A Christmas Carol Writing Exercise

The following post is from Purposeful Prose’s own guest writer, Chartres Royal. We are so excited to continue collaborating with them as they share their creative essays and research with us. This piece is Christmas-centered, and though many of the winter holidays have passed, we remain inspired by their stories and by stories we’ve yet to tell. I hope that you all have fun with this exercise!

"There'll be scary ghost stories,

And tales of the glories,

Of Christmases long, long ago”

- It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

By: Edward Pola and George Wyle, 1963

Festive holidays and well wishes to you all, oh wonderful readers! I hope your holidays are just as merry and bright as you could ever want them to be. In this fun and festive season, I found myself working on what could possibly be an article that would interest anyone when everything around you is much more festive and fun.

My first idea was to go over the history and folklore of the holiday itself. Where did the holiday season start? How did it start? Does that impact how we live today? So, I started digging into it, doing my research, taking notes, and all the things one does when one needs to work on such a project. You want to know what I learned, dear reader? I learned that there are so, so, so many articles on this exact thing written, sourced much better than I could ever do it.

Note from the editor: It is my considered opinion that you should still give your own take on subjects even if you feel as though others have done it better. The subject is still missing your thoughts, so turn it into something that’s yours!

 I’d be just making something to toss onto the pile of articles and, let’s be honest, mine wouldn’t be at the top of that pile.

Note from the editor: I disagree

So that won’t do. Not at all. Time to change my approach! New idea: History of Scary Stories Told During the Holiday Season! Now, that sounds like a winner. Yes indeed! Such a winner that a million other well-sourced articles had already done it a million times over and much better than I, with my limited resources, could do.

Goodness, this is getting frustrating. You see, it’s not that I think everything I write is novel and unique, but I at least try to bring something to the table with my written ramblings, no matter how small. This, however, was starting to show that even if I did bring something it wouldn’t really be that amazing or useful. The small would be too small, if you will.

All right, same principle. I’ve been knocked down twice, so I’ll take a moment, dust myself off… Say now, that might be something. If you’re willing to indulge my nonsense, dear reader, then instead of a simple article on what is and what isn’t, we change this into a little something more interactive. You don’t have to send me anything or say anything to me. Just play along, should you feel so inclined.

Yes, in this little piece of written holiday silliness, I don’t want to tell you about holiday things or go into the holiday ghost stories of old. Rather, let’s go into how you could make your own. Traditions are only alive as long as we indulge them, yes? I love A Christmas Carol as much as the next person, but it was written in 1843. While a staple, a tradition needs new elements to keep it going. You can end your holiday gathering of ghost stories with A Christmas Carol, but what comes before that? Is this your only story? I doubt it would be and, to that end, let’s see about making some of our own. We can even use A Christmas Carol as our basic outline.

Granted, you can use anything you like. You don’t have to listen to me at all. It’s your story, so please, make it your own! Now, let’s go over our basic elements:

- A holiday (Of course)

- A person or persons who either dislikes or hates the holiday or the holiday season.

- Actions of this/these person/persons who dislike or hate the holiday that illustrates their attitude.

- Someone, or a group, who tries to bring this holiday hater around only to be turned down.

- The holiday-hater being possibly visited by one (or more than one) spirit/phantom/ghost/otherworldly entity.

- The visit showing them the error of their ways in one or many ways.

- The holiday hater learning that the meaning of the holiday is about joy, togetherness, and love.

- A happy ending, of course!

Editor’s Note: A happy ending isn’t essential to a story, even if it’s about the holidays. We love our happy endings, but your goal should be to find the right pairing with your story.

All in all, not the hardest thing in the world. Then again, these are stories inspired by folklore and morals centered around togetherness, so they’re not meant to be overly complicated. Overly complicated stories can leave your audience lacking interest. We want short, but not too short. Spooky, but not overly so. A holiday message, but one that feels natural. A happy ending that doesn’t feel forced.

We have our elements and our basic tools. Shall we try them out? Feel free to write your own! Don’t worry about reception or anything, this is just for you. Only share if you want to. There is never any pressure here.

