What was Charles Dickens before he was a writer?

Answer 1

When he was about 12, he worked for less than a year in a blacking factory. At about 15, he went to work as a clerk in a law office (which he hated), then became a circuit court reporter. This is what he was doing when he began submitting short stories and sketches to literary magazines. As soon as Pickwick Papers was printed, in 1836, he became famous and financially secure enough to quit work and write full time.