As writers, we are always looking for themes for our stories. One of the greatest themes around, IMHO, is that of holidays. It gives us a common thread with our readers, a shared experience, of sorts, even though our personal experiences will differ. Holiday themes can be applied to many different genres - romance, mystery, general fiction, even science fiction can be written around a holiday theme.
There are a lot of different elements to holidays that can be used for the focus of a story:
- food
- family
- family relationships
- family expectations
- travel
- community events
- thoughts and emotions triggered by the holiday (such as someone close dying during the holiday, the breakup of a relationship, a divorce, a major physical move, a major profesional move, meeting someone new)
These elements can be used alone, or woven together to create a memorable story. We can bring things in from our own experience, from the experiences of other individuals that we know, and from our own vivid imaginations.
In many ways, we can actually work through our own holiday issues by writing about them, by having our characters come to resolution with their issues, and by providing the "happily ever after" that we would really like to see in our own lives.
What holiday attracts you? Why? What can you gain by writing about it?
(c) November 2018 Bonnie Cehovet
Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.
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