On Short Stories, O.Henry's Gift of the Magi, and Writing Gifts

courtesy Wikipedia Commons

"One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies..." --from O.Henry's The Gift of the Magi

This time of year brings to mind an all-time favorite short story, O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi. It's a story that planted itself in the heart years ago and took root while other short stories simply faded away.

Familiar with the tale? Young Della with glorious, cascading hair cannot afford what she would like to give her husband for Christmas: a watch chain befitting his most cherished possession, a fine gold pocket watch that had been handed down from grandfather to father to himself. So what does she do? She visits Madame Sofronia and... (I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read the story! But I offer a link here at American Literature online if you want to read it for yourself.)

At the same time, without Della's knowing, dear husband Jim ("James Dillingham Young") has himself done the unthinkable in order to purchase the one beautiful thing he knows his wife would be pleased with, which was...

Can you fill in the blank? O. Henry, pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), was a master of irony and plot twists (hence The O. Henry Award, an annual American award given for an exceptional short story, first presented in 1918). And although The Gift of the Magi was written in 1905 and in the language of the day, the writing is timeless, enduring, and endearing as well. The title of the story is an allusion to the Christmas story of the Magi bearing gifts for the Christ-child (Matthew 2:9-11 NLT).

Gift-giving. Gift receiving. For writers, the writing gift goes two ways. As author Amy Tan has been quoted as saying, "Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself, and it's a gift of giving a story to someone."

In a recent entry over at Writer Unboxed,Vaughn Roycroft authors the article, "The Gifts of the Writing Life" (found here) and enumerates a list of gifts he believes a writer receives. Among other things, he includes heightening empathy, broadening outlook, stick-to-it-ive-ness and fortitude. In his concluding remarks, he says: "So regardless of our pub status or sales, regardless of whether we made our word count goals or all of our deadlines this year, let's remember the gifts we are receiving simply by way of doing what we love."

I think O. Henry would agree.

On my list of gifts that I believe a writer receives, I would add:
--a sense of exploration and discovery
--an increased awareness of detail and beauty
--challenge offered, challenge accepted, challenge ongoing!
--great friends

Echoing the question that Mr. Roycroft asks in his article: What gifts has the writing life given to you? I think it's important to occasionally review all the reasons we stay the writing course :-)

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. And happy writing to those who continue to open--and give--the gift of writing.

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