1000 Hours of Writing. 2021: A Year in Review

1000 Hours of Writing in 2021: A Year in Review

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1000 Hours of Writing. 2021: A Year in Review

In 2021, I spent 1000 hours writing.

1000.

A few weeks ago I realized how close I was to 1000 hours of writing for the year, so I decided to go for it and get in the last few hours.

1,000 hours 1,000 hours

If you look back on previous years, there were a number of years when I was firmly in the 400 to 600 hours a year range (so writing on average 60 to 100 minutes a day). Last year was my most writing time ever, with 909 hours total–so an average of 150 minutes or 2.5 hours a day. 1000 hours per day is an average of 165 minutes a day, or 2.75 hours.

Of course, I was not actually writing 2.75 hours a day–some months I wrote a lot more than that, some months a lot less:

Bar Graph. Hours Spent Writing in 2021. January 98 Feburary 90 March 93 April 106 May 88 June 79 July 31 August 80 September 91 October 99 November 84 December 61

Now, a qualifier. I did not spend 1000 hours typing. I’ve talked about this in previous year-in-review posts, but I believe in being pretty expansive in my definition of writing. Daydreaming about story ideas counts as writing. Listening to writing podcasts counts as writing. Submitting stories for publication counts as writing. That said…

What specifically did I work on in 2021?

Katherine Cowley and the Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet

First off, my debut novel was published!

When I was five years old, I decided that I wanted to be an author and publish books. While I have had a number of shorter works published, this year was my first to publish a book.

Having my book out in the world has been thrilling and tiring and exciting and overwhelming and wonderful all at once. Most of all, I’m grateful to have a story that I wanted to tell out in the world. And I’m grateful to everyone who has read and shared and reviewed my book–I truly appreciate all of your support for my stories!

While The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet was a huge milestone for my year, it actually didn’t take up most of my writing time. (The time that it did use was sharing the word about the book on social media, blog posts, sending out my newsletter, being a guest on podcasts, updating my website, etc.–aka marketing.)

Here’s a snapshot that shows how I spent my writing time throughout the year:

Book 2 in my Mary Bennet series—The True Confessions of a London Spy–comes out in a little over two months, on March 1, 2022. However, this past year I only spent 30 hours on it, and that was for final revisions. (Most of the time for that book came in 2020, when I spent 347 hours on it, and from 2018, when I wrote a very rough first draft.)

What I did spend most of my time on in 2021 was Book 3 in the Mary Bennet series, The Lady’s Guide to Death and Deception. I spent 387 hours on the book. This included brainstorming, research, outlining, reading newspapers from the time, and four drafts. The book is still not finished–I still have 3-4 revision passes on it with the publisher that will happen in early 2022.

Other things I worked on:

Jane Austen Writing Lessons. This has been a project of joy, as I’ve deep dived into writing through the lens of Jane Austen. Basically, this is everything I know about writing in a series of blog posts, and it was actually selected by the Write Life as one of the 100 Best Websites for Writers in 2021.

Jane Austen Writing Lessons. With an image of the original cover page of Pride and Prejudice; a color image of Jane Austen; an image of tea and pastries with an open book, and an early cover of Sense and Sensiblity.

The 97 hours spent on development included my monthly writing group, critiquing the writing of others, accounting, networking, goal setting and tracking, and learning about writing through listening to writing podcasts and reading books about writing. Developing yourself as a writer is so essential at every stage of the writing or publishing process you are at, and so it’s something that I continue to prioritize.

It’s also important to do writing that’s just for yourself, and that’s where my 52 hours of journal writing came in. And then there were all sorts of other smaller writing projects and writing-related tasks that I worked on throughout the year.

How much of the thousand hours was spent actually outlining, writing new words, or revising? I have no idea, and I absolutely refuse to go through every entry in my time tracker to figure that out. My guess is at least 500. But that number doesn’t really matter to me, because all of the writing-related things are important for me as a writer.

How in the world did I get in 1000 hours?

