Tis The Season For . . .

            Last month I bemoaned the lack of Thanksgiving stories in the entertainment industry. In order to promote a creative outburst in that direction I came up with a list of story prompts and a challenge for all of you to write the next Thanksgiving classic. And considering what’s currently out there for my favorite holiday it leaves the field pretty wide open for the title.

            Christmas, on the other hand, suffers from exactly the opposite problem. There are more movies, songs, novels, and what-have-you that can be easily counted, much less enjoyed. While I thought about that very fact I found myself oddly challenged. With so many stories already written about the biggest commercial season of the year is it possible to come up with something new?

            Yes!

            You go ahead and watch ABC Family’s “25 Days of Christmas.” Feel free to study Lifetime’s “50 Movies and 50 Reasons to Love the Holiday Season.” Check out Hallmark’s “Countdown to Christmas.”

            Go ahead. I’m guessing you won’t find a single one of my ideas in the batch.

 

• What if Santa was a Communist?

Oops – I already did that one. You can check it out here:

            http://randylindsay.net/  Red Christmas

• What if someone stole Santa’s sleigh?

• What would happen if the Tooth Fairy took over for Santa?

• What would it be like if Scrooge came back as a Christmas ghost?

• How would Christmas be different if Santa were a fitness guru instead of a toy maker?

• What would happen if Santa’s toy shop were moved to the South Pacific?

• How crazy would Christmas be if Lady Gaga took over for Santa?

• What would happen if all the holiday legends had to fire one of their own due to budget costs?

• What would happen if the elves unionized?

• How would everyone react if Santa billed them one year?

• What would happen if Santa had to get a second job?

• What if Santa were really a secret agent?

• What if Santa went broke and had to hold a telethon?

• What would a pre-historic Christmas be like?

• What would happen if Santa switched careers and started a dating service?

• Is there a mirror-opposite Santa in another dimension (Anti-Claus)?

• How would things be different if Mrs. Claus made the rules?

• What if “Reindeer Games” were really military exercises against “The League of Extraordinary Snowmen”? And whose side would the “Elf Suffrage Coalition” be on?

• What new Christmas tradition can you introduce into a story?

• What if Santa only brought presents for adults?

• What if people exchanged gifts of service to one another?

• What kind of quest might a reindeer have to undergo in order to be a member of Santa’s sleigh team?

• How “Far Out” would Christmas be if Santa were an alien from space?

• How would Christmas be different if Santa planned adventure parties instead of giving away toys?

• What would Christmas be like if Santa gave everyone what they really deserved?

• What would Christmas be like if Santa were a pirate?

• What would happen to Santa if he hit a wormhole and was transported to another dimension? What would happen to that dimension? What would happen to us?

• What would happen if Santa took bad boys and girls away and turned them into elves for his North Pole sweat shop?

• If all of the key figures from the holidays held a Battle Royale – who would win and who would get smeared?

• What kind of story would you write if Santa farmed out his duties and made you the Santa for your block?

• What would Christmas be like if we celebrated it in summer?

• What kind of story would you write if Santa was kidnapped?

• What if Santa’s sleigh crash landed on a deserted island and he had to rely on his McGuyver like ability to make toys out of anything to survive and escape?

• Considering that Santa is immortal and can travel all over the world in one night – what kind of story would you write about Santa being a Time Lord?

• What if Santa needed a war wagon instead of a sleigh?

• What kind of celebration would we have if we combined some of the current Christmas traditions with the story line from Wizard of Oz?