3 Tips for Finishing Writing Projects in Time to Enjoy the Holidays

by Larry J. Leech II @LarryJLeechII

“It’s the most wonderful …”

Sing along if you know the words.

We’re finally past Halloween, and just finished Thanksgiving. So, the focus now is on … Christmas! The trimming of the tree. The carols. Oh, the beautiful, so beautiful carols. The gift-wrapping. How can I forget the eggnog? That wonderful, delicious eggnog.

And let’s not forget those year-end deadlines for editing, writing, coaching, anything writing related.

Learn to Love Accuracy in Writing

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

Ah, those dreaded edits. We who edit love it when we receive those pieces that require little editing—although we do love to play with words and sentence structure. After all, why else would we edit, other than to help writers improve their crafts—and make a few dollars along the way? 

Many of us who edit also write, and I dare say we don’t enjoy the editing part of our writing process. Deep inside, we know our babies have imperfections, but the editing process delivers pain—as does the admission that our work needs help. 

Sharing Jesus' Gifts Through Our Writing

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

What is it about the Christmas season that makes our culture more open to sharing the love and magic of Christ?

I know. I’ve heard a zillion times how our culture has highjacked Christmas. They’ve taken the meaning of Christmas and made it a marketing ploy instead of truly focusing on Christ. You would think Christmas was made to get us to look at the sales in the stores instead of the baby in a manger.

Writing on Deadline When You Feel Sad

by A.C. Williams @ACW_Author

The Christmas season is upon us with all its tinsel and lights and general chaos. I love Christmas. It’s my favorite time of year. But the pure joy of the season has changed a bit from when I was younger. Sometimes this whole adulting thing really stinks.

It’s a natural part of life that what brought us joy as children will change as we age, and it’s not even bad that it happens. It’s part of growing up, where your perspective matures and your relationships change. But along with that change often comes sadness. 

Grief and sorrow hit harder during the holiday season. Sometimes it’s missing a person who isn’t with you anymore. Sometimes it’s memories of how things used to be, how you wish they still were. Sometimes it’s just being around other people who are celebrating when you don’t feel like celebrating. 

A Writer's Christmas Wishes

Edie here. I have a Christmas wish too. We'd all be so honored if you'd nominate The Write Conversation for the Writer's Digest 2025 Best Writing Websites! All the details are below Lynn's post. THANK YOU!!!!

A Writer's Christmas Wishes

by Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn

Ah, December. 

That glorious time of year when children try to be on their very best behavior, parents try to find the perfect gift that their child didn’t decide was the perfect gift until December 23rd, and writers wonder how many times they have to tell their significant other that all they really want is three days alone to write. 

When it comes to Christmas wishes, my motto is “Go big or don’t bother,” so here are a few things I think most writers would love to find under the tree this year. 

1. A notebook that is beautiful AND makes you WANT to write in it. I can’t be the only one with a stash of notebooks that I simply can’t bring myself to sully with ink! #unicornnotebook

2. A writing spot where no one texts, calls, or comes to “check to see if you’re alive” — except for when you *want* them to bring food or coffee. #yesIamalive #noIdonotneedtoseethefunnymemeonyourphone 

3. A muse that shows up during daylight hours. Or, really, at any time other than thirty seconds after you go to bed or ten minutes after your available writing time. Mine has been a bit overactive around midnight lately. #dobetter 

4. A revision Brownie. No, not that kind of brownie. I’m talking about the mythical kind of Brownies that come in, clean up the mess, and can never be spoken of. Of course, an actual brownie to eat while doing revisions would be great, too. But a revision Brownie? Come on! Why can’t these be real? #revisionsmakemecry

5. A perfect plot twist—the kind that makes readers tell all their friends that they have to read your book. Now. To be clear, we don’t want this plot twist to come to us through any negative real-life experiences. We want to make our characters suffer, but we don’t want to suffer! #toomuchtoask?

6. A first draft that flows without any hiccups. As opposed to the normal kind. You know, the kind that leaves writers curled in the fetal position while questioning all their life choices, crying in the shower, and/or looking up employment opportunities in the Caribbean. #IhearArubaisnice 

Okay, so I know that if this is my wish list, I’ll be disappointed on Christmas morning, but it’s fun to dream a little, right? 

I’ll leave us with one final, far more realistic Christmas prayer for all of us. 

I pray we find pockets of creativity in the chaos of the season—whether it's scribbling a sentence between holiday parties or dreaming up plots while untangling lights. And may the new year bring us stories that fire our imagination, inspiration to fuel our craft, and just enough typos to remind us that perfection is, indeed, overrated. 

Grace, peace, and merriest of Christmases to you all!

Lynn

TWEETABLE

A Writer's Christmas Wishes from @LynnHBlackburn on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Lynn H. Blackburn is the award-winning author of Unknown Threat, Malicious Intent, and Under Fire, as well as the Dive Team Investigations series. She loves writing swoon-worthy southern suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy, but her grown-up reality is that she's a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters by putting them into terrifying situations while she's sitting at home in her pajamas! She lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina, with her true love, Brian, and their three children. Learn more at www.lynnhblackburn.com.

NOMINATE THE WRITE CONVERSATION!

Here's a link to the page on the Writer's Digest Website, explaining the process:

https://www.writersdigest.com/be-inspired/call-for-27th-annual-101-best-websites-for-writers-nominations?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR14DSaKo9gbfZ2miI9oTFKH-e7X8w9-fT2kvpMAj2I8aRKopuZET7gfs-Y_aem_sdTZ4zkPCQQH8L3wnUp2_w

If you want to go directly to the nomination form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNSzfth0NdK3Mu38LTtDW4lvAy5QVhByn1NHkJZahtognX8Q/viewform?fbzx=1230564438574371411

Just click on this link to nominate The Write Conversation—and any other sites you love. 

No matter whether we make the list or not, I KNOW we have the best community of any blog on the internet! 

Thanks & Blessings,

Edie & The Write Conversation Team 

Finding Power When We Find our Point of Difference and Write From There

by Sarah Sally Hamer @SarahSallyHamer

No matter what we write, no matter who we are, there is a point of difference between us and every other writer and, ultimately, between every other person. This is an amazing part of the What is our point of difference? It's what makes us who we are, it's our core, our belief system, the way we express ourselves, and the things we write about. It's the part that makes us real. 

It also directly affects what we write and how we do it. 

Writing in First Person Personal, The POV Jefferson Used To Write The Preamble

by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells

First Person Plural POV is one of four subcategories under the category of First Person POV.

While the pronouns I, me, my, and mine are found in First Person Epistolary, Flashback, and Cinematic, as the name implies First Person Plural shares events from a group of people. First Person Plural uses We and Us, Our and Ourselves.