I find that the arrival of the holidays that are part of your religious and/or national orientation force you to to look back however briefly, generating memories. These memories, often fleeting and incomplete, can be true gold when writing your current screenplay or novel. Truman Capote’s short story, “A Christmas Memory” is a small masterpiece that uses a religious holiday as a frame for a story, while the film Born On The Fourth Of July is a great example of how a national holiday can inform the narrative.
As an exercise:
What holidays did your main character and villain or obstacle celebrate growing up? How did they feel about them? How do they feel about them now? Do they celebrate alone or with family and friends? Do they look forward to it.
BONUS TIP: Audiences always want to see the first experience, for example the first date, as opposed to the second. This is not always possible, so setting a key scene on a holiday can be a great way to make a scene feel like it’s the “first time.”
Good luck and happy writing
