What's on your Christmas list?

Your very own pony?

A cherry red Ferrari?

A lifetime supply of Ghiradelli dark chocolate?

Not that I wouldn't mind receiving any of those things, but what if Santa brought us all something ever better . . . like a magic wand that could fix any of your problems with your manuscript? What would you fix first? Think about it. One wave and shazam! You could:

- fix a plot hole

- prop up a sagging middle

- develop characters a reader will never forget

- finish the story in the blink of an eye

Indeed, if old Saint Nick gifted you a magic wand you'd never have to suffer through the anguish of fixing these annoying glitches. Pretty sweet, eh?

Nope. Not really.

The flip side of that fantasy is if that really happened, you'd never learn the skills for how to fix those flaws yourself.

Here's the deal, little writers . . . don't wish away all your writerly problems. Those glitches are there for a reason. Sweating through the process of creating a viable manuscript is a valuable experience. It's how you learn and grow as a writer.

So cross off that magic wand on your Christmas list. You don't need it. You just need to park your rear in a chair and push through the hard bits.