Jamie didn’t like the holidays. Sure, maybe as a kid, she did. She liked presents and decorations, but that was kid stuff, and that was a long time ago. She had become a young woman and she didn’t want to spend all her precious time decorating a tree just to take it down in a few weeks. Hanging all those lights was a pain. Who cared if the neighbors liked them? No, she just wanted to get her gifts and go back to her daily life.

“Holidays aren’t about the decorations or the presents, dear. It’s about the memories we make with the ones we love,” her mother would tell her.

Why did she need to entertain a special day for that? Couldn’t they just make memories all year long? To top it all off, it has to be a holiday on the coldest, darkest day of the year. A day where, honestly, she just wanted to sleep and ignore it all.

All right. What do we think? We have our “holiday hater” and her reasoning. It’s not overly bitter or even mean, it’s just mildly grumpy. This kind of attitude could be turned around if shown enough compassion and care. She’s young, frustrated with life, and is ready for things to be done now. We’ve all had those teenage feelings. We even have our “someone who tries to change them but can’t”. Her mother points out that holidays are about love and the people you love. The holiday really is just a day. It doesn’t mean anything unless you want it to. That’s what makes it special.

All in all, not a terrible start. How about you? Is yours up to your approval? If not, don’t worry. Want to know a little secret? None of my work is up to my approval either. If not for the time I spend with my wonderful editor and them talking to me about all of this, I’d never really do anything with my writing.

Note from the Editor: I’ve always loved their imagery and tone, and I had good reason besides for welcoming them to be my guest writer. I’ve found their rhetoric compelling regardless of the form in which it arrives, and working with it has been both an honor and a pleasure. I’ve learned so much through this process as an editor.

So, if you don’t like what you made, don’t feel bad. It happens to all of us and there is absolutely no shame in that. This is an exercise, so you can trip or make mistakes all over the page. That’s what learning is about.

Let’s move on. We have our beginning and, granted, it is a little vague. If this was a proper story it would have more concrete details regarding where we are and when we are. This is folklore, though, and vagueness helps keep it timeless, more or less. Some phrasing and writing styles will fall out of favor as the years pass, but being a little open with what you do in a format like this makes it feel all the more like it happened a few days or years ago. In A Christmas Carol, the story does feel like something you’ve heard in childhood or some early time, yes? It doesn’t feel like something written almost two-hundred years ago. This work is a case study in the timelessness of a good story.

Now then, our big change. What makes our character decide to start down the path of changing their opinion or attitude towards the holidays? Could be anything, really. We know about the ghosts in A Christmas Carol, but our visitor doesn’t always have to be supernatural. Could be something more local, more grounded in reality. The story, as I always remind you, is yours. It can be anything that works.

As [Jamie] made her way home from school, she saw the car pass her. It wasn’t a fancy or even particularly memorable car, but the thing that made it stand out was when it stopped. The passenger door opened, and they tossed out a box before speeding off.

‘Of course. Just throw your trash out on the street,’ she thought to herself as she approached the discarded box.

Her thoughts on the act of littering stopped when she got to the box, however. It made a sound. A small, sad sound. She paused, crouching down, and carefully opened the box. Inside was a small, striped tabby kitten. It looked up at her, a little scared of the new face, but also terrified of the ordeal it had just been through.

Jamie was both disgusted at the people for throwing out the helpless kitten like this and worried for the small creature. She carefully reached into the box, trying not to startle the kitten. Once it was sure it was safe, it nuzzled up to her affectionately. As she opened the box more, she saw what was discarded alongside the kitten. It was the remains of a holiday card, torn in half and tossed into the box.

Her heart ached for the tiny creature as she took it into her arms, cradling it gently. This kitten was supposed to make someone’s holiday bright. It was supposed to be the perfect gift of love and compassion. However, here it was, card destroyed and kitten cast out into the snow to be forgotten. She couldn’t allow that. She resumed her walk towards home with the kitten in her arms. She didn’t know what her mother would say, but she knew she couldn’t just abandon the poor creature as its previous caretakers had done.

