How Can The Festive Season Unleash Our Creativity?
It’s that magical time of year again. Christmas trees, amazing arrays of lights on houses and festive songs making their way onto the radio. Whether you’re cooking Christmas dinner for friends and family or spending the festive season in the sun, there is plenty of inspiration to be found for our writing when it comes to Christmas.
But where can we find that sprinkle of inspiration for our writing? What makes Christmas such a wonderful canvas for our writing and our creativity? We will explore these questions in this blog!
1. Christmas Films And Music
One of the most powerful things about creative writing is how we can find inspiration for new ideas from anything. This includes our favourite Christmas films and music.
Whether Home Alone is your all-time favourite Christmas film or if A Wonderful Life is your film of choice, the storylines, characters and script are just some of the elements we can draw inspiration from during the festive period. For example, you could use your favourite line of dialogue as a writing prompt and see what emerges.
Next time you’re watching your favourite festive film or listening to your favourite Christmas song, jot down anything that strikes you and let those creative juices flow! There is potential for you to find the next plot line for your short story or the title of your next poem. Keep a record of these in your writer’s journal, or you could even create a festive-special writer’s notebook to collect all your future Christmassy ideas in one place.
2. Christmas Memories With Friends And Family
From a hiccup with that Christmas turkey to a hilarious present from a loved one, we can make all kinds of memorable moments over the festive period. These can be valuable both from a personal perspective and for our writing.
Besides being new treasured memories, these moments can have another use too. We can draw on them for creative writing material. They might inspire a character trait within our protagonist or help us capture a valuable snippet for our memoir. There are so many paths for our creativity to explore!
3. Christmas Writing Prompts
We love a good writing prompt here at Derbyshire Writing School, and this includes some festive ones! In fact, we even created 25 fun festive writing prompts for you to try! From Santa’s workshop being invaded by aliens to a superhero teaming up with Frosty the Snowman, the potential for fun, creative ideas is endless.
To help you really focus, you could even try a writing sprint. Set yourself a timer and keep your hand moving. You never know what might paint itself on the page. If you’ve not tried a writing sprint before, you can check out our tips for how to write fast here.
Here are ten Christmas-themed writing prompts to spark your creativity:
A young child discovers that their beloved stuffed animal comes to life only on Christmas Eve, and together they embark on a magical adventure.
In a world where Santa Claus has retired, a group of elves must find a worthy successor to take up the mantle and save Christmas.
A cynical journalist is assigned to cover a small town's annual Christmas festival and unexpectedly finds love and the true meaning of the holiday spirit.
A family's cherished Christmas ornament holds a secret that once revealed, changes their lives forever.
Santa's reindeer go on strike just days before Christmas, and it's up to a group of misfit toys to convince them to return to work.
A time-traveller finds themselves stranded in the past during the very first Christmas and must find a way to ensure the holiday's traditions are established.
In a post-apocalyptic world, a small community struggles to maintain the spirit of Christmas despite the bleak circumstances surrounding them.
A woman receives a mysterious advent calendar that seems to predict her future, leading her on a journey of self-discovery during the holiday season.
A group of strangers find themselves trapped in a secluded cabin on Christmas Eve, and they must work together to uncover the reason behind their mysterious gathering.
A young girl discovers she has the power to make her Christmas wishes come true, but she must learn to use her newfound ability wisely before it's too late.
Christmas Can Provide Us With Fresh Creativity For Our Writing
While the festive season is a great chance to relax and spend time with our loved ones, it can also provide us with the opportunity to experiment with our writing and explore some fun, festive avenues. You never know what you might create or where it might lead.
Have you got any plans for your writing over Christmas? What do you enjoy about this time of year? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Get in touch with us at info@derbyshirewritingschool.com.
