Wise Men Give Writing Tips

For the last few years, Fiction Notes has offered writing tips from famous holiday or winter characters. In keeping with that tradition, we offer this year 7 writing tips from the 3 Kings.

Happy Holidays!

As our holiday gift to you, We are offering all 5 Winter and Holiday Writing Tips series posts as a free pdf:

Download Winter Writing with Kids Pdf Now – Free.

Happy Holidays! Included are:

• Santa Claus’s Top 5 Writing Tips
• 12 Days of Christmas Writing Tips
• The Gingerbread Man’s Top 5 Writing Tips
• Frosty the Snowman’s Top 6 Writing Tips
• Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer’s Top 5 Writing Tips

We Three Kings

1. We three kings of Orient are
   Bearing gifts we traverse afar
   Field and fountain, moor and mountain
   Following yonder star

   Orient the reader. Character, setting and goals are immediately set up here. We know WHO (Kings), WHAT (bearing gifts and following star), WHERE (afar – over many different terrains), and WHY (to follow the star and deliver gifts). When you write, try to orient (pun intended!) your readers right away, so they aren’t confused about what is happening in the story.

2. O Star of wonder, star of night
   Star with royal beauty bright
   Westward leading, still proceeding
   Guide us to thy Perfect Light

   Verbal Play: This refrain or chorus is playful and fun to repeat. Try to find places to play with language as you write.

3. Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
   Gold I bring to crown Him again
   King forever, ceasing never
   Over us all to rein
   (Repeat Chorus.)
   

   Specifics: It’s important to be specific in a story and give details, The next few verses will give specifics of what gifts are being brought to the newborn King: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

4. Frankincense to offer have I
   Incense owns a Deity nigh
   Pray’r and praising, all men raising
   Worship Him, God most high
   (Repeat Chorus.)

   Use Sensory Details: Even in a song, the writers recognize the importance of including sensory details, things you see, hear, smell, taste and touch. Here, the smell of incense is highlighted. Make sure you highlight other senses, too!

5. Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
   Breathes of life of gathering gloom
   Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
   Sealed in the stone-cold tomb
   (Repeat Chorus.)

   Summarize when space is limited–but do it with verbs. The summary of the life of Jesus is amazingly compressed into about nine words. Notice the importance of the verbs in this compression. Verbs hold much of the action of a story and by emphasizing verbs, you can strengthen almost any writing.

6. Glorious now behold Him arise
   King and God and Sacrifice
   Alleluia, Alleluia
   Earth to heav’n replies

   Epiphany/climax: The word ephiphany originated in religious literature as a moment when God/heaven is revealed in a splash of light and glory. Singing about the resurrection of Christ is indeed an epiphany moment. In your story, did you actually WRITE and climax of your story? It should change everything for the characters involved. Here, Christ’s resurrection changes the world as he offers a new way for men to have a relationship with God and the response of the song is, “Alleluia, Alleluia.” A true epiphany.

7. O Star of wonder, star of night
   Star with royal beauty bright
   Westward leading, still proceeding
   Guide us to Thy perfect light

   Denoument: A final repetition of a chorus is a fitting end. It repeats the verbal play, while replaying for the reader/singer the travel of the Magi.