One Dickens of a Messy Manuscript
Did you know that Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in just six weeks because he was in desperate need of some cash? Or that the manuscript he submitted to his publisher was a sloppy mess?
Whether you’re heartily embracing “the festive season” or you’re grumbling humbug and trying to avoid the whole scene, be sure to have a look at the original manuscript, now available online. Or listen to an interview with Charles Dickens’ great great grandson or the curator of the Morgan Library and Museum, where the manuscript is housed.
Here is a link to get you started on your exploration of this classic story:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/a-christmas-rewrite-as-dickens-edits-dickens/
Especially heartening for writers pushing to get manuscripts off their desks before Christmas. (Yes, I have been one of them and I did it!)
Merry Christmas everyone.
Share this post:
Kathy Stinson is the author of the classic Red Is Best and the award-winning The Man with the Violin. Her wide range of titles includes picture books, non-fiction, young adult fiction, historical fiction, horror, biography, series books, and short stories. She has met with her readers in every province and territory of Canada, in the United States, Britain, Liberia, and Korea. She lives in a small town in Ontario.
