Best Holiday Writing Prompts

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Holiday – 49 stories

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The best holiday writing prompts

Friends and family gathering. Running around and completing errands. Hours in the kitchen. Dinners, celebrations, parties. Holidays of all kinds come with their fair share of drama, emotion, and story-fodder. Narratives of all kinds can unfold during these busy times. That’s why this list of creative writing prompts includes the theme: holidays.

We’re not just talking about reindeers, turkey, and stringing lights on the tree. Our prompts cover all manner of holidays, from Easter to April Fools to Groundhog Day. And whether the holidays are a time of joy and happiness for your characters, or more difficult, you get to decide the mood.

There’s a lot to choose from, so if you need help deciding, here’s our top 10 holiday writing prompts:

Looking for some more tips for writing for your holiday story? You’ve come to the right place. Here are some resources that you may find helpful — consider them a holiday gift, from us to you:

Want more help learning how to write a holiday short story? Check out How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published — a free, ten day course by Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn.

Ready to start writing? Check out Reedsy’s weekly short story contest, for the chance of winning $250! You can also check out our list of writing contests or our directory of literary magazines for more opportunities to submit your story.

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