How to Write a Hallmark Christmas Movie

More people than you might think have spent the past month indulging in Hallmark Christmas movies. They are comforting, nostalgic, non-threatening, and always have a happy ending. A typical plot involves a woman who returns to her hometown for the holidays, meets a wonderful down-to-earth man, and finds that real happiness is found in the simple things. Add snow and cookies, and you have a Hallmark Christmas movie! The network offers 37 new Christmas movies this year, so you may have wondered who writes all those. Entertainment Weekly talked to two anonymous people who have written such TV movies about the process. There are rules, and the first one is that everything in the movie must involve Christmas.

Right, there cannot be a single scene that does not acknowledge the theme. Well, maybe a scene, but you can’t have a single act that doesn’t acknowledge it and there are nine of them, so there’s lots of opportunities for Christmas. They have a really rigid nine-act structure that makes writing them a lot of fun because it’s almost like an exercise. You know where you have to get to: People have to be kissing for the first time, probably in some sort of a Christmas setting, probably with snow falling from the sky, probably with a small crowd watching. You have to start with two people who, for whatever reason, don’t like each other and you’re just maneuvering through those nine acts to get them to that kiss in the snow.

Once you think you can tackle the job, check out Hallmark's submission guidelines. Good luck! -via Metafilter


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Wow, how uninformed are you?! Do-rags (or, scarves, for the ladies) serve several very important purposes for those with ethnic hair. Since people with very very curly or coarse hair can't wash their hair every day (it damages the hair and scalp), a do-rag is used to cover otherwise unstyled hair (daily grooming can take a loooong time) or to protect a styled head of hair from the elements. In addition, it is used to keep coarse hair, which attracts lint, for example, clean and sanitary. It is also used when the wearer has applied a long-term scalp or hair treatment such as a moisturizing oil. Many beautiful brown babies wear scarves for all these reasons. And do-rags come in a million different colors and styles, not just black. The best use for a do-rag to wear it to bed so that the friction between common cotton bedsheets and the hair doesn't cause breakage and tangles.
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I'm going to call you out on #10. Yeah, most kids don't need helmets, but often there's a medical reason for them, such as post-surgery protection. Our former neighbors' then 18-month-old wore a Mickey helmet. He had severe aplastic anemia, so his body didn't produce enough blood cells. This made him very susceptible to hemmorage, bruising and infection, and him unable to fight infections or control bleeding. Even a small scrape could have been life-threatening, so the helmet was definitely justified. (After many different treatment approaches, he is now doing very well).
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While that may even be the exact same helmet our neighbor kid wore (not "medical" per se, just protective), if they're selling parent-noia then your point is spot-on and I agree 100%. I wonder if was created for a valid reason and then corrupted to boost sales, or if it's always been a fear-monger product?
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