The Holiday Nostalgia-Bomb Plot Generator

The Holiday Nostalgia-Bomb Plot Generator


If you’re itching to write in the holidays, use our holiday nostalgia-bomb plot generator to get you started.

Whether you love the often cheesy, goofy, and sweet tradition of Holiday Nostalgia Bombs, or you roll your eyes at them, they are undeniably fun stories with a powerful draw for many.

I researched the genre conventions/trends of some of the most beloved films in this wacky genre and compiled them here for you to tinker with so you can craft your very own Holiday Nostalgia Bomb. I even added an example plot I crafted myself using the generator.

It’s, uh… not good—but that’s part of the fun, right? Anyway, I’d go see it!

And who knows—maybe you’ll have better luck. Maybe you’ll come up with the script for the next Holiday Classic!

Take a look! Don’t be constrained by this template. You can use it as inspiration—a starting point. Go ahead and innovate. Maybe you’d like to make a Holiday classic about an oft-neglected Holiday that’s important to you. Or maybe you want to work in a different genre? There’s no reason you can’t write a Hanukkah thriller or a Kwanzaa dark comedy.

Most importantly–have fun!

Holiday Nostalgia-Bomb Plot Generator

Choose an option from each to set your story in place and time:

Genre:

  1. Action/adventure
  2. Romantic Comedy
  3. Family Drama
  4. Horror

Era/Time period:

  1. Victorian period
  2. Post-war (Civil War, WWI, or WWII)
  3. Ante-bellum
  4. 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s

Now generate the plot:

Holiday:

At:

  1. Halloween
  2. Christmas
  3. New Year
  4. A holiday of your choice

Character Descriptor:

  1. An overly enthusiastic
  2. A cynical and jaded

And/or

  1. A workaholic
  2. A reclusive

Character:

  1. Grinch/ Scrooge
  2. Santa (real or actor)
  3. Elf (real or actor)
  4. Family
  5. Couple
  6. Significant other
  7. Social reject
  8. Black Sheep
  9. Jilted love
  10. Cop
  11. Superhero

Action 1:

  1. Travel/s from_______ to_________
  2. Hunker/s down in________ and protect/s________ from _________
  3. All the above

And/in order to

Action 2:

  1. save ________(holiday)
  2. ruin _________(holiday)
  3. deliver a (present, person, themselves) in time for _________ (holiday)
  4. win back their loved one(s)
  5. rescue/protect their loved one(s)

In…

Location:

  1. A mall
  2. Cosy village
  3. A cottage
  4. Family/ childhood home

In…

Location 2 (if needed):

  1. New York City
  2. The English Countryside
  3. The American Suburbs
  4. The North Pole
  5. (The Protagonist’s) Hometown

From

Antagonist:

  1. Romantic Rival
  2. Demons
  3. Zombies
  4. Terrorists
  5. Serial killers
  6. Ghosts
  7. Super villain(s)
  8. Krampus
  9. Burglars/Kidnapper(s)
  10. Cultists

And

Theme:

  1. They learn the true meaning of ________ (holiday/family/love)
  2. They teach others the true meaning of_______ (holiday/family/love)

Example Plot

On Christmas 1989, an overly enthusiastic, workaholic cop must travel from New York back to her hometown and hunker down in the local mall where she fights alongside Santa himself (and an army of mall elves) to protect her cynical and jaded family from Zombies, Demons, and Krampus (who were summoned by Cultists). And, maybe—just maybe—she’ll be able to teach them all the true meaning of Christmas and Family in the process.

The Final Word

Well, I don’t know about you—but I certainly had fun!

We’d love to see whatever sweet and silly plots you come up with in the comments.

Happy Holidays!

 by Oliver Fox
Oliver earned his BFA from the University of Memphis (2015). After graduation, he worked as an editorial assistant for The Pinch (’16). Currently, he works as a manuscript analyst and is an MFA candidate at the University of New Orleans. He is the author of The Fantasy Workbook.

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Top Tip: Find out more about our workbooks and online courses in our shop.

  • Posted on 15th December 2020
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