Although many writers set stories during holidays, I haven’t read any, except one, that made use of Lent. I read that mystery over thirty years ago and can’t remember the title because I didn’t like the book. Lent isn’t one of your family-friendly seasons. It’s a time of self-reflection for Christians, leading to Holy Week, which includes Good Friday, and Easter, when the family-friendly part comes in. Below are a few suggestions about how to use Lent in a story.
Lent reminds Christians that Jesus went through a 40-day ordeal, alone, in the wilderness, being tempted by the devil, before he began his earthly ministry. Writing about some kind of ordeal that your main character experiences and setting your story in the spring will mimic Lent in your writing.
- Physical challenge. A character could be stranded somewhere remote and have to fight to survive. The battle changes him. Or a character could face a sudden, severe illness or injury that leads to a change in her attitude or outlook.
- Personal loss. The main character loses something integral to his or her identity — a friend or relative because of death, a partner because of divorce, a friend because of a fight, a job, a golden opportunity.
- Temptation. This can take two forms in your story. The temptation is something new in the life of the main character and entices him to give in to it. Or the new thing is something positive, but the temptation is to refuse it and keep the status quo.
The best thing about Lent is Easter, the promise of new beginnings. So if you use Lent as inspiration, the climax and resolution to the ordeal should be as refreshing and hopeful as Easter.
Have you written a story around a holiday? If so, which holiday did you pick?
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