In 1843, celebrated British novelist Charles Dickens is at a low point in his career with three flops behind him and family expenses piling up at home. Determined to recover, Dickens decides to write a Christmas story and self-publish it in less than two months. As Dickens labors writing on such short notice, his estranged father and mother come to bunk with him. Still haunted by painful memories of his father ruining his childhood by his financial irresponsibility, Dickens develops a seemingly-unsolvable writer's block. Dickens must face his personal demons epitomized through his characters, especially in his imagined conversations with Ebenezer Scrooge. With a looming deadline, Dickens struggles for inspiration against his frustrations and his characters' opinions in a literary challenge creating a classic tale that would define the essential soul of modern Christmas.