“The whole difference between
construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be
loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists.” – Charles Dickens
Today is the
anniversary of Dickens’ birth in 1812. During
his relatively short lifetime (he died at age 58), he created some of the
world's best-known fictional characters, establishing himself as the greatest
novelist of the Victorian era. His novels,
short stories and plays have enjoyed unprecedented popularity both during his
lifetime, and yet today. And, both 20th
century and 21st century critics and scholars have recognized him as
a literary genius.
As a writer, if
you’re looking for an example to guide you, just look to almost any phrase or
paragraph from Dickens and you’ll be safely on your way. I’ve always loved the simplistic power of his
descriptions, like this sentence about a March day. “It was one of those
March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer
in the light, and winter in the shade.” Everything
we need to know in under 30 words.
Dickens’ writings
gave the world the term Dickensian, used to describe something
reminiscent of both him and his writings, as well as things like the poor
social conditions or comically repulsive characters of which he wrote. He was a master of character development and his
portrayal of life and the world around him.
His words still transport us into that world 200 years later.
He loved writing from
an early age, but almost didn’t become a writer. He had prepared himself to be an actor, but
at the time of his first tryout, he came down with a cold and could not do the
reading. While recuperating, he wrote a story
that was so well received he decided writing might be a better choice.
He soon began a newspaper
column called “Street Sketches,” which eventually became The Pickwick Papers, published when he was 24. Two years later, his novel Oliver Twist was published – the first
book to have a child protagonist. He
also wrote his first 4 plays during this period. He never turned back from a writing career,
and said he never lacked ideas. Ideas
are everywhere, he said, “You just have to figure out how to present them. An
idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself.”
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