Alright, everyone! Let’s take a look at what we have. Well, you all know what I have, but what about you? Is your story coming along like you want? I hope it is.

Our turning point here is, of course, the kitten. This girl who doesn’t care for the holidays isn’t without compassion or understanding. She’s just not a fan of holiday things. Still, seeing this helpless kitten spurs her to do something, to take action despite any consequences that may come from this. She also clearly acknowledges the extra level of sadness and cruelty to not only toss a helpless creature on the side of the road, but to destroy a gift to someone in the process.

Your “holiday hater” doesn’t have to be as cold and grumpy as Mr. Scrooge. That’s what works for The Christmas Carol. The level of detest he has for all things holiday and cheerful is matched by the story’s reaction to this. It’s a balance, you see. Perhaps Scrooge would have had the same change of heart if he, too, found an abandoned kitten and decided to show compassion to something to small and helpless. Who can say, really? Still, the imagery of ghosts appearing one by one to warn of a future most dire is very striking.

In my example, I’m not going for anything nearly as bombastic or striking. I came up with something different. Besides, this is about fun and teaching, not about raising stakes or being better than anyone.

Now, what challenges will our main character face? Will it be something deeply personal? A reflection on past actions and how they affected who they are now? Maybe something external like a choice to do something good and, by extension, provide a new viewpoint? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a million more times: The choice is yours! That’s the excitement with creating. Not just a holiday story but in any art. You have such endless freedom to explore and enjoy.

Jamie didn’t really know anything about cats. She’d never had a pet more complicated than a goldfish before, but something about this helpless little kitten had sparked a desire in her to do right by it. She looked up all the information she could find, gathered the best foods and toys, and made sure the kitten felt safe and at home.

This, of course, was not without its share of challenges. The kitten was, well, a kitten. It was restless, playful, and rambunctious even at times when it was best to be sleeping. While this annoyed Jamie, it didn’t make her regret her decision. It was through this lovable little animal that she started to understand what her mother had said about holidays. ‘It’s about the memories we make with the ones we love.’

Maybe it was a little silly that such a random event as finding a lost kitten could inspire her so, but she didn’t really mind. It was a feeling she liked, a magic she could keep, and a kindness she could share.

Well, admittedly, mine isn’t the best story. There could be more development, more interesting things, more everything, in all honesty. Still, it serves as a pretty good example of our direction and tone. We have someone who starts off disliking the holidays, something changes for them, then they learn to appreciate the little magic and joy of a simple holiday.

When you think about it, the concept of the holidays is really simple. Maybe the holidays were more complicated and more grandiose when they were first becoming holidays, but these days, they’ve become more or less about being with the ones you love and sharing gifts of kindness. Personally, I’d argue that a simple a holiday is a wonderful thing. They can be celebrated in any way that works for you, and they can be personal to you and yours. As we learned from our writing, after all, it’s the little touches that make it magical.

Technically, that was the end of the article and, if you should choose to stop here, I’ll understand. However, if you wouldn’t mind dear reader, I’d like to take just a bit more of your time to say thank you.

When I was first asked to contribute to this project I had absolutely no idea if anything I would do would amount to anything. My first pieces (which aren’t published) are, admittedly, not very good. Then again, you already know how I feel about my work. Still, you and my amazing editor have taken time out of your busy lives to read the silly ramblings and opinions I’ve come up with. If you enjoy them or if you think they’re terrible, I still want to thank you. It’s a rare moment to have something you work on be seen and, hopefully, enjoyed. I couldn’t do any of this without all of you.

So, with that in mind, I’d like to thank you all, wish you the most wonderful of holidays no matter what you celebrate, and hope that next year treats you with love, compassion, and kindness. Some days, we all feel like that lost kitten in a box, but always believe that someone will come to help you up, listen to your worries, and care for you. You are ten times more wonderful than you could ever know.

Happy holidays to you all.

With all of our love,

-Chartres Royal