Like most people, I enjoy getting presents on my birthday and holidays. Whether you receive them for traditional annual events or just because gifts are a nice gesture to give and receive.
Thanks, I Love It!
Make a list of the five best gifts you have ever received. It can be something you got when you were a kid, something special a relative or loved one gave you recently or something you gave to someone they loved.
Describe the moments leading up to opening the gift. Were you excited? Anxious? What did the wrapped gift look like? What was your initial reaction to the present? What did you do with it after you opened it? Do you still have it?
Take some time to really describe this gift-receiving/giving moment. Use the first-person POV to express your feelings in detail and be as descriptive as possible about the gift.
If you gave a gift that was loved by someone, still use the first person to describe how you felt about their response to the gift and why you knew they would love it.
Three I can think of from childhood are the original Nintendo, my new 10-speed bike, and our first family computer with a dot-matrix printer (1994).
BONUS: Thanks, I Hate It!
The same concept, but for a gift you received that you absolutely hated. Did you mask your dislike when you opened it? What did you do with it once the giver left? Do you still have it out of guilt?
Again, use the first-person POV to detail your feelings about the gift and describe the gift in detail.
If you gave a gift that was hated by someone, still use the first person to describe how you felt about their response to the gift and why you thought they would love it.
One that pops to mind: I got the parody game of MYST called PYST, and I wasn’t sure if it was a gag gift or a real one. I enjoyed MYST, so I was confused.
Final Thoughts
This is a great exercise to practice using first-person POV and describing internal and external emotions. And it’s always good to work on detailed descriptions of objects – like the gifts in this exercise – to give the reader a clear mental picture through words.
Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!