Charles Dickens was born in Portsea, England, in1812. His father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office,stationed at Portsmouth. Although his job was wellpaid, his father had a weakness for spending money andspent much of his life in chronic bankruptcy.
In 1824, when Charles was just 12 years old, hisfather was sent to debtor's jail. Charles Dickens wassent to a boarding house and given a 12 hour-a-day jobpreparing bottles of shoe polish in a blackingfactory.
But Dickens' fortunes improved: a sudden inheritanceallowed his father to pay off his debts and he sentCharles to school.
At age fifteen Charles was placed as a clerk in theoffice of an attorney, a friend of his father's. In hisspare time he studied hard to become a Parliamentaryreporter.
At age nineteen he entered the parliamentary gallery asa reporter for The Mirror. It was a well paid job and hesoon became known as one of the best shorthandreporters in London.
Dickens began writing fiction at age 21, under the nomde plume of 'Boz'. In 1836, when Dickens was 23, hebegan writing a series of short stories (ThePosthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) which appearedin cheap monthly installments. By the age of 24 he hadbecome internationally famous.
Charles Dickens burst onto the literary scene at aunique moment in English history
Until the end of the 18th century, England had been amainly rural society. But from the late 1700's onwards,land holders started forcing people off their land tomake way for sheep farming.
At the same time the Industrial Revolution wascreating new towns and cities with belching smokestacks and factories that needed workers - the Englishcountryside was emptying and a new urban working classwas emerging.
The concentration of people in towns and citiescreated something that had never existed before - amass audience. Newspapers, Magazines and Newsletterssprang up to cater for this new and growing demand.
Books were being serialized in Newspapers andMagazines - those who couldn't afford to buy a bookcould read it in weekly installments. Dickens wrote andpublished most of his novels in this fashion - a chapterat a time.
Between 1837 and 1839, Dickens wrote three of his mostfamous novels Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, andNicholas Nickleby.
In the first ten years of his writing career, themanic part of Dickens' manic depression had given himan endless source of energy and inspiration, but nowhe began to succumb to depression.
In the 1840's he started to experience writer's block.He would spend days locked up in a room, unable to putwords on paper. He wrote: "Men have been chained tohideous walls and other strange anchors but few haveknown such suffering and bitterness...as those whohave been bound to Pens."
Dickens was an extremely energetic man and a compulsivetraveler. He traveled the length and breadth of England,Scotland and Wales and also made frequent trips toFrance and Italy. In 1842 he spent six months in America,where he was given the kind of reception reserved formodern day rock stars.
In 1856 Dickens purchased a large residence in Kent,the kind of house he had always dreamed of owning.
Although Dickens became wealthy, he never forgothis origins. Throughout his life he visited thefactories, the slums, the jails and the poor houses.Indeed, his novels were a social commentary on theappalling conditions of 19th century England. He waswell known for his generosity and received requestsfor money wherever he went.
He is considered by many to have been a genius andthe greatest English writer of the 19th century.
When Dickens died in June 1870, he left an estatevalued at over $US6.5 million (2001 value).
------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3
years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this
simple technique to build a successful online business. Click
here to find out more: http://ezine-writer.com/
------------------------------------------------------------
1) Convince yourself you want to do something else. If... Read More
Writing can be more difficult that just compiling your thoughts... Read More
What to do when you get rejected.You've just finished your... Read More
Listen, consider this scenario.You have a deadline to honour. Time... Read More
Have you given up on getting your book out of... Read More
By far, I have found that the lack of discipline... Read More
~TYPES~You Want Us to Write What? Understanding the Task AssignedWhich... Read More
Written communication is often the first impression you make on... Read More
Have you ever read someone else's writing and thought one... Read More
A certified proofreader is one that has taken a few... Read More
Bookcoaching clients come to me at different stages of writing... Read More
Based on the feedback that I have been getting from... Read More
What does one do as a writer who loves writing... Read More
"This is just brilliant. The whole interview is incredible? I'm?... Read More
It was reported that the great American author Sinclair Lewis... Read More
Business etiquette is fundamentally concerned with building relationships founded upon... Read More
In large publishing houses, many manuscripts penned by first-time authors,... Read More
Interested in breaking into writing or breaking into a new... Read More
Today Norm Goldman, Editor of sketchandtravel and bookpleasures is honored... Read More
ESSAYS ON AUTOBIOGRAPHY: NUMBER 1Preamble:Nearly seven years ago I wrote... Read More
The Hottest Word on the WebDid you know marketing people... Read More
Editorial guidelines, also known as writer's guidelines, are the rules... Read More
Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury,England in 1965.... Read More
1. What Is A Premise?A premise is the point you... Read More
In the beginning of your story you have to grab... Read More
More Tips For New Writers (Part I)Explain in your own... Read More
1. Use Logic: Check for External PressuresAre you under physical... Read More
Building a new website can be extremely exciting. Seeing your... Read More
Have you heard the term 'ghostwriter' and wondered what they... Read More
My Dad has this old joke that goes, "What's the... Read More
Paulo Coelho was born on August 24th 1947 in Rio... Read More
Dave, I just got a contract for a book... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?Whichever theme you choose, all the elements,... Read More
"If you want to change your life," Harry Beckwith wrote... Read More
It's the funniest thing. When someone asks me what I... Read More
A writer can never be self indulgent whether writing fiction,... Read More
The principle for writing good screenplays begins with good idea... Read More
It is certainly true that we don't get a second... Read More
Golden Rules For New Writers - Things you need to... Read More
A writer writes. Bet you've heard that one... Read More
Creating written documents reveals so much about you and your... Read More
LATER, LATTERLater means afterwards; latter is the second of two... Read More
Readers often send me interesting and exciting e-mails about the... Read More
A few days ago, I critiqued a chapter for a... Read More
If you become a writer for any publication, private business,... Read More
* Scanning and Skimming Practices *Whether you're writing e-mail messages... Read More
I have added a new word to my vocabulary. Logorrhea.... Read More
Wired Online has recently announced its plans to drop capitalization... Read More
My Dad has this old joke that goes, "What's the... Read More
I just finished to read a book. A story for... Read More
You send me an e-mail. You tell me you've written... Read More
1. Before you write anything down define not what you... Read More
How long should your chapters be?I can't resist... I have... Read More
Your computer is a writing machine, a word processor, a... Read More
There are so many ways for writers to make good... Read More
Next time you're tempted to use italics for emphasis... STOP!"Why?"... Read More
According to one of my previous articles, whenever a Southerner... Read More
You may wonder why I have chosen this title of... Read More
My dad was wrong. I just discovered that I am... Read More
More Tips For New Writers (Part I)Explain in your own... Read More
Sometimes I can be dense when it comes to realizing... Read More
How do you describe a scene without slowing down the... Read More
Chaos and confusion come when established rules and procedures are... Read More
EditingExpect, allow, and accept that every first draft will represent... Read More
Among the various foolproof methods used to boost traffic to... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?By now you should have an idea... Read More
Writing |