In years when I was writing 400 hours per year, it was because I fought tooth and nail to spend a solid hour a day working on my writing. It took sacrifices–reading less, watching less, cleaning less, waking up early or staying up late, and sometimes insane life-juggling to carve out that hour.

Writing 1000 hours this year was actually easier than writing 400 those years, because of a very particular set of life circumstances:

  • In September, my youngest child entered full-day kindergarten, but I did not start working full-time. Instead I got a 10-hour-a-week part-time job.
  • From January to June, I was a stay-at-home parent with one 5-year-old at home. She was rather independent. I also gave her movie time for 2 hours every afternoon, and I always used it for writing time.
  • Our family finances work on only my husband’s salary, which is a privilege that many incredible writers don’t have. I can put 1000 hours into writing even if I’m not going to make much from it.

If life has taught me anything, it’s that I can’t guarantee what my life circumstances will look like in any given year. Maybe I will have years in the future where I can spend 1000 hours writing, maybe I won’t. But it was fun to achieve that completely arbitrary benchmark this year.

What to Look for From Me in 2022

  • March 1: The True Confessions of a London Spy (Mary Bennet 2) will be released
  • May 13-14: I will be teaching a class called “In Defense of Writing Slowly” at the Storymakers conference in Utah
  • September: The Lady’s Guide to Death and Deception (Mary Bennet 3) will be released

Hopefully I will be able to add some more in-person events to this list

The Secret Life of Mary Bennet Series: The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet and The True Confessions of a London Spy. Mary Bennet, Spy. "Beautifully written, masterfully plotted, meet a Mary Bennet every bit as fascinating and twice as daring as her more famous sisters." -Gretchen Archer, USA Today bestselling author

My Goals for 2022

  • Finish revisions on The Lady’s Guide to Death and Deception
  • Actually finish revisions on an old steampunk novel (this is a goal I had for 2021 that I didn’t meet)
  • Write at least the first draft of a new book (I have a few ideas for this)

I may add or subtract goals from this list as the year progresses.

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #48: Techniques for Writing About Holidays in Fiction

#48: Techniques for Writing About Holidays in Fiction

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #48: Techniques for Writing About Holidays in Fiction

Jane Austen has a thing for Christmas.

In some of her novels, Christmas is mentioned only in brief, while in others it is a focal component, but each of her six published novels incorporates Christmas in some way. In this post, we’re going to look at how Jane Austen uses Christmas as a storyteller, and what writing techniques we can learn from her. Whether your characters celebrate Christmas or Eid or Rosh Hashanah, you can apply these techniques for writing about holidays in fiction to your own stories.

Writing Holidays in Fiction. Technique #1: Use holidays as time markers. Jane Austen Writing Lessons.

Technique 1: Use Holidays as Time Markers

Major holidays act as time markers in the year—they are days that are out of the ordinary, and we associate them with certain months and seasons. Austen often references Christmas a time marker, to show either a sense of when something occurred or will occur, or to show the passage of time.

She does this a number of times in her novels, but here’s a few brief examples.

Mansfield Park

In Mansfield Park, there is a conversation between Miss Crawford and Edmund Bertram. They share a romantic interest in each other, but Miss Crawford looks down on the clergy as a profession, while Edmund looks forward to becoming a clergyman:

“Ordained!” said Miss Crawford; “what, are you to be a clergyman?”

“Yes; I shall take orders soon after my father’s return—probably at Christmas.”

Pride and Prejudice

After the regiment leaves Meryton, initially a number of members of the Bennet family are devastated. Eventually, their intense feelings on the matter begin to subside:

Mrs. Bennet was restored to her usual querulous serenity; and, by the middle of June, Kitty was so much recovered as to be able to enter Meryton without tears; an event of such happy promise as to make Elizabeth hope that by the following Christmas she might be so tolerably reasonable as not to mention an officer above once a day…

Technique 2: Use Holidays to Convey Emotions

Holidays are not joyful for everyone: there is not a unified experience or emotional reaction for any holiday. Jane Austen uses holidays to demonstrate a range of emotional states. Sometimes, the emotions shown will be about the holiday itself, or people’s expectations and experience of the holiday. At other times, she will use a holiday to reflect a character’s overall emotional state at this point in the story.

