Fitting Holidays in Fiction

On this Winter Solstice, the thought of fitting holidays into fiction comes to mind. If you’re writing a story about a particular holiday, the whole issue is fairly straightforward. But what if you’re writing a romance that happens to take place during, well, this time of year, for example? Suddenly, Christmas becomes a part of that story and maybe New Year’s Eve and Day, too. It can totally change your story, adding in elements that are part of those holidays, such as the issue of dealing with family or having no family to deal with and feeling all alone. Those elements make some writers hesitate to include any holidays in their work.

Another factor is your fiction genre. Horror at Halloween is one thing. I’m not sure about horror at Independence Day or Mother’s Day, but then, a good writer can probably work it all out. Horror at Valentine’s Day is a no-brainer, though. As for science fiction, there could be holidays, but different ones. Grgolh Day, for example, where the founding of the planet Grgolh (“Home” in the language of the original inhabitants) could be one – a time of massive celebration around the planet and the perfect time for a planned murder or two.

The main goal is to make the holiday work for you, not the other way around. Your readers will certainly expect certain things from that holiday, but you have plenty of ways to add your own touches. A great example is the movie Die Hard, which many people forget takes place at Christmas. Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman certainly don’t share any holiday cheer between them. Your characters needn’t either. As usual, you, the writer, are in control. Have fun with it!

And wishing you a happy holiday season!

An Extra for You

For ten years I wrote articles about tea, researching information far and wide and putting it together into an organized fashion for readers of the two company blogs I ran as well as my own site. Part of those efforts was this fun little read called the 12 Days of Christmas (with a tea slant). Enjoy!