A Dickens Of A Tale

I woke up this morning at an exceptionally early hour.  I could have tried going back to sleep. but I had purchased a number of DVD's yesterday and one in particular was calling to me.  The name of the movie was The Ghosts Of Dicken's Past...a story created to show why this brilliant author wrote A Christmas Carol and how it quite literally changed his life...

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 and by the time A Christmas Carol was created he had written and published a half dozen or more novels.  He was a driven man and always concerned about finances.  He wrote for money and stressed about one day being forced to return to the abject poverty of his youth.  But there was something different about this new novel he was working on in 1842.  His eyes had been opened to the circumstances of the world around him in a way it had never been before.

Instead of slaving over a typewriter or inkwell in the hopes of creating something which would sell, Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol for the pure joy of writing the tale.  Yes, the story was about the darker side of life in the big city during the 19th century, but it was written in the hopes that it would one day inspire others to open their hearts...and pockets...to those less fortunate.  This one act of kindness...trying to shine the spotlight on the suffering of child labor...released a brilliant author from being driven by the almighty dollar.  It only took him six weeks to write the entire novel and the future classic was published in 1843.  And well, you know the rest of the story...

Writers today need to remember why they began writing in the first place.  Some were driven by the need to express themselves.  Some were compelled to write in the hopes of future fame and fortune.  And some write for the pure joy of writing.  To create magic on paper or computer screen in the hopes that some day others will be captivated by their words.  To know they have touched the hearts and minds of readers and for a moment,  the world seems a little bit better place because of their creation.

THAT is why I write.  How about you?

The Artful Dodger

The Artful Dodger, a character in Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist, was very good at dodging trouble.  He did what he had to do to survive.  I think our stories need to be as crafty in order to dodge the negative aura which can add up to their demise.

Fred and Barney also had a way of dodging trouble which came their way.  Self-destructive criticism, poor writing skills, and weak characters are the bullets that shoot holes through our stories.  What could have been a great story dies a slow death because writers either don't know how to salvage the story or they allow others' negativity to get in the way of a great recovery.

I promise myself to diligently watch over my works in progress.  To artfully dodge anything that stands between myself and publication.  I want to be crafty in my writing and creative with my words to prevent them falling by the wayside.  Only then can I call myself the Artful Dodger...