Real Words

It’s February now which means that it’s almost Valentine’s Day. That, in turn, means that it’s time to start thinking about the gifts that we’re planning to give to the people that we love. Of course, your greatest gift as a writer is your ability to write. Perhaps you should use that gift to give something special to your Valentine?

Here’s a look at seventeen different things that you could write for Valentine’s Day:

1. A really romantic love letter. Or a humorous one. Or a logical one. Any love letter that you write is going to be a sweet gift that someone else will probably save for many more Valentine’s days to come.
2. A recipe. If you’re the kind of writer who enjoys writing for cookbooks then you may want to come up with a special recipe for Valentine’s Day and write it down. If you want to get really creative, write your own mini-cookbook with a series of aphrodisiac-rich recipes and a few recipes for love.
3. A poem. Poetry is the favored writing of anyone who is in love (or anyone who has recently fallen out of love for that matter). Put the pen to the page and try to get a poem written to express your feelings.
4. Messages on Post-It notes. One of the tips that I love to write about when putting together lists of sweet things to do for a lover is the tip about writing down messages on post-it notes and tacking them to places where they’ll be discovered later. Put your creative writing talents to use and write out really fun things that go along with the place your posting that note. For example, “you’ve got me wrapped around your little finger” would be a cute note inside of a jewelry box where rings are kept and “I feel hungry for you love” goes nicely in the refrigerator.
5. A song. Sometimes mere words are not enough to say what you want to say. Perhaps you’ll be moved to add some music to your lyrics and sing it instead?!
6. Loving fortunes. Or naughty ones. Or silly ones. You can make your own fortune cookies at home and fill them with creative fortunes written from your own imagination.
7. Erotica. Spill your own fantasies on the page written just for you and the one that you want to get naked with. Make it all about your partner and youl. Then read it aloud to him or her on Valentine’s Day.
8. 100 reasons you love that person. You can come up with one hundred reasons if you try. Put them down in a notebook, write them on photos and put them in an album or place them on 100 scraps of paper and stick them in a decorative box.
9. Love sayings on flower petals. Get a flower that has big petals. Get a marker that can write on flower petals (fabric markers work well). Now write “I love you” in a bunch of different ways on each of those petals. Your sweetheart will look at all those “I’m infatuated with you” and “I get excited by you” notes on that flower and fall head over heels in love with you again.
10. Quick love notes in nature. Write out your feelings in the snow or the mud.
11. A blog post about your darling. If you already keep a blog, consider mentioning the person that you love on that blog on Valentine’s Day. Of course, how you do this depends on what your blog is about and how personal you are in it but you can probably find a creative way to insert some public feelings for your partner; after all, you’re a writer.
12. A homemade Valentine’s Day card. Get creative with your artwork and your words and make something special.
13. A booklet of memories. Sit down with a special journal and write out all of the great memories that you have with the person that you love. Leave blank pages at the end so that you can add more stories in the future!
14. A Valentine’s email. Send a flirty/naughty/romantic/sweet email to the person (or people!) that you feel passionately about.
15. A love message in the bathroom. Write out your feelings of love on the mirror either in the steam from the shower or in lipstick.
16. Coupons for your loving services. Make a book of coupons that your sweetie can cash in with you later in the year. Be as creative as possible in coming up with the gifts that you want to give as time goes on.
17. A book. Okay, most of us aren’t going to write a book in the next two weeks. But if you’ve been working on one that is close to publication, consider dedicating it in print to the one that you love. Or let the person know that you’d like to do this once the book is done.

All writers should be able to write something for the person that they love! Incidentally, I have a few other Valentine’s Day articles floating around the web right now if you want to check them out: Getting Creative with Love: 10 Really Cool DIY Valentine’s Projects and 25 Frugal Valentine’s Ideas That Won’t Make You Look Cheap.