‘Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the boards
not a user was stirring
none of the usual hordes
A lone writer was up writing
putting words on the page
In hopes of telling stories
to be read by any age
The year was terrible
facing down a pandemic
no one knew how to solve it
neither governments or academics
The world needed something merry
A story to uplift
the weary old spirits in a world
where hope is adrift
The worldbuilding was over
and had gone quite well
Backgrounds recorded
with details to tell
Concerns of the world
with constant news of the plague
Distracted him from plotting
no matter how vague
The characters lined up
eager to get to the tale
to see what parts they played
and hoping they’d do well
“I’ll put them in scenes
and see how they perform
they’ll go through character arcs
and at the end of the story, transform!”
He put them in the opening scene
but, oh writer, beware
the characters did nothing
they simply sat there
“Do something, interact!”
the writer implored
still the characters did nothing
the readers were bored!
The dialogue was wooden
Their actions contrived
The readers had no character to follow
or cared if they survived
The writer followed Chandler’s advice
Which was truly amazing
he sent in two goons
with their guns a-blazing!
The characters didn’t care
and took it in stride
they took the writer’s plot
and pushed it aside
“You must do what I tell you,
And say what I want you to say”
the writer told the characters
but they rallied and said “No way!”
“Your plot is so lame
your story has no ‘feels’
listen to what we are telling you
it is totally for reals”
The characters rebelled
and went their own ways
The writer sat back
his mind in a daze
The characters fore-d their own shadows
the plots they did twist
evading the writer’s plans
enforced with an iron fist
The story came out much better
much better, indeed!
This story had zing!
And the readers would read
The story was published
the reactions were stellar
soon the book made it way
to the status of bestseller
The writer came back to reality
sitting alone in his room
the cat walked on the keyboard
accidentally launching Zoom
The dream is still there
waiting to take flight
that’s why he sits at the keyboard
typing away through the night
I hope you enjoyed the story
but before you set sail
I have a final thing to say
as I finish this tale
However you celebrate
no matter the reason
I wish for you all
A Joyous Holiday Season!