Writing Holidays: What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why Seasonal Stories Matter

There’s something irresistible about holiday stories.

Maybe it’s the cozy atmosphere.
Maybe it’s the promise of emotional turning points.
Maybe it’s the annual hope that this season might bring warmth, reconciliation, or a long-awaited beginning.

Holiday stories tap into something primal: the longing for home, the yearning for connection, and the belief that even in the darkest season, the light can return.

Readers don’t just want a story — they want the feeling of coming home.

Whatever their individual reason, readers reliably reach for holiday books between November and early January — especially romances, comedies, and warm-spirited fantasies. (I personally devour Christmas romances at a pace that should probably be studied by someone wearing a lab coat.)

But as both an author and editor, I can tell you: writing holiday stories is trickier than it looks. Some approaches work beautifully. Others quietly limit your readership or feel strangely out of place, especially in fantasy settings.

So today we’re going to explore:

• why seasonal stories matter

• what works (and doesn’t) when writing them

• and, for fantasy authors, how to build holidays for your world without accidentally recreating Earth’s winter traditions in disguise

And because it is the season, there’s also something special at the end of this post.

Why Seasonal Stories Work So Well

Holiday stories flourish because they speak directly to universal human desires: the need to belong, the desire to feel loved or chosen, and the comfort of predictable rituals that anchor us through the year’s uncertainty.

1. Emotional Resonance

Holidays come pre-loaded with emotional gravity. They carry tradition, memory, grief, hope, endings, beginnings—everything humans use to measure their lives. That means holiday stories almost automatically support emotional arcs like:

• second chances

• reconciliations

• homecomings

• rediscovering joy

• transformational moments

• comedic disasters that reveal what actually matters

Readers don’t just expect emotional payoff during the holiday season — they crave it.

2. Built-In Atmosphere

A story doesn’t need to work hard to create mood when the holiday already brings:

• warm lighting

• gatherings

• rituals

• seasonal food

• gift exchanges

• mild chaos

Instant ambiance.

3. Predictable Sales Cycles

Holiday stories aren’t evergreen — they spike hard during the right season, then hibernate for the rest of the year.
But if you release at the right time, you tap into an eager, energized readership.

The Human Heart of Holiday Stories

Holiday stories endure because they promise a particular emotional cocktail: warmth, wonder, nostalgia, and the hope that we are — or could be — loved.

These stories are about:

• home (even if we’ve never had one)

• belonging (even if we’re still searching)

• magic (literal or emotional)

• people choosing each other

Holiday stories pull readers toward the belief that good things are still possible — a rare and precious feeling in any genre.

Before we step into fantasy: here’s the twist — the emotional architecture of holiday stories is universal, but the trappings are not. Fantasy worlds shouldn’t inherit Earth’s traditions unless they also inherit Earth’s history, religion, and cultural trauma.

Which brings us to…

The Fantasy Problem: When Earth Traditions Sneak In

Fantasy writers face a peculiar challenge:

If your world has its own gods, cosmology, and cultural history… why would it celebrate Christmas?

Or Yule, or Hanukkah, or Solstice-as-we-know-it?

Accidentally importing real-world holidays into invented worlds is one of the most common worldbuilding missteps I see — both as an author and editor. Fantasy holidays should emerge from:

• your pantheon

• your cosmology

• your world’s history

• seasonal meaning in that world

• cultural values unique to your setting

Otherwise, your winter festival ends up feeling like “Christmas with the serial numbers filed off,” and readers notice.

So What Works When Building a Fantasy Holiday?

1. Anchor it to your cosmology

If your world has gods, cycles, magical systems, or celestial events, start there.

For example, in my World in Draft universe, winter turning is connected to Thryme, the God of Cycles. His forgetful nature (he is one of the Seven Forgetful Gods, after all) shapes the meaning of the holiday — not Earth traditions.

2. Create traditions that make cultural sense

A holiday should reflect the people who celebrate it.

Do they value community? Renewal? Divine order? Chaos? Build rituals accordingly.

Holidays reveal what a culture values most — safety, family, magic, defiance, community, survival, remembering, forgetting, or honoring a god who occasionally misfiles the year.

3. Keep symbolism simple but evocative

You don’t need a 20-page liturgical manual. A few strong traditions are better than dozens of unfocused ones.

4. Make space for small magic

Especially if the holiday is linked to a god or magical cycle. A little magical misfire can be delightful.

5. Let the holiday affect your characters personally

Traditions matter most when they reveal something about the people participating in them.

What Doesn’t Work

Just as important as what works:

❌ Duplicating Christmas with different hats

“Snow Feast,” “Gift Day,” “Winter Blessing Festival”…
If the structure is Christmas-shaped, readers know.

❌ Forcing sentimentality

Some characters do not want to hold hands around a ceremonial fire. Let them be themselves.

If the holiday doesn’t emotionally resonate with the characters, it won’t resonate with readers — no matter how pretty the decorations are.

❌ Treating the holiday as pure set dressing

If it doesn’t matter to the plot or characters, it won’t matter to the reader.

❌ Overloading rituals

It’s okay if your world’s holiday traditions don’t fill an encyclopedia.

A Little Gift From the Ledger:

Holiday Short Story for Newsletter Subscribers!

To celebrate the season — and because I can never resist a chance to write something chaotic and delightful while at the same time demonstrating a lesson — I’m releasing a brand-new World in Draft holiday short story, exclusive for newsletter subscribers:

🎁 “Thryme’s Turning: A World in Draft Seasonal Tale”
A cozy, magical, multi-perspective look at how several sets of characters celebrate the Turning — involving misfiring thresholds, misplaced divine attention, minor gods with opinions, and a holiday where everything circles back around — sometimes through magic, sometimes through choice, sometimes because a god nudged something that absolutely didn’t need nudging.

This story will be free for all newsletter subscribers who join during December and January.

If you'd like to receive it the moment it’s ready, sign up using the form at the bottom of the main blog page:
👉 https://www.wondrouslegends.com/blog

And yes — there will be gods, awkward gifts, troublesome doors, and Grip.

Signed from the quiet moment between one cycle and the next,

S.G., Keeper of the Wondrous Ledger