8 Non-Writing Ways To Creatively Spend Christmas Holiday

The holiday season for writers represents the best time to dive into writing because of the liberating freedom that comes with celebrating Christmas.

It is a refreshing time of the year for writers ready to go into the New Year with a completed manuscript under their belt. It is a time when the chaos slows to a pause, allowing our creative minds to function with the limitless flow it needs to thrive productively.

However, if your plans for the holidays don’t involve writing but you’re searching for ways to factor in some creative activities into your relaxation time, I have put together a worthy list of non-writing activities you can choose from.

8 Non-Writing Ways To Creatively Spend Christmas Holiday

Reevaluate Your Drafts

Having hip loads of unwritten drafts that consist of only an outline and a few pointers to the story’s plot is an accepted part of being a writer.

The holiday is the best time to carefully sort through this pile if you have not had the time to do so during the year.

Although you may part with some lukewarm ideas, you’ll be in awe of the beautiful story plots you will find hidden beneath the dust.

Plot A New Story

Plotting a new and exciting adventure is a great way to creatively spend the Christmas holiday.

Although it does involve writing, it is minimal compared to the brain work, research, mind mapping, and creative thinking that goes into plotting a story.

It may also be the perfect time to quickly expand the plot of the draft you whipped out in idea #1 above.

Revisit A Difficult Story You DNF (Did Not Finish Writing)

This is a dreaded story in every writer’s journey. The pile of DNFs can feel so daunting that one might consider quitting altogether because you feel unworthy of wielding the pen.

The good news is, you can salvage that story right now. Things you can do to salvage a difficult story are:

• Read through it again.
• Turn it into a short story
• Expand it into a short series
• Reshuffle chapters and think about the story from a different perspective
• Chop down chucks on your story that feels dull or too much.
• Introduce a character to switch things up and get you excited to write about the story again.

Read Books Outside Your Normal Genres

One of the most interesting things you can do that involves no writing is reading books.

The twist here is to read books outside of your normal genres to help you widen your scope of knowledge or keep you better informed about how the world outside your familiar zone operates.

If you love reading romance books, try romance mystery or fantasy romance. You could even throw in non-fiction or Christian romance books in there too.

Or, you could read something entirely different altogether.

Plan Your Blog Post Drafts

This idea will resonate well with bloggers. The holiday season is the best time to plan your blog series for at least the first quarter of the New Year.

It takes the pressure off the thinking and helps you channel that time into creating these posts after the holidays.

A notebook or a planner will suffice for this. It involves minimal writing and more critical thinking, just like idea #2.

Bulk Create Social Media Contents For The New Year

Although this idea is on the more creative side, it is worth every minute you spend working on creating content.

Yes, there is writing and scheduling and a bunch of other stuff, but it reduces the stress of jumping into the New Year with a bulk load of work on your plate.

Plus it involves minimal writing, which you can adjust or expand before scheduling these posts in the New Year.

The goal is to get the creative designs ready.

Binge on A Movie Series With the Intent To Learn Tricks For Your Next Writing Project

What better way to spend the holiday than the promise of binge-watching a beautiful K-drama or Netflix series with no interruption from work, daily life, or creative life?

To that, I will scream, sign me up!

But wait. There’s a catch. The catch is to watch with intent and learn a few tips and tricks you can implement in your writing.

You could take a keen interest in documenting how the characters dialogue, show emotions, reveal secrets, act out their personalities, survive trials, fall in love or even die.

Watch, learn, and document. It’ll surely come in handy.

Invent Exciting Story Titles Matched With Mixed Troupes You Wish To Write

My favorite things to do is randomly come up with story titles, series titles, story endings, or jaw-dropping troupes that excite me and pile them up in a notebook.

The beauty of this is it is not a draft. I call it an idea bank where I can effortlessly pick out a read-worthy idea to work on whenever I choose.

Inventing story titles or mixing troupes for the future is a great way to create something more than just a title.

It could spiral into drafting an outline, a full-blown plot, a mind map, or even chapters of the story if things get out of hand.

Experimentation is a beautiful way to begin a journey that often has a beautiful ending in sight.

Endnotes

The holiday season is perceived differently by everyone. While for some writers it is a time to hang up the pen and let their fingers take a break, for others, it is a time to embark on a new adventure before the end of the year.

Whether you choose to do nothing and relax or choose to write, own your choices without shame and enjoy the feelings of fulfillment that comes with the decisions you have made.

However, if you choose to mix business with pleasure, this post has highlighted the best 8 non-writing ways to creatively spend the Christmas holiday.