A Christmas Carol Sings to the Storyteller in You. Why? Because you must decode its secret. As a writer you need to know why it has remained a narrative star for so long with such an immense audience. What exactly did Charles Dickens create that keeps vast numbers of people worldwide coming back year after year to be absorbed yet again by his tale?

A Christmas Carol Sings to You because of its Main Character. What Charles Dickens created that holds us in his thrall is Ebenezer Scrooge. He commands us to revisit the dark environs of his “money-changing hole” with astonishingly universal regularity. We simply cannot seem to get enough of his story and the twisting trail it leads us along.

A Christmas Carol Sings to You because It is a Ghost Story. Readers love things that go bump in the night. And, for Scrooge, they literally do. My favorite film version is from 1951 and stars Alistair Sim. The gloomy atmosphere of black and white. The booming apocalyptic sound effects, Ebenezer’s dark scowl. The haunting mood draws me back year after “rolling year.”

A Christmas Carol Sings to Us because We are Scrooge. We are not Scrooge because we are misers hoarding our worldly goods while declaring “Humbug this” and “Humbug that.” We are Scrooge because of the wounds life causes many of us to carry at the essential center of our hearts. Ebenezer carries such wounds and that urges a great swath of readers to identify with him on some level. Which is why A Christmas Carol Sings to the Storyteller in You.

A Christmas Carol Sings to Me Personally. As a human being, I have suffered my own heart wounds. The kind that bore a hole the way hot coals might do when dropped in a sensitive spot at a young age. This hollow place begs to be filled and the only way to fill it is with love. But love must be received and absorbed. For me that fortunately happened. Scrooge has not been blessed in this manner. Which makes me care about him and my caring hooks me into his story.

A Christmas Carol Sings to Those of You who have been Similarly Singed. I am not asking anyone to admit this, because to do so makes you painfully vulnerable. Nor do you need to point out how you are not in the least wounded. If that is true, I rejoice for you and hope you will remain so always. I suspect, however, that, more often than not, you have carried your own wounds and can empathize with Ebenezer’s plight. Thus, you too are hooked into his story.

A Christmas Carol Sings to You because of its Very Dramatic Climax. Scrooge is confronted with the truth of his life in intense and powerful scenes one after another. The vividness of these scenes shakes him to the core of his being. They shake us too. He is additionally confronted with the inevitable outcome of such a life which scares him nearly to death. It scares us too. What will happen next? By now any reader with a beating heart is totally hooked into Dickens’ world.

A Christmas Carol Sings to You because of its Very Happy Ending. The morning dawns. The ghosts are gone. Ebenezer truly sees the light of day at last.  He is a new man. Reborn. Redeemed. He acts accordingly. From his heart and to the benefit of everyone – especially himself. This is popular storytelling at its best.

Finally – A Christmas Carol Sings because Dickens Offers an Answer. He points us toward possible healing. Action will be required as is true of all Redemption Stories. A Christmas Carol is a Redemption Story. Scrooge must redeem himself. The spirits help but he takes the crucial action. He learns to love and performs loving deeds. This is Scrooge’s answer and everyone else’s. Millions of readers and watchers are drawn to that message. Whatever your beliefs about Christmas it might be wise to listen when A Christmas Carol Sings to the Storyteller in You.

Alice Orr Says – You Possess Storytelling Magic. Keep on Writing Whatever May Occur. https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know – in your writing work and in your writer’s life? Ask your question in the Comments section at the end of this post.

 Alice Orr – Teacher. Storyteller. Former Literary Agent. Blogs for Writers. Author of 14 novels, 2 novellas and a memoir so far. Wrote No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells as a gift to the writers’ community she loves.

Alice’s Holiday Novel – A Vacancy at the Inn – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 3 – is available HERE. Celebrate the Season!

Praise for A Vacancy at the Inn. “Grabbed me right away and swept me up in the lives of Bethany and Luke.” “Undercurrents of suspense move the story along at an irresistible pace.” “The Miller family is rife with personality quirks, an authentic touch that demonstrates Alice Orr’s skill as a writer.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.”

All of Alice’s Books are HERE.

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