I’ve spent the last week reflecting on Aesop’s thoughts on gratitude in light from the fables he recorded and that we still share to this day, and I noticed a trend. Many of his most famous fables include representations of both noble and ignoble souls—The mouse and the lion and The tortoise and the hare come to mind first.
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered, what role does gratitude play in writing?
When I think of noble souls in literature, no soul stands out more in my mind than Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggin’s loyal friend and companion. No matter how dark things got, there was always some sort of silver lining to look too. And it wasn’t because he was the eternal optimist. It was because he was at his core a genuinely grateful person. And the was reflected in all he said and did.
How can gratitude elevate our writing?
One of the common driving factors of characters in books is the desire for something more. Sometimes it’s the desire to see something new. Sometimes it’s the desire to find a family or sense of belonging. Sometimes it’s a desire to tear down something that is harmful and replace it with something better that will benefit the community.
These things are all needed and good, but as I consider the stories that have resonated with me the most, I’ve noticed that the ones standing out most are the ones where the main character begins with a grateful heart or learns to have a grateful heart.
And it’s made me consider my own writing and my own characters.
I’ve asked myself what they desire most and what they fear most as I develop their stories, but I’ve never made a practice of asking what they’re most grateful for. And I can’t help but wonder what I would discover if I did.
Would I find a Who from Whoville? Or would I discover a Grinch? A Tiny Tim or a Scrooge?
And now I’m curious. How would observing my character’s sense of gratitude and looking for subtle ways to subtly weave that knowledge into my writing elevate my story?
I made a decision to scale back my client work for the month of December in order to have a little more time to focus on my own writing before jumping back in fully in January. Having considered what I’ve just considered, I think I’m going to find a way to explore gratitude (and the lack of it) in my main characters as I dive into my revisions next month.
Would you be interested in hearing what I discover along the way?
—Jen
Bottom image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay