Charles Dickens wrote 20 novels and novellas, numerous short stories, a few plays, and several non-fiction books. His writing career began in 1833 and ended with his death in 1870 at the young age of 58. Dickens was the most popular writer of the Victorian era, and is still widely read today.
I added up only his published books, without even counting his articles, essays, stories, collaborative works, and his letters, later collected into twelve volumes. Dickens was publishing more than a book per year his entire writing life. Every single one of his works was written with a quill pen, which had to be dipped every minute or so into an inkpot.
It would seem that Dickens was sitting down at his desk and writing without pause from the moment he rose until he fell asleep. But here is how Dickens himself described his writing approach in an 1856 letter to heiress-philanthropist Angela Burdett Coutts, while he was working on Little Dorrit: “Prowling about the rooms, sitting down, getting up, stirring the fire, looking out the window, teasing my hair, sitting down to write, writing nothing, writing something and tearing it up…”
That’s right, this famously prolific writer didn’t simply sit down and pen his thoughts in a steady stream. He wrote in fits and starts, allowing himself to pause, move about, distract himself with a mindless task, or simply pace and stare. And, he considered this to be part of his writing time! Indeed, he described this as his usual writing routine.
So, if words don’t flow like a river as soon as you land at the keyboard (or your notebook), don’t feel like you’re doing it wrong. Allow yourself to get up and prowl about. Fold the laundry while you think about your next paragraph. Or take a walk. Or simply sit and think. It’s all part of the writing process.
