Let Christmas Decorations Enrich Your Writing

Janet here. Step into our house this time of year and you'll immediately know that we love Christmas by the Nativities, trees, garland, centerpieces, Dickens Village displays, candles, Santas, wrapped packages... 

You get the point. So what does our Christmas decor have to do with writing? you may ask.

It struck me as I sat gazing at our transformed great room that I'd developed a setting rich with sensory details that not only evoke the five senses, but also elicited in me a wide range of emotion. I thought it would be fun to look at how Christmas decorations impact us and then transfer what we notice to our storytelling.  

The tablecloth is a quilt my hubby's grandmother made.
The covered candy dish belonged to my grandmother.

The first thing I noticed was that my decorations and other elements of Christmas stir the senses. 

The jewel-tones, sparkle and glamour of our ornaments delight the eye.  

Velvet-covered balls, prickly boughs, glass birds feathery tails, the soft snow in village scenes all beg to be touched, especially by inquisitive little fingers.

Carols are playing softly in the background at my quiet house, bringing me peace and joy. Perhaps at yours the music is barely heard over the laughter of children or the noisy snowplow running past your windows. 

At Christmas, our taste buds and noses have a field day with the aroma and flavor of homemade goodies. I don't use scented candles due to allergies, but if you do, perhaps the fragrance of vanilla or cinnamon candles drifts in the air. 

My Dad wore this tie and hat every Christmas 

Strong writing evokes the senses. Christmas is a great time to notice the impact of the heightened awareness of the senses, then translate that to the descriptions in your novel's setting. Every scene brings a new setting. Even if the location is the same, the character whose head you're in sees the setting differently depending on what's going on with him externally or internally. For example, think of the impact of your Christmas decorations on a serene evening, then imagine how they'd impact a character grieving a terrible loss at Christmas.  

My decorations don't merely evoke the senses. Most have some age, many have huge sentimental significance, others are fun and battery operated like this Santa in my kitchen "Rockin' Round the Christmas Tree." One glance at our nostalgic ornaments reminds me of little ones now grown and loved ones missing at the table, yet forever entrenched in our hearts. All these ornaments produce memories and those memories carry emotion. 

Take some time and look at the details around your decorated house. Do some of the decorative elements have you choking back tears, sighing with contentment or giggling like a kid? If so, grab a pen and write down what you're feeling. Don't name the emotion, like happy or sad. Instead describe the emotion, the reactions you're experiencing inside and out. Record your thoughts. Record what produced the emotion and why. Once you have a whole list of emotional triggers and reactions, you can use them to elicit emotion in your stories, any story, not just a Christmas story. You can always switch up the trigger for something else, just as long as it's meaningful for your character. 

Nothing makes fiction more believable than the stuff we take from real life. 

Our grandchildren are teenagers now and no longer
run their little fingers through village snow.

I'll share an example. Outside my kitchen window is a one-antlered reindeer made of small logs and twigs with a tassel nose and google eyes. It was given to me by my daughter when she was twelve. Right before Christmas that year she got mad at me about something and said she would return my Christmas present, except she'd broken it and couldn't. She's a grown woman now with teenagers of her own. I'm proud of the person she is, of her strong faith and love for her family and yes, her love for me. If you're a mom, perhaps you can identify with a mother-child conflict that could lead to this scenario. 

I cherish that little reindeer. Some days the memory he evokes makes me laugh. Other days, when I'm feeling nostalgic, the memory bring tears to my eyes, as it does now. 

This is my broken Christmas gift 

As I type this, tears flood my eyes and start running down the back of my throat. My nose is running and I've got this awful lump wedged in my throat. Now I'm feeling ridiculous and laughing like a nincompoop, but the tears are still there. Cause you know what? I miss that young girl. 

But time flies and there's no going back. Except in our memories. I may never use that a little one-antlered reindeer in a story, but don't want to waste the emotion it triggered. Give your readers that same experience by utilizing what creates emotion in you, and they'll love you for it. 

For many of us, the older we get the more nostalgic we become. At least that's true of me. If you're young with small children, immersed in the busyness of daily life, you may not "get" this post at all. If so, talk to a parent, listen to their ornament induced memories and borrow that emotion to enrich your stories. 

I realize for some that memories of the past hurt, especially at Christmas, and it's too painful to go back there. If so, my prayer is that God will give you peace that passes understanding this Christmas.      

Readers and writers, what in your decorated house evokes emotion? Share in the comments for a chance to win an eCopy of my heartwarming novella "A Daddy for Christmas" and a $10 Amazon gift card.

When Rafe Rafferty discovers he’s a father, he returns to Bountiful, Indiana, to marry the mother, only to learn she died after childbirth and her sister Tess is raising his child. Rafe falls head over heels for his daughter and for Tess Russo, a woman who doesn’t trust easily. Especially the man she thinks abandoned her sister. Can Rafe prove he’s worthy and conquer the protective walls Tess has built around her heart?       

For breakfast I've brought homemade coffeecake, egg bake, cinnamon apples, coffee and tea. 

Janet Dean grew up in a family who cherished the past and had a strong creative streak. Her father recounted fascinating stories, like his father before him. The tales they told instilled in Janet a love of history and the desire to write. Janet is a two-time Golden Heart finalist, Genesis and Carol finalist and a member of Romance Writers of America and American Christian Fiction Writers. Her Love Inspired Historical novels are also Golden Quill, Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, Booksellers Best, Inspirational Readers Choice Award and Holt Medallion finalists.