How to Start a Christmas Novel That Feels Unique & Exciting
Bella Rose Emmorey
book editor, rogue behaviorist, digital marketer, writer, brand builder, plant aunt, and cheese enthusiast.
Christmas novels sell silly before and during the holidays. Many authors of various genres (like mystery, thriller, or other serialized types) even publish a Christmas story during these times just to capitalize on the boost in sales the same way TV series create holiday episodes. But without knowing how to start a Christmas story, you could lose out on readers who won’t find your story compelling.
Because Christmas novels tend to be similar in structure (which I’ll talk more about below), the beginning is where you get to shine a light on why readers should choose, buy, and keep reading your Christmas novel.
So let’s go over how to start a Christmas novel that’s not derivative or boring but still encapsulates all of what frequent readers love in this themed story.
Why the Beginning of a Christmas Novel Matters so Much
The synopsis or blurb on the back of the book (plus the cover) used to be what sold a book. You’d peruse the shelves in a store, read the blurb, maybe peek inside, and choose to buy. But the internet has drastically changed the way people buy books—especially through Amazon.
You can’t flip to a random page and read to get a feel for an author’s work the way you can in a bookstore. Instead, thanks to the "read sample" feature, readers can read the beginning only.
And avid readers who use Kindle to mass consume novels can download entire samples to their devices to read before choosing whether to buy.
This is putting a lot more pressure on the beginning of novels for readers than there has been before. I know in the writing world, the first line of your novel is a "big deal" but to readers, that alone hasn’t much mattered.
Now, though, the first few pages, and even the first full chapter, is what matters.
Readers are arguably getting more picky with what they read and why, and they're looking for a few things when reading the start of a novel:
- To understand tone: what type of story are they getting into and what can they expect from the plot. Humor or serious? Witty and clever? Serious and dramatic? Cozy or dark?
- To get a feel for style: authors all have their own style of writing, but this would include the tense, point-of-view, and general writing style.
- The character: Knowing the book title and description, readers will then want to know what the character is like. The start of a novel should show who the reader will be spending their time with during this story.
- What sets the book apart: Especially for the start of a Christmas novel, readers will be paying attention to what makes this book (given the plot) different, which has to do with setting, plot setup, and character.
The first chapter or so often dictates all of this. If you’re not sure how to start a Christmas novel in a way that conveys this with excitement, you’re in the right place.
How to Start a Christmas Novel with an Engaging Opening
Let’s just be upfront: a lot of Christmas novels are similar, no matter the genre you write. The commonalities center around the holiday of Christmas and its accompanying themes as the roots of the story.
But it can be a balance between giving the reader what they want with a Christmas theme and showing them a new angle to what’s been done thousands of times before.
Let’s talk about how to do that.
1. Know what sets your story apart
When figuring out how to start a Christmas novel, you’ll want to lead with how this story will be unique. Because Christmas stories typically have a similar vibe, you want readers to feel like they’re getting something different out of it while still fulfilling their desire for a Christmas novel.
Maybe that means setting the story in a very unlikely place for the holiday tone. Like a prison!
Maybe that also means taking common tropes and turning them on their heads.
Whatever way you want to make your story unique, just keep it in mind and be prepared to showcase it in the beginning.
Even if you want to take a common setting and set-up, like a girl from a big city getting stuck in a small town for the holidays, you still want to add a unique twist to it so readers don’t feel like they’ve already read this story and don’t want to read it again.
2. Get clear on your character’s voice
Whether you write in first-person, third, or something else, you want the voice to be very clear right away. Part of the draw of a book is who the reader will be spending time with while experiencing the story.
That’s your main character. First-person more clearly gets this across, but the narrative tone in third-person does it too. The idea here is to show the voice.
Is the narrative going to be quick and choppy? Witty? Sarcastic? Will it be more fluid and pretty? Have a kind tone or gruffness?
