The importance of crap Christmas movies for my writing

And finding inspiration in unexpected places

‘A Castle For Christmas’. Truly a gem of a film.

Yes, yes, yes. I know it’s not even December yet. But the clocks have gone back, the evenings are dark and Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You was streamed 1.2 million times on Spotify on 1 November.

For me, all of this combines to mean one thing: it’s officially Christmas movie season.

I’ve always loved Christmas movies. But I’m not talking about your classic It’s a Wonderful Lifes or The Snowmans. Instead, it’s the cheesy Hallmark romances I can’t get enough of.

A corporate woman stranded in a small, snowy town? Yes, please.

A big-city businessman attempting to close down a family-run mountain lodge? All over it.

A novelist finally discovering her creative inspiration as a result of a local, hunky widower? Sign me up.

All these films are exactly the same. And yet I could happily watch all of them for the rest of my life. And, when the nights draw in and the pressure of the practicalities of Christmas begins to mount, I devour as many of them as I can.

But in recent years, especially since having children and the uncertain hellscape of everything pandemic-related, cheesy Christmas movies have taken on a new significance for me. Because I’ve come to rely on them as much as I enjoy them. And it took me quite some time (and writing a whole festive-inspired book about it…) to fully understand why.

And here’s what I ended up concluding: predictability soothes me. And there’s nothing more predictable than a cheesy Christmas romance that follows an almost ritualistic formula to get a man wearing green and a woman wearing red to kiss in the final scene.

But, while the rhythmic reliability of such films is comforting, what I never expected was to find inspiration in them, too. Which brings me onto this nugget from George Saunders via

Hattie Crisell

:

“Read and watch and analyse everything.”

I’m obsessed with this advice. I’m a firm believer that, if you want to improve your craft, you shouldn’t feel a pressure to immerse yourself in high culture all the time. That kind of creativity is important, but so's the kind that brings you simple joy...like cheesy Christmas movies! By reading, watching and listening to all kinds of stuff and ideas (this totally includes music) our minds will silently absorb it all and find inspiration and connections where you least expect to find them, often without you even realising.

Indeed, my first novel ended up exploring a woman’s over-reliance on cheesy Christmas movies as she reconnected with her own (nondescript, non-snowy – gotta love a bit of trope subversion) hometown and the people and memories she’d left behind there. But it also delved into the fact that what brings one person joy doesn’t necessarily have the same effect on others, and how everyone finds comfort in different things.

If crap Christmas movies are as much your bag as they are mine, my annual Christmas movie watchalong starts on 1 December! Follow me on Instagram for updates and, in the meantime, you can download my game of Cheesy Christmas Movie Bingo.

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Currently reading: I’m beta reading Holly June’s Smith’s debut romance novella, Just a Little Crush, which you can pre-order here. It’s fun and spicy and I’ve been fully invested in this punny concept ever since she shared it on her Instagram stories just a few months ago. Holly is a creative and enterprising powerhouse and such an inspiration for all authors who are considering self-publishing.
What I recently enjoyed reading: Driving Home For Christmas* by Joanna Bolouri (with thanks to Quercus Books for the review copy): childhood sweethearts Kate and Ed are driving home for Christmas when a furious row causes them to split up midway through the journey. Not wanting to upset their respective families over the festive break, they decide to pretend they’re still together…with complex consequences. This is a cosy, funny and relatable read for this time of year and I loved the Peak District settings.
What I recently enjoyed watching: The Old Man, Disney+ (content warning: extreme violence, dementia). Well, I enjoyed the first couple of episodes, at least. But, while it started strongly and mysteriously, it quickly nosedived into narrative absurdity. And their attempts to write complex women fell really short for me. If you want to write women who behave and talk in relatable ways, stop bundling us into the backs of vehicles against our will to move the plot along and get women in your writers’ room instead. Or watch Hacks to see how it’s done.
What I’m thinking a lot about: Twitter. I’ve finally washed my hands of it. I wrote more about why on Medium.