What Can Dickens Teach You?

Canon classic, David Copperfield: a memoirists guidebook

An Exclusive Writing Lab and video teaching on what David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, can teach us about cueing the reader, plot, and writing the epic personal story with style + handouts

Hi and welcome:

A caricaturist, facetious, melodramatic, antic, clumsy, and, on political questions, dangerously out of his depth…There never lived a man as hideous as Quilp. Mr. Gradgrind was not to be credited; Nell was not to be borne. Mirth could not answer tyranny. “Bleak House” was belabored. The novels before “Copperfield” were meringue and treacle; those which followed were burned pot roast. Mr. Dickens did not satisfy. ~ From The New Yorker, 2011

Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972), an American writer widely regarded as one of the most important literary critics of the 20th century. Wilson began his career as a journalist, writing for publications such as Vanity Fair and The New Yorker.

These were some of the harsh things said about Charles Dickens by boatfuls of critics back in the day. Edmund Wilson (pictured above) would turn the largely critical tide though, arguing that Dickens was “…the greatest dramatic writer that the English language had had since Shakespeare.”

Thus begins our conversation about critics, and opinion, and the art itself.

A true artist is usually a deep thinker and a seeker of inspiration who learns (over time) to wave naysayers and brutalizers aside because while these types are expert at barking criticism from the shoreline, often appealing only to the intellect, they are not necessarily creative people.

Dickens as a young man! ❣️

Creative people, like you and like me, see beyond flaws (which all writing contains) and into the heart and mind of the truly great writers like Dickens. A read of his collective work shows that Dickens knew how to leave the safety of the shore and dive into the water, splash around and be buoyed by it. In the breadth and depth of his career, Dickens left us a living and deep sea of inspiration that gives and gives. Yes, go too fast when exploring Dickens, or take on too much, and you can drown in that sea. But, hopefully, you’ll find this teaching offers a few refreshing drops.

Cueing. Plot. How to novelize your life.

We will study what it means to cue the reader (here is a link to another teaching I’ve done on that topic that is so crucial to the writer of creative non-fiction). We’ll break out the plot of David Copperfield. And we’ll explore how to take your lives, even your whole life, and turn it into an epic like Dickens did. I hope you enjoy it, and most of all, inspires you to read the classic for yourself. Finally, I hope you will share the many lessons you learn from the work of Dickens and how they have helped you crafting your own great works.

If you are a paid subscriber, read on with my great thanks. If you are not yet paid, this is penny on the dollar teaching. I promise. I hope you’ll join us for this and so many amazing teachings to grow your craft.