These things matter and depend on who the character is. By pinpointing the character’s voice, you’ll attract a reader who likes that. Because remember, the reader will use what they know of the book (the description) in addition to the start of the novel in order to decide if they’re intrigued enough.
So that means choosing a character voice that might seem at odds with the plot of the story. Being at odds means more potential for conflict, and this is what keeps readers reading. More on conflict below!
3. Make the setting obvious
When you learn how to start a Christmas novel, it’s great to read a few. What you’ll often notice is that early on in the story, the setting is established, even if the setting will soon change. While some Christmas stories start in one setting and move to another, the promise of the other setting is pretty clear from the beginning.
Let’s take that example of a girl leaving a big city for a small town. You could start this Christmas novel with her talking about making a pit stop in a small town to close a deal. She’s in the office—the opening chapter is in a bit city—but the reader knows that the bulk of the story will take place in the small town.
The intrigue with this setting comes from an out-of-place character, along with what you write in the description.
But you don’t always have to change the setting. You could start and end your story in the setting of a mall, with the employees as your main characters. If that’s the case, you’ll just start your Christmas novel there.
Here are some interesting settings to pair with a Christmas story:
- Farmer’s markets
- Ice skating rinks
- A big city
- A small town
- A jail
- A rehab facility
- A school or college campus
- The kitchen of a major restaurant
- A nursing home
- A TV news station studio
You can even mix a couple interesting settings and find an intersection point that causes conflict and intrigue between characters.
4. Introduce the primary conflict
Conflict is why people read. As much as we think it’s about happy endings, it’s the conflict that keeps us turning the page. Part of knowing how to start a Christmas novel is about introducing the potential for conflict right away.
There’s the assumption with something like a holiday as major as Christmas that emotions will run high, family usually gets together, and people want everything to be merry and bright.
When you hint that these elements are going to be interrupted in serious ways, your readers will be interested to see how the conflict unfolds. The how of the conflict resolution is the intrigue.
But you can’t show all of that at the start of a Christmas novel. Instead, you show the potential conflict in the story. You allow a reader’s assumptions to get them interested in your story.
That looks like character, setting, and plot (from your description) crossing paths or making mentions in the first chapter.
For example, opening a Christmas story with a rich, spoiled business executive who cares nothing for the holidays except how much money it’ll make his company and hinting that he has to talk to this specific client, in person, who lives in a remote city, you’re promising the reader that this man is about to be humbled. And also that he’ll probably have a character arc worth reading.
It’s also wise to pull from common real-life conflicts around this specific holiday.
These are potential types of conflict to introduce for starting a Christmas novel:
- Family drama
- Lacking romantic life
- Not caring about the ideals of Christmas
- Two characters with opposite ideals about the holiday
- Certain beliefs around Christmas not being respected
Give your reader a taste of what they’ll be getting into, starting with the first chapter.
5. Start with a scene that encapsulates the vibe of the book as a whole
If your Christmas book plot is action-filled and fast-paced, start the story this way. It doesn’t have to be a blow-by-blow exactly how your story will be, but you want to make sure the reader has the right expectations.
Promising a sweet, slow-paced, comfortable book in chapter one, only to change it into a kidnapping, action-packed story can turn people off. You can misdirect—if writing a twist is your goal—without completely changing the style.
Let’s say you have that spoiled business executive main character, and the start of the Christmas story has him striking a deal with a client. He’s sly. He’s great with this customer. He even seems kind…until that client leaves. Then we see the "real" version of this guy as he talks crap about the Christmas "believers".
The promise of this story is that we’ll get this guy striking deals and being witty and smart. So this story will likely contain elements of both this character’s arc and the plot progression in which he makes some deals or interacts and lies to characters.
Learning how to start a Christmas story is often about getting this opening scene to mimic what you’ll show in the rest of the story. It’s the sampler of a larger dish.
Read lots of Christmas novels and note how they start and maintain the vibe to draw in the right reader. Give them a taste of what they can devour when they buy the book!
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