This passage in Persuasion does both: we see characters’ emotions about the present holiday (which in part is related to their expectations for it). Lady Russell expects a quieter holiday than Mrs. Musgrove. We also see characters’ emotional states about the present events—Anne is still troubled by Louisa Musgrove’s accident and the resulting health consequences, and so she expects something different from Christmas, while Mrs. Musgrove finds the Christmas chaos to be a balm for her worries about her daughter Louisa.

Immediately surrounding Mrs Musgrove were the little Harvilles, whom she was sedulously guarding from the tyranny of the two children from the Cottage, expressly arrived to amuse them. On one side was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper; and on the other were tressels and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys were holding high revel; the whole completed by a roaring Christmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard, in spite of all the noise of the others. Charles and Mary also came in, of course, during their visit, and Mr Musgrove made a point of paying his respects to Lady Russell, and sat down close to her for ten minutes, talking with a very raised voice, but from the clamour of the children on his knees, generally in vain. It was a fine family-piece.

Anne, judging from her own temperament, would have deemed such a domestic hurricane a bad restorative of the nerves, which Louisa’s illness must have so greatly shaken. But Mrs Musgrove, who got Anne near her on purpose to thank her most cordially, again and again, for all her attentions to them, concluded a short recapitulation of what she had suffered herself by observing, with a happy glance round the room, that after all she had gone through, nothing was so likely to do her good as a little quiet cheerfulness at home.

Louisa was now recovering apace. Her mother could even think of her being able to join their party at home, before her brothers and sisters went to school again. The Harvilles had promised to come with her and stay at Uppercross, whenever she returned. Captain Wentworth was gone, for the present, to see his brother in Shropshire.

“I hope I shall remember, in future,” said Lady Russell, as soon as they were reseated in the carriage, “not to call at Uppercross in the Christmas holidays.”

Technique 3: Use Distinctive Holiday Details

At times, Austen gives distinctive details surrounding Christmas. This gives flavor to the holiday and paints the setting for the reader. As a modern reader, these details are fascinating, but they would also be interesting for a contemporary reader because they show how a particular character or group interacts with the holiday.

In the above passage from Persuasion, here are some of the distinctive details included about Christmas:

  • Girls cutting up silk and gold paper
  • A table covered by “tressels and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies”
  • A “roaring Christmas fire”—a loud, large fire, louder and larger because it is for Christmas

The novel Sense and Sensibility includes only two brief references to Christmas, and yet the details included do give flavor to both the holiday and the character’s experience.

After Marianne Dashwood falls down a hill and is rescued by John Willoughby, the incident is mentioned by the Dashwoods to their friend Sir John, and Sir John gives several details praising Willoughby’s character, including the following with a reference to Christmas:

“He is as good a sort of fellow, I believe, as ever lived,” repeated Sir John. “I remember last Christmas at a little hop at the park, he danced from eight o’clock till four, without once sitting down.”

Here, we have details about Christmas—an outdoor party at the park, with dancing for eight hours!

Writing Holidays in Fiction. Technique #4: Use holidays for their associations. Jane Austen Writing Lessons.

Technique 4: Use Holidays for their Associations

Every holiday has a set of associations for both characters and readers. Some of these associations are universal—Christmas, for example, is associated with celebration and community and gathering as family and friends—while some may be more distinct.

In Emma, when the characters are at Box Hill, the characters begin sharing conundrums—a sort of riddle—and other plays on words. When it comes to Mrs. Elton, she says:

“Oh! for myself, I protest I must be excused,” said Mrs. Elton; “I really cannot attempt—I am not at all fond of the sort of thing. I had an acrostic once sent to me upon my own name, which I was not at all pleased with. I knew who it came from. An abominable puppy!—You know who I mean (nodding to her husband). These kind of things are very well at Christmas, when one is sitting round the fire; but quite out of place, in my opinion, when one is exploring about the country in summer.”

