For Authors: December 10, 2014 Issue [#6699] |
For Authors
This week: Writing and Holidays Edited by: Vivian More Newsletters By This Editor
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In fifteen days, people around the world will celebrate Christmas. Yes, other holidays are found during December, and they become writing topics just as Christmas does. Since I know more about Christmas than other December holidays, I'll use it in my examples, but the ways, the tips to make writing about Christmas apply to any holiday.
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Writing about Christmas
This time of the year brings joys and sometimes disappointments because of the holidays celebrated around the world. Writers use the experiences and emotions of holidays for stories, poetry, articles, and even novels. However, the tendency to make such writings as sugar-sweet and cliché filled needs to be avoided. So, how can we write about holidays, such as Christmas, and make our words "real," believable? Let's examine a few ways.
1. Have a solid plot with a beginning, middle, and end. Follow plot development as for any type writing.
2. Have believable characters. No one is completely nice or completely evil. Use well-rounded, three-dimensional characters. Every "bad" person has at least one good quality. Every "good" person has at least one fault, even at Christmas.
3. Whether the experience of the main characters is happy or sad, use a mixture of emotions. Even if the main emotion is sorrow, even in the midst of grief, some smiles are shared; some laughter is heard. Life does continue.
4. Use correct practices of those who celebrate the holiday. To write about Hanukkah, I would need to research the practices and celebration. Otherwise, any story would be unbelievable because my ignorance would become apparent.
I also draw on my own experiences and observations when writing about Christmas. I may take an incidence I saw or know about and place it during the Christmas season. I may read something and use it in a story. Using "real" incidences in our writing help make our writing more believable.
One of my stores about the Christmas season ("Christmas Wishes" ) came from a friend's experience: Her ex-husband kidnapped their children, and detectives finally found them. I mixed in a few other life-experiences to create a complete story.
Look around and find your holiday story. |
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