[Excerpt from the Kristen Lamb Blog] ~ The Power of Names ~
Naming characters can be vital. Great writers use the power of parsimony. Each element should serve as many purposes as possible. A name is more than a name. It has the power to be a story within a story.
I recall the moment I was first introduced to what would become my favorite hymn, Come Thou Fount of Many Blessings. One verse stood out:
Here I raise my Ebenezer
Here by Thy great help I’ve come
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home.
Ebenezer? Raise an Ebenezer? I needed to know more. Ebenezer is actually אבן העזר, Even Ha’Ezer, which literally means stone of help or monument to God’s glory and is referenced in the book of Samuel.
Thus, when Dickens chose a name for his protagonist, he chose the perfect name for the redeemed sinner. What is a better testament to a God of grace, than the hardened heart melted by the power of love?
VISIT: Kristen Lamb’s Blog for the entire story that she shares about ~ http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/why-are-certain-stories-timeless-what-scrooge-can-teach-us-about-great-writing/
“Why Are Certain Stories Timeless? What Scrooge Can Teach Us About Great Writing”
A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens [Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world’s most well-known fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. wikipedia.org ]
Sharliebel Reviews 