by Lynn H. Blackburn  @LynnHBlackburn

With all the things we have to do during the holidays, it’s easy to set our writing aside. But what if we could incorporate our writing into some of our favorite holiday traditions? Here are a few suggestions that will help you “keep calm and write on” during this busy time of year.

1. Christmas music—I love Christmas music! One of our favorite things to do during the holidays is to turn off all the lights (except the tree of course!) and listen to Mannheim Steamroller or Trans-Siberian Orchestra. My husband usually falls asleep about three minutes into this seasonal ritual, so I’m firing up the laptop and letting my characters come out and play.
2. Christmas shopping—Follow Lynette Eason’s advice (from a class she taught at Blue Ridge a few year’s ago)—take your laptop and pound out thirty minutes of writing BEFORE you enter the mall. When you get home, your bank account will be a little lighter, but your WIP will be several hundred words heavier.
3. Christmas baking—I love to bake at Christmas. Chocolate crinkle cookies, pretzel turtles, Christmas crunch, peanut butter cup cookies, candied cranberries, fudge, nuts covered in anything sweet. Sadly, all that baking tasting equals a lot of calories. So this year I’m hoping to flesh out my novel instead of my waistline. I’m thinking of a word count requirement for each treat I consume. Maybe 50-100 words per cookie. On second thought, maybe I should make it 250 words per cookie.
4. Christmas parties—No, you cannot take your laptop to your husband’s work party, but a small moleskin might not be a bad idea. Make it a goal to notice one unique feature about each person you interact with. Do they have a charming laugh or a dimple? Maybe they have stunningly blue eyes or long eye lashes. Do they seem comfortable in a crowd or are they miserable? Maybe they have a nervous laugh or a deep voice that reminds you of your grandpa. Be intentional about it and then incorporate some of these traits into your characters.
5. Christmas worship—When the holiday finally arrives, put away the laptop, the moleskin, and the pen. Go to a Christmas Eve service. Read the story from Luke 2 with your family. Pray. Rest. Eat too much. Watch football. Make Grandma’s fruit salad and get your dad to tell the story about the time he shot his BB gun at the outhouse (but didn’t know Uncle Rich was in there)! Laugh. Play. Love.

When the tree comes down and life falls back into the regular routine, your words, your stories, your insights, your poems—all will be richer and deeper because of your experiences this season.

Merry Christmas!

Lynn H. Blackburn loves writing suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy—but her grown-up reality is that she’s a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters and loves putting them into all kinds of terrifying situations—while she’s sitting at home safe and sound in her pajamas!

The second book in her Dive Team Investigations series, In Too Deep, released in November. She is also the author of Beneath the Surface, Hidden Legacy and Covert Justice, which won the 2016 Carol Award for Short Novel and the 2016 Selah Award for Mystery and Suspense.

She lives in South Carolina with her true love and their three children. You can follow her real life happily ever after at www.LynnHBlackburn.com and on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.