters in our house, fortunately - I would have hated having to do it by phone.

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  2. I had to learn the power of thankfulness when I was brought to a place of realising how negative I could be in my thoughts and speech. I began to practice thankfulness and it has transformed my outlook and thinking. It's an interesting thought about how much thankfulness infuses our writing. I guess that depends on how much thankfulness is a part of our lives. My main protagonist in The Healing had to learn the power of thankfulness too!

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    1. Thanks, Joy - interesting that your protagonist has been on that journey!

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  3. One unpleasant memory I experienced every Christmas back then as a girl in Nigeria was staying in the kitchen to help in the preparation of festive dishes with my mum and other helping hands while at the same time, listening to the laughter of my brothers with my dad in the living room and their enjoying xmas carols at the background![ A very long complex sentence! I know.] It expresses how I felt then at the complexity of my being born female!
    Expressing thankfulness in writing is a great tool. Thanks for the reminder and suggestion. I remeber CS Lewis Screw tapes or something like that. I think Fiona, I will go for the first challenge of writing a thank you letter from the perspective of one of my characters. This will happen in the book 2 of Prophetess!![Soon to be published] What a wonderful idea.Maybe in my prologue or a chapter opening. Fabulous!!! Great post. Blessings.

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    1. Thanks, Sophia - good to hear you're taking on one of the challenges.

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  4. Well, they call me the Christmas Queen around here, so I pretty much love everything about. What I find challenging is taking all the decorations down. We have numerous nativity scenes--one for each room or tree--so it takes me a while to put everything up, but take down is such a bummer. I think that's why I used hymns as lullabies for so many years: it helped me hold onto the joy of the season longer.

    https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2022/04/blogging-from-to-z-2022-kindness.html

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    1. One of mine was a terrible sleeper - I spent many nights singing a combination of hymns and carols! Thanks for commenting.

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  5. yes thankfulness blossoms even as we ponder it. I remember the soap on the rope was a good way to keep the soap from falling into the shower.
    Keep Moving
    Im grateful for a job where I get to encourage people who are in dire situations.

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    1. I'm glad someone else remembers soap-on-a-rope! Thanks for reading and commenting.

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  6. I hated writing thank you letters as a child. I don't really know why. I love it now. Do we have to learn an attitude of gratitude? Perhaps.

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    1. I'm sure it takes practice! - although I'm still not the best at writing letters.

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  7. I am so thankful I read this post. I will try to incorporate gratitude in my upcoming chapters.
    Dropping by from the A-Z challenge as I begin every sentence of each chapter of my fiction with the letter of the day :)
    https://momandideas.com/2022/04/14/l-for-less-words-more-work/

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  8. As a child, I too had to write the dreaded thank you letters! Thank goodness we live in an age where children can say thank you over the phone, or via Skype or Facetime.

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