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Summersgiving 2024
Just as we have Christmas 🎅🏻 In 🎄 July thanks to the Keystone Camp for Girls in Brevard, North Carolina back in 1933, a 🦃 Thanksgiving 🥧 afficionado invented 🌽 Summersgiving 🍉 as a personal celebration back in 2009 and lobbied the National Day Calendar to add it as one of their official days in 2019.
🙏🏻 Gratitude Is Always In Season 🥰
Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. ~William Arthur Ward
Having an attitude of gratitude is a perfect way to lift your spirits. The simple act of appreciating what you have, the people in your life or even the sun rising in the morning can stave off stress and depression.
It’s a pretty big ask when you’re caught up in turmoil or feeling upset about something. Surprisingly, if you can take the time to focus on what you’re grateful for, you’ll find your day gets better in pretty short order.
I can feel the difference when I get up and take some time to appreciate the good things in my life as opposed to the days I get up and go straight to work.
Despite the fact that I completely detest 🌞 Summer 🔥, I’m truly grateful that by having started it will soon be over. As always, I’m looking forward to my favorite season as my least favorite season ticks steadily away.
🌽 Summersgiving 🍉
Summersgiving
Thanksgiving enthusiast and personal injury lawyer, Robert Solomon (of Newark, NJ), loves the holiday so much that he wanted to have one on the first Saturday after the Summer Solstice.
Fantastic, it’s on my calendar from now on. Turkey BBQ, Turkey Tetrazzini, Turkey Cheeseburgers with Turkey Bacon, Turkey Salad, Smoked Turkey Sandwiches and plenty of other Thanksgiving-themed picnic foods would make for a splendid Summersgiving spread.
The best thing about this alternate holiday is that Mr. Solomon designed it to be a celebration of his gratitude for friendship and the sumptuous dishes that brighten his days. Too cool.
👍 Yes, But… 🤨
If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get. ~Frank A. Clark
An interesting thing about how I’m doing with The Sentinels: New Blood is that I’m breaking the oft-stated rule that you should not only deny your protagonists what they want but that you should also make it worse for not having it.
Tanda is getting everything she wants.
But…
You’ll notice that the section header above is linked to the podcast, Writing Excuses. The episode, Why Should My Characters Fail Spectacularly?, explores the role of dramatic conflict in storytelling.
One of the AuthorTubers described it as putting your character up a tree in Act I, throwing rocks at them in Act II and then getting them back down again.
Newer writers refrain from being mean to their characters because they’re empathizing with them. They made a cool protagonist, so why shouldn’t he/she get what they want? This isn’t post-war German storytelling. We don’t have to have everything be insufferably glum and end in heartrending tragedy.
True: We don’t.
What’s recommended in this episode is the concept of Yes, But… and No, And…
The idea of Yes, But… is that you can give the protagonist what they want, but you make it a mixed blessing, bittersweet or just a complete disappointment. I’m doing a lot of this with Tanda.
The idea of No, And… is that when you deny a character attainment of a goal, you not only don’t let them have it, but you rub salt in the wound. I haven’t done much of this, but I’m only up to chapter 18 of 42. There’s plenty of time to flip the script from blemished yes to hell no.
I haven’t gotten to the stage in the craft of writing where I actively desire to torture my characters, but I recognize the need for dramatic tension. I believe I’m striking that balance when I listen to my WIP in playback on my phone. The story flows well, but I’m still lacking sufficient presence of the surface villains. Oh well, that’s what editing is for. Right?
Unlike previous forays, I’m not finding myself painted into any corners. I’ve used my Holiday Season Serial Romances to train myself to start with a vague premise, establish some waypoints and finish up.
The current draft is only a first draft to get all the basic waypoints set. Unlike the Christmas novellas, the tridecology features a much larger cast.
Certainly not as expansive as Tolstoy’s or Martin’s, but each of the main characters have their own circle of friends and family to start with.
Eventually, the villains will have to get their time in the spotlight and they will have cronies and sometimes family members who are relevant to the story.
Hey, it’s 🌽 Summersgiving 🍉. We’re all about friends and family today…
Apart from the grocery bill, I’d be just as inclined to celebrate Thanksgiving every day as to celebrate Christmas 24×7×365¼. This is what Pastor Russ referred to as Thanksliving, and it’s commendable to practice that as often as possible, particularly on a beautiful 🌞 Summer 🔥 weekend.