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In December comes the confluence of two of my loves, Christmas and movies. One of my guilty pleasures during the winter season is vegging-out on my sofa watching the annual parade of Hallmark Christmas movies. The movies have become so popular that it is not just a winter occurrence anymore. During the summer, the Hallmark Channel offers a slate of Christmas movies for their “Christmas in July” marathon.
This year, “Countdown to Christmas,” their Christmastime movie schedule, begins on October 31. Most of the movies are predictable and are heavy on the syrupy scale but they do provide a level of warming comfort during the frigid weather season. I enjoy them so much that every year I vow to write one.
A couple of years ago I kept my vow – well I tried to keep it. I sat at my PC and started banging away at a homey but whimsical, Hallmark-type Christmas screenplay. The story was set in semi-rural Pennsylvania and featured a big-city family who relocates to a small town just before Thanksgiving.
The location was right. The family consisted of a gorgeous widow and a talented teen with a bad case of culture shock, who has trouble assimilating and falls for a popular boy. So far so good, but that’s where my writing whimsy ended. I tried hard to write the nice, safe, coming-of-age, story that we’ve all seen umpteen times that plays well in mid America.
I don’t have anything against Middle America, but I’m an urban creature with big-city sensibilities. While most of my screenplays are faith-based or are morality tales, they typically have an edge to them. So, that story morphed into a gifted Latina who has to challenge the status quo in a conservative, predominately white town, to be recognized for her ample talents.
Not long ago, I tried to write a family-friendly MOW type script for the UP Channel’s annual “Faith and Family” competition. It began as a delicate fish-out-of-water family story but ended up as a crusade by the odd pairing of an Amish-type church woman and a hardened urban cop against human trafficking.
Oh well. I’m not displeased with myself or the final drafts of those screenplays or others that started out as Hallmark Channel possibilities and ended as edgy asphalt and concrete stories. Somebody has to write the stories I seem to have to write. I’ve accepted that beginning on October 31, I’ll once again absorb the Hallmark Channel Christmas movie bonanza with the bittersweet realization that I can’t write one.
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I wanted to clarify my I may disagree with you comment. Upon second reading of my comment, I realized I was unclear with what I was disagreeing - - not your story, but your title. I believe you might be quite capable of writing a Hallmark movie. Like you mentioned, it's not easy to contact them because of policies, but you do seem to be a gifted writer. My comment was meant to encourage you to keep writing as often as possible. Who knows what plans God has for your work, maybe not Hallmark, but perhaps something wonderful that we can't fathom right now. In fact, I'm quite sure he has amazing plans for your stories. You touched my heart for sure.
I may just happen to disagree with you. I think you had some splendid ideas and story lines. Though I'm not much of a movie person, I do enjoy a good read. Perhaps write a book first and then maybe transition to movies. The thing that has helped my writing grow is the weekly challenge. If you haven't tried it, I'd urge you to. I have a feeling you'd come up with a great story as well as hone your writing skills. It's a great tool for thinking on topic, making me write for a deadline, and thinking outside the box.
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