Mrs. Elton’s excuse for not participating is that it is not Christmas.

At other times these associations create emotional touchstones for the reader.

One of my favorite podcasts, The Thing About Austen, recently aired an episode about Elizabeth’s invitation for the Gardiners to join her for Christmas at Pemberley—first, Christmas is set up as a family event in the novel, for which the Gardiners always come to visit; then, Elizabeth supposes that it is good that she did not marry Mr. Darcy, for he would not allow the Gardiners to visit; and then, Elizabeth invites the Gardiners for Christmas. It’s an 18-minute episode, and well worth listening to for the way they analyze these passages and the details they include about Christmas in the Regency.

Writing Holidays in Fiction. Technique #5: Use holidays for key scenes.

Technique 5: Use Holidays for Key Scenes

In a previous post, I discussed how distinctive settings are often used for key scenes and turning points.

A holiday can provide a perfect opportunity for these key scenes or turning points—there is lots of emotions, and characters are often gathered together.

The most famous holiday scene in Austen’s works is the Christmas Eve dinner at the Westons in Emma. Its untimely end due to the snow leads to Mr. Elton’s unwanted proposal to Emma in a carriage. I discuss this scene in more depth in my post on using distinctive settings for major plot turns.

The other key scene which occurs at Christmas is the ball thrown for Fanny and her brother in Mansfield Park. This is the first time Fanny’s uncle has truly given her any attention—it is, perhaps, the first time she has felt valued by him. It provokes an internal crisis, as Fanny must decide whether to wear the necklace given her by the Crawfords or the one given by her cousin Edmund. And it is also an event where Henry Crawford gives Fanny his attentions as he attempts to make her fall in love with him. It’s an important scene with many key plot and character moments that change the course of the story.

Conclusion

While Austen often references Christmas, these techniques can be used for incorporating other holidays in fiction as well. Holidays are not an essential or required part of storytelling, yet every single culture and people celebrates holidays. Including holidays can give a fullness to the characters’ lives and show how they behave in circumstances which are out of the ordinary.

Writing Exercises - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Exercise 1: Other Holidays

Choose a holiday that is not Christmas that your characters would celebrate. Write either a reference to the holiday or a full scene which uses at least one of the techniques in this lesson. Make sure to consider what associations the characters would have for the holiday and how they would celebrate it.

Exercise 2: A Holiday Story

Some of the most famous works of fiction, like A Christmas Carol, use a holiday as a core focus and setting for the entire story.

Holiday stories are often associated with certain genres, such as romance, however, holiday stories can be used in any genre—horror, science fiction, mystery, etc.

Outline a short story or novel, of any genre, which uses a holiday as a core component and setting.

Exercise 3: Read or Watch

Read or watch a story which incorporates a holiday, either in a small or large way. Does the story use the same techniques as Austen, or different ones?

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #47: Have Characters Justify Their Behavior

#47: Have Characters Justify Their Behavior

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #47: Have Characters Justify Their Behavior

Characters constantly justify their behaviors and their perspectives—especially their negative behaviors and perspectives. It is the only way for people to live with themselves: they must feel like their actions and viewpoints are justifiable. If they can’t justify their behaviors, then they will feel guilt, shame, or sorrow. These negative emotions can either lead them to change and grow and try to do differently (as Emma ultimately does in Austen’s novel), or the character may choose to suppress their guilt and other negative emotions and find new justifications for their behavior.

Lady Susan, from Austen’s novella Lady Susan, is an excellent example of a character who justifies her negative behaviors and perspectives.

Near the start of the story, she writes a letter to her friend Mrs. Johnson:

“I received your note my dear Alicia, just before I left Town, and rejoice to be assured that Mr. Johnson suspected nothing of your engagement the evening before; it is undoubtedly better to deceive him entirely;–since he will be stubborn, he must be tricked.”

