In all fairness, some content will resemble what others may have thought or put to paper, but this should be happenstance and not intentional. Your mind is beautiful in its own way, your thoughts are an indication of who you are, and so should your writing let others know what you believe in, and how you interpret world around you. If a reader wants a Hemingway story-line, then most assuredly, they will seek out Mr. Hemingway. But if they want to know more about anything, discover a new slant to an issue, or investigate new courses, then color their world with your insight, talent, and interpretations. Duplicating someone else's work is not a form of flattery, in essence, it is an insult to your own writing capabilities.

There are a lot of colors to choose from in our world, and as far as writing is concerned, supply of shades and tints is limitless. The only ceiling is one we put up when we tap into someone else's methods and musings. Definitely reading masters and learning from authors who are experts in their fields is one step to good writing, but challenge is to turn what you have learned into a whole new world. Give your readers gift of color, and you will have a willing audience for anything you write. Paint in shades of black and white and your words will fall on deaf ears. Shakespeare can never be duplicated, but he can be central point to a new realization or depiction. If you use someone else's words and thoughts then you will forever stand in shadows. As a writer, there is enough sunshine for everyone to stake claim to a place of their own. The color of your world is what readers are looking for. ©Arleen M. Kaptur 2002 June

Books were being serialized in Newspapers and Magazines - those who couldn't afford to buy a book could read it in weekly installments. Dickens wrote and published most of his novels in this fashion - a chapter at a time.

Between 1837 and 1839, Dickens wrote three of his most famous novels Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, and Nicholas Nickleby.

In first ten years of his writing career, manic part of Dickens' manic depression had given him an endless source of energy and inspiration, but now he began to succumb to depression.

In 1840's he started to experience writer's block. He would spend days locked up in a room, unable to put words on paper. He wrote: "Men have been chained to hideous walls and other strange anchors but few have known such suffering and bitterness...as those who have been bound to Pens."

Dickens was an extremely energetic man and a compulsive traveler. He traveled length and breadth of England, Scotland and Wales and also made frequent trips to France and Italy. In 1842 he spent six months in America, where he was given kind of reception reserved for modern day rock stars.

In 1856 Dickens purchased a large residence in Kent, kind of house he had always dreamed of owning.

Although Dickens became wealthy, he never forgot his origins. Throughout his life he visited factories, slums, jails and poor houses. Indeed, his novels were a social commentary on appalling conditions of 19th century England. He was well known for his generosity and received requests for money wherever he went.

He is considered by many to have been a genius and greatest English writer of 19th century.

When Dickens died in June 1870, he left an estate valued at over $US6.5 million (2001 value).