Visions of Sugarplums: Writing Christmas

When a writer touches pen to paper during Christmas, hollies and cranberries appear. Lights dance and visions of sugarplums fill the skies. We can’t help ourselves. Christmas is magical, whether we love the magical or not.  

I revel in the holidays and overload myself with reading and writing Christmastime. 

Here are a few tips to keep your Christmas readers filled with holiday cheer! 

• Stay timeless. Use terms many generations can understand, such as Father Christmas, the Nativity, and wise men, rather than ski bidi sigma Ohio rizz trees. 

• Add a Christmas element here and there, evenly distributed throughout the piece. No one likes a cookie loaded with icing on one half and the other half bare and lonely.  

• Christmas is about emotion. Dry stories about the doctrine of the nativity fall flat. Even the most theological pieces should reflect the joy and awe of shepherds, wise men, and Mary.  

• The symbology of Christmas is spectacular. Everything about the celebration of Christ’s birth has meaning, from stars to presents. Use symbols to highlight deeper meaning.  

• Tension at Christmas is significant. It’s a time when people lose jobs, family fights pop up, health crises appear, and natural disasters strike. However, the resolution should be far more heartwarming at Christmas than the frightening catastrophe. The recipe should be the following: Add a cup of warm resolution for every teaspoon of tension.  

• Love, hope, and redemption are major Christmas themes. Don’t stray into other themes, such as Just War and Eschatology, unless your name is J.R.R. Tolkien and you’re writing Letters from Father Christmas for your children.  

• Sensory is your friend. Write smells of gingerbread and pine. Add dazzling color everywhere. Christmas music is a joy. Cold nights and hot chocolate are a stunning combination. The taste of eggnog and cinnamon is fun. And that unique sixth sense that those who have gone on before are forever with us on the holidays can be a unique way to round out your writing. 

Writing about Christmas can be rewarding and a positive way to engage readers. Enjoy a tall glass of eggnog and a plateful of sugarplums while you craft the words that change the world. Blessings!