What did Charles Dickens do as a teenager?

Answer 1

When Dickens was 15, he became a law clerk at the law firm of Ellis and Blackmore, then, in 1828, worked for a few months at the law firm of Charles Molley. He didn't much like law as a profession, so after mastering Gurney shorthand, a very difficult form required by the courts, he became a freelance court stenographer. (Aided, no doubt by his near-photographic memory, he was able to master the Gurney shorthand in three months, a skill that took most people three years.) He was 18 when he fell in love with Maria Beadnell and, about that time, began writing short stories and "sketches," while still working as a freelance court stenographer. During that time, Maria Beadnell broke his heart and in his early twenties, he met his future wife, Catherine Hogarth.

Answer 2

As a teenager, Charles Dickens worked in a factory to support his family when his father was imprisoned for debt. He also attended school intermittently and developed a love for literature and writing during this time.