Here’s part of the passage in Jane Austen’s handwritten manuscript–it appears in the first few lines.

Page 13 of Jane Austen’s original manuscript of Lady Susan. The entire manuscript is in the public domain and can be found on Wikimedia Commons.

Lady Susan uses strong words to describe her own behavior, words that generally have negative connotations: deceive, trick. Yet she feels no guilt.

Characters justify themselves when they feel they have good reasons, and that their behaviors and perspectives are necessary for the situation.

In this case, she feels a need to spend time with her friend Mrs. Johnson, despite Mr. Johnson discouraging their relationship. The only way that she can see Mrs. Johnson is through deceit, which, in her opinion, is necessary because of his stubbornness.

Later in the letter, Lady Susan writes about her experience staying with her deceased husband’s brother, Mr. Vernon, and his wife, Mrs. Vernon:

“I wanted her to be delighted at seeing me—I was as amiable as possible on the occasion—but all in vain—she does not like me.—To be sure, when we consider that I did take some pains to prevent my Brother-in-law’s marrying her, this want of cordiality is not very surprising—and yet it shews an illiberal and vindictive spirit to resent a project which influenced me six years ago, and which never succeeded at last.”

Lady Susan is displeased with Mrs. Vernon’s treatment of her, and she does glimpse the truth, that her own behavior has been at fault.

Even the most despicable characters will generally recognize that they are at least partially at fault in a situation or that they contributed to it in some way.

Yet Lady Susan does not use this recognition in a way that allows for future growth. She does not apologize to Mrs. Vernon, and she does not change her behavior. Instead, she points a finger at Mrs. Vernon.

Characters justify themselves by either placing the blame for their behavior elsewhere, or by pointing to someone else’s behavior as being worse or less justified than their own behavior.

Lady Susan soon sets her eyes on Mrs. Vernon’s unmarried brother, Mr. Reginald De Courcy. Mrs. Vernon writes to her mother, Lady de Courcy:

Lady Susan’s intentions are of course those of absolute coquetry, or a desire of universal admiration.

Coquetry is flirtation, often a sexual flirtation, and was seen very negatively in the time period. In Mrs. Vernon’s letter, she details Lady Susan’s artifice. Yet Lady Susan represents herself in this situation very differently as she writes to Mrs. Johnson:

“I am much obliged to you my dear Friend, for your advice respecting Mr. De Courcy, which I know was given with the fullest conviction of its expediency, tho’ I am not quite determined on following it.—I cannot easily resolve on anything so serious as Marriage, especially as I am not at present in want of money….

“It has been delightful to me to watch his advances towards intimacy, especially to observe his altered manner…My conduct has been equally guarded from the first, and I never behaved less like a Coquette in the whole course of my Life, tho’ perhaps my desire of dominion was never more decided.”

Original Jane Austen Manuscript of Lady Susan: My conduct has been equally guarded from the first, and I never behaved less like a Coquette in the whole course of my Life, tho’ perhaps my desire of dominion was never more decided.

An excerpt from page 32 of the original manuscript of Lady Susan. Available in the public domain through Wikimedia Commons.

Characters are apt to interpret and represent the same events in a way that paints themselves most favorably. While Mrs. Vernon see coquetry, Lady Susan insists that “I have never behaved less like a Coquette in the whole course of my Life.”

As we look at Austen’s works, we see many other characters justifying themselves—in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth justifies her condemnation of Mr. Darcy and her occasional mistreatment of him. In Emma, Emma justifies her belief of knowing better than anyone else, and she justifies her treatment and judgment of Jane Fairfax and Miss Bates.

In all of these cases, we see that the characters must justify their negative perspectives and outward behavior both to themselves and to select characters around them.

Lady Susan never changes—she digs into her position, and does worse and worse things throughout the novella.

Emma and Elizabeth both are forced to see gaps in their justification; their encounter evