With the holidays upon us, this is the season of giving. As writers, not only do we give to others in the traditional sense, but we also give the gift of our words to the world. Yet, most people don’t know how much those words actually cost in sanity, time, and even money.

I contemplated compiling a list of what writers would have on their gift wish list, but beyond the regular things like specific pens or pencils, note cards, sticky notes, a new laptop, light up keyboards, a comfy writing chair, and fancy writing programs, well….that was pretty much all I could think of to share. Besides that, it varies writer to writer.

So, if there was no limit to our wishes, I bet our gift giving/receiving would become a lot more interesting.

Unrealistic Wish List for Writers:

1. Writing snacks don’t lead to weight gain.
2. Typing burns a lot of calories.
3. Your imagination easily translates into words on the page.
4. Plot holes magically fill without the use of a literary shovel.
5. Our books write themselves.
6. We “get it right” on the first try.
7. When we sit down to write, all the words flow from our brain to the paper. Every time.
8. People stop thinking writing is a fun little hobby that they’d like to do if they had free time.
9. Traditional publishing doesn’t take forever and ever and ever. And ever.
10. Dynamic covers on all our books.
11. Hundreds or thousands of pre-orders before our release date.
12. Characters obey.
13. Chapters flow easily.
14. No one leaves bad reviews.
15. Our books become movies.
16. Children are quiet and angelic as we write.
17. Book signings have no lull.
18. Computers never start updates in the middle of our writing time, nor do they do an automatic update/restart before our document is saved.
19. Our manuscripts can’t be accidentally deleted or lost in a computer or technology failure.
20. We are never crippled by self-doubt and believe in our awesomeness without being full of ourselves.
21. We have a super power to not need sleep at writing conferences.
22. We don’t have introvert moments where we wish we were extroverts.
23. People don’t exhaust us.
24. Yoga pants and PJs are fancy attire.
25. We look just like our edited author photos.

While these probably aren’t’ going to happen any time soon, you can continue working to improve your craft, find better ways to accomplish tasks, attend writing conferences to learn new techniques, and work hard toward your goals without inhibiting yourself. Big dreams have never hindered success.

If you could have one (or ten) writer wish granted, what would it be?

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Wendy Jessen is the author of more than 500 articles—family-oriented articles on familyshare.com and book reviews. She recently started a website for something she is passionate about–helping victims of sexual abuse find hope and healing. Wendy is the mother of 6 spirited children ranging in age from 5 to 15. In the throes of writing a few books (fiction and nonfiction), she finds ways to procrastinate which usually involves scrolling through social media. Wendy often stays up way past her bedtime reading, loves kid-free date night with her husband, family vacations, and kids’ bedtime, aka, the human version of whack-a-mole.