Made Up Holidays, and Traditons

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author, book, books, chapter, characters, Christmas, editing, fantasy, fiction, Holidays, ideas, literature, novel, personality, read, reader, Religion, science fiction, scifi, stories, story, Traditions, write, writer, writing

Merry Christmas (Or whatever holiday you celebrate) I don’t want to offend, I just prefer Merry Christmas over Happy Holidays.

Christmas, like most traditions, is strange when you break it down. We put living trees decorated in lights inside our homes and children wait for an old man wearing red to come down the chimney and put presents into stockings hanging by the fireplace.

I think that the same needs to be true of fictional holidays. They should have things that make no sense, but that everyone does without thinking about it. I like it when there’s a story behind things, so that the holiday has meaning beyond the traditional thankfulness and giving to others.

It can be hard to capture the nonsensical wonder that real holidays have, which is why authors simply rename our holidays. This makes them relatable and realistic without having to explain endless traditions. (Like Terry Pratchet’s Hogswatch, though like all his writing he takes it for a unique twist.)

Another thing to remember is the world’s fictional religions would probably have an impact on holidays. Though perhaps like Christmas, some people (me) take the parts they like and forget the religious significance.

Do you have traditions in your fictional worlds? How about fictional Holidays?

My world has a religion, but it doesn’t play a large part in my character’s everyday lives. Like a lot of things in my first book it didn’t make it into the actual novel. It’s surprising how short 100,000 words can be when I have all these things I want to put in. Same with holidays, I mention a Winterfest, but I didn’t have the chance to explain it. I figure that’s what sequels are for, those of us who can’t tell a story in one book.