Home
>
Writing
>
Writing Made Them Rich #2: Charles Dickens

Writing Made Them Rich #2: Charles Dickens

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/
------------------------------------------------------------

no-contract cleaning service Mundelein ..

In The News:

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Apple's digital passport feature lets iPhone users breeze through TSA checkpoints this holiday season using Digital ID technology at 250+ airports.

A new phishing scam targets family photos with fake "Cloud Storage Full" alerts. Criminals steal credit card information through fake sites. Learn protection tips.