 Noticing Newbies: November 29, 2017 Issue [#8627] |
  Noticing Newbies
This week: Holiday Extravaganza Edited by: Sara♥Jean  
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Holiday Extravaganza
We are surrounded by cultural holidays of all types during November and December. They make perfect story enhancements.
I have had the privilege of living in a different county during my lifetime, for nearly six years when I was an adolescent. My children, as they are growing up, will not have that privilege, and that saddens me.
During my time in other countries, I got to experience how other countries celebrate my favorite holidays. Or do not celebrate them, if they were American holidays. Or celebrate different holidays that we do not celebrate.
I have also experienced, now that the internet exists, how people skew holidays - twisting them in ways that don't fit them at all. Packing them with assumptions, stereotypes, and prejudices, and in some cases, ridiculous made up traditions that don't actually exist in the countries in which they are celebrated.
However, all of these situations make holidays, especially ones outside of our own culture, rich subjects for our stories - whether they are the main topic, or just a side conversation that happens sometime during the story. Having characters who misunderstand them or buy into the stereotypes, and then characters who actually celebrate these holidays, can add conflict, or comedy, or even touching moments into a story, depending on the holiday or the nature of the interaction.
All this would take by you, the author, is a bit of time.
 Research what the stereotypes are.
Research what the real holiday traditions are.
Let the fun begin!
Don't forget to step out of the box and teach people a little something during your story, and maybe learn something yourself along the way! It can be a lot of fun! |
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Here's some comments after my last newsletter "Noticing Newbies Newsletter (November 1, 2017)" . Thank you so much for writing in!
the Wordy Jay  said, "Thanks for the useful guidelines, Sara Jean! You're right in that child characters can often add so much more depth/dimension to a plot."
I think they certainly can, when done right! If they aren't written correctly and added in thoughtfully, they are only a distraction.
Elfin Dragon-finally published said, "It's funny. I'm a person who's never read books with child characters, with perhaps the exception of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson & Eragon. Even then I'm not sure they really count as "child" characters. Even Ender in "Ender's Game" who was about eight when the novel begins, is never really childlike. It always seems the books I pick up with children in them are in situations where they have to grow up too fast. Perhaps because it mirrors my own life? There's some psychoanalysing for you!  "
Ender is much more of an adult than many adults I know, except that he does a lot of maturing. Especially if you read much farther and go past that first book into the series until he finally marries, and such. He has a lot to learn.
Harry Potter is a child, actually. You see he and his friends clearly go through puberty and such.
I think the key to being able to tolerate reading characters of that age is having them being written well. They change much more than adults do and much more quickly because of their brain development and maturity.
When done well, it's utterly fascinating.
I challenge you to learn about a holiday from a different culture - which one did you learn about? |
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