The holiday season makes people
feel excited for something, anxious and happy. It's a thrilling time,
and it's a time when everyone's wallet is a little more open than usual.
So writing about the holidays is tempting. After all, doesn't the
Hallmark channel need new movies about Christmas every single year?
Obviously holiday stories are in demand. So why shouldn't you write
about them?
Don't worry -- I'm going to tell you why.
My Thanksgiving with YouTube
Let
me start by telling you a story, since I am a storyteller. I was
planning a pretty big event about three years ago, and I was so into it I
was barely sleeping at night. So a few days before Thanksgiving, I
found myself cruising forums at 3am. It's not as bad as it sounds -- it
was a party-planning forum. And there was a link to a YouTube video, and
I'm a sucker for those.
It
ends up being a video diary of this Australian guy who was getting the
wrong email. Apparently, he had the same name as an American and he was
on the family mailing list in lieu of the correct person. This is how he
became aware of an intriguing discussion about Thanksgiving. He read
about deviled eggs, and turkey, and stuffing and gravy and all sorts of
different back-and-forth. It was fascinating stuff, so much so that he
launched a YouTube campaign in order to find this family.
They
contacted him, and he traveled all the way to America to celebrate
Thanksgiving with them. He posted videos of his entire adventure, and I
spent the entire holiday avidly watching. You see, this was special
because they don't have Thanksgiving in Australia.
It's
unique to the United States, because it's a holiday that was originated
by the Pilgrims. Those kinds of things never occur to me, when I'm in
the midst of the holiday season. I assume everyone is shopping pumpkin
pie recipes and thinking about stuffing on the fourth Thursday in
November, but that's just not the case.
And
that's the point of my rather long story: writing about the holidays
can alienate a huge audience. Write about a holiday that's unique to a
country (like Canada's Boxing Day, or the Fourth of July in America) and
you're going to be writing about something that's foreign to many
readers. That means you have to write about the holiday really well.
Explain what it's about, why it's a holiday, all of that stuff -- and
do it without screwing up the narrative of the story. Otherwise, your
readers may just sit through the story scratching their heads and that's
no good for anyone.
Even
international holidays, like Halloween, are pretty tricky stuff. Many
of these holidays aren't related to a country, but they are related to
religion. Christmas is a prime example of this. It's a holiday
associated with Christians, so some of your readers may be unable to
relate to this story. How can you write it in a way that's relatable to
everyone? That's another one of the challenges that come with writing
about holidays.
It's
difficult, but it's doable. Take extra care to explain the event, and
what's unique about it, so your readers can fully understand what's
going on. Find the common themes in the story that make it relatable to
everyone, in spite of their religion or origin. A story about the
holidays that's well-written can become a timeless classic. After all, A Christmas Carol was just another story, once.
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