What’s a holiday movie without a dozen relatives (and a newcomer) crowded around a food-laden table, trying to dodge conversational land mines (or in some cases, hit them) as they settle in for a chaotic, tension-filled meal? Those annual feasts bring together so many elements that make for great scenes: people of all different ages (who have known each other forever) trying to get along; fancy food dishes that may or may meet Grandmother’s expectations; significant others new to the family and unfamiliar with the traditions and family histories; and generations of relationships, resentments and regrets that surface and collide when families gather in one room. Add alcohol and meat to be carved, and the set-up is complete.

So how about adding a holiday meal scene to your NaNoWriMo novel? My goodness, the potential for increased conflict, fresh character details, and snappy dialogue is so great! And any holiday will do – it doesn’t have to be the traditional turkey-stuffing-and-gramma’s-pie holiday. Your scene could be set at a 4th of July BBQ, a Mother’s Day brunch, a birthday picnic at the park, or a welcome-to-the-family wedding rehearsal dinner in a fancy restaurant. As long as you seat lots of people around one table, you are sure to find a novel-worthy scene.

When my students return from fall break this week, we’ll talk about why big family meals can provide us with such great material for stories, and then we’ll watch some movie scenes for inspiration:

• the boisterous Easter gathering from My Big, Fat Greek Wedding:

• the hilarious Christmas dinner from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation:

But not every meal has to be chaotic to add tension and depth to a story. This awkwardly quiet dinner scene from My Big, Fat Greek Wedding makes a great contrast to the loud Easter scene.

And it doesn’t take a holiday to make a meal memorable. This dinner scene from New in Town introduces a big-city girl to a small-town Minnesota family, where she manages to offend nearly everyone at the table. It’s often that fish-out-of-water that makes a meal scene sizzle with tension.

So set the table, light the candles, bring on the food, and let your characters dig in!