Dickens to the Rescue

Oh, joy! I wrote a new opening scene to my book in ninety minutes that takes away the need for boring the reader with background information in the following scenes.

I was thinking about how Dickens approached his openings. He often tells the reader something that happens in the distant past and then drops the reader in the "present" of the story. The opening scene provides information that sets the time frame. The reader then sees the background information as it happens without that info bogging down the main narrative. What an awesome technique by an awesome writer. Why don't I take his advice more often?

Amy