Writing for Christmas Time
It’s the holiday season! For many families and writers, that means Christmas is just around the corner. Whether this is the time to see friends and family, remind each other what we are grateful for, cozy up by the fire and read, or eat sweet treats and warm soup, December brings us joy in many ways.
For writers, it can be a time to reminisce about Christmas stories from the past that we read growing up, or to start a new project as the season inspires various stories. By the end of this blog post, you’ll have read writing prompts to draw from for your next Creative Writing holiday piece.
“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.”
Find more quotes about Christmas from famous authors on goodreads.com.
Note before Prompts
Below is a list of Creative Writing prompts centered around Christmas to get you inspired. While not all places have a change in seasons, most people spend Christmas bundled up indoors to escape the cold. Therefore, you must remember sensory details for your writing.
Learn more about description and practice your descriptive skills below.
Additionally, remember Christmas isn’t necessarily a joyful time for all. In consequence, your stories do not need to be all butterflies and rainbows. What would a tragic Christmas story look like? What about a horrific story?
How They Work
Remember that all artists, no matter their genre or medium, draw inspiration from others. Naturally, writers do the same. From book quotes, characters, and writing prompts, you can reimagine someone’s vision and make it totally your own.
Now that Christmas is around the corner, the weather and festivities are a great outlet to think of new ideas to write about. Writing prompts are quick lines or ideas that you can take for your own. Additionally, these prompts are meant to spark new ideas when you are hitting a creative block.
Activity and Reflection
Whether you are writing about Christmas alone or with a group, try setting a timer. When under a time limit, you are less likely to overthink and hit a wall. Rather, you have permission to get messy and throw in random ideas and challenges for your characters. It should be fun, not stressful!
The best time limit is around fifteen minutes. During this time, watch the pages quickly fill up with words. Remember, it is recommended to handwrite these stories for the best overall experience and creative result.
Lastly, read through your work once the time is up. Here are some questions to reflect on to help improve your writing for the next time you do a similar activity:
- Do you have at least two characters?
- Did the scene change from the beginning to the end?
- How many descriptive details did you use?
- How many female characters are there? How many males?
- Was each character distinct from the other?
- What was confusing or ill-explained?
- Can you take any inspiration from this story and expand upon it?
- What do you wish you had added?
- Did you have fun?
- What surprised you?
- What genre grabbed your attention first, and why?
- If you had more time, what would you have changed?
- Was it clear where and when the story took place?
- Could a reader easily tell this was a holiday/Christmas story?
- Not a foot, but a long tail descended out of the fireplace.
- When creating her Christmas list, she remembered to add matches at the top.
- He divulged a plan to finally rid his backyard of those pesky elves in their snow burrows just before his family would arrive.
- Their grandma’s kitchen smelled of Christmas and burning bread.
- When the reindeer watched the stranger huff and puff with freight, they malevolently neighed before charging.
- They couldn’t believe their luck! ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and yet, the entire town seemed to be empty.
- A pack of wolves licked their small wounds while sniffing the air. They knew the snow giant would return shortly. Even its egglike stench dispersed through the air with each gust of wind.
- Huddled close by the fire, it was hard to take his eyes off her. Her cheeks looked like two red apples, her nose was rashy red and dripping, her eyes looked irritated from rubbing, and still, he could see the memories already being archived in her head from their adventurous day of sledding in the snow.
- “Skate faster!” She screamed, hearing the ice break underneath her.
- While opening his stocking, he noticed a tiny ear sticking out of the top that was twitching violently.
- After the church ceremony, a familiar laugh caught his attention, and his eyes perked up. He turned then to see that handsome face and Christmas memories of old flashed before his eyes.
- The carolers soon began to realize they were lost, just as the wind picked up and the streetlights went black.
- Through the house, the wind seemed to dance around, creaking its steps and squeezing its walls,
- While Christmas shopping, the frustrated, tiny boy grabbed the action figure his mother refused to buy him, stuffing it in his pocket right before they entered the checkout line.
- She tasted the Holiday cookies her father had bought her, a rare gesture of kindness, and smiled, crow’s feet sculpting her skin near her eyes. Chocolate and peppermint: her favorite flavor.
- A screeching owl let the townspeople know that Santa was on someone’s roof.
- Alone in her apartment, she paced back and forth before finally picking up her phone. She determined she’d rather be in strange company than alone on Christmas Eve.
- They gathered round the dining room table, full of hot food wafting smells to tantalize even the weakest noses.
- The orphans joined hands around their small artificial tree, complete with presents in plastic bags, and cried tears of gratitude that they could live in the woods and still have a merry Christmas.
- Grandpa and Grandma chuckled after the stories closed, despite their grandkids still frozen with fear at their retelling of the time they were attacked while Christmas shopping.
- After he glued the last candy eye on his gingerbread man cookie, it began to gasp for breath before leaping off the table.
More Christmas Prompts Below
Want additional inspiration for your next Christmas story or writing activity? Below are some more writing prompts to help navigate storytelling for this seasonal time of year.
Comment below your own Christmas prompt ideas! Inspired by one of the prompts? Tell us how your story turned out!
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