We are so busy with the holidays! Baking and cooking. Cleaning and decorating the house. Buying and wrapping presents. Engaging in community activities like “Toys for Tots” and celebration parades. Planning and participating in religious ceremonies. We are struggling with our end-of-the-year obligations at work, and juggling finances. We are hosting friends and visiting family.
In all of this, writing –and finding the time to write– seems like a luxury or dream. But the holidays provide unique cultural material for stories, for poems, for anything you want to write. The myriad of emotions that can come into play during this season makes for a rich opportunity to try to capture them on the page.
Writing in the moment can help you add sensory detail. You can record dialogue as it’s said. You can incorporate the music, the noise, the children’s excited cries as they happen. Video cameras are great, but stories give you more room to explore what’s invisible–the memories, the hidden feelings, the intentions.
So here’s to encouraging all of us to write even during this busy season.
Try these writing prompts from Reedsy: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/holiday/
Or just write!