The holidays can bring up so much for us, for good or bad. Let’s face it – your characters are people too! Let’s use the holiday season to spice up your writing a bit.
We often either try to have the perfect holiday, planning the perfect party & events, shopping for the perfect gift OR we try to avoid the holidays all together and all of the pain & heartache from childhood it can dredge up.
The rare among us have an amazing time with no family mishaps or disappoints & that is wonderful! BUT not for your characters.
The holidays are a great time of year to use to spice up a section of your story & reveal a bit about your character’s history.
So if you find a section lacking or you feel the need to reveal some major family history, think about setting a portion of your story during the holiday season.
Religious or not, the conflict will show up because this is the time of year that is supposed to be:
- dedicated to family
- happy
- about giving
- making connections
- not being greedy (yet so much is about gifts)
and if your hero is not religious or even spiritual there can be many more layers of conflict here.
As Kimberly Chitwood states in her blog “When taking a family picture, it’s important to be color-coordinated. It’s also important for everyone to look as nice as they can. This is a moment you’re capturing on camera. You’ll cherish this.”
Oh would my hero cringe if his mom said that to him!
Happy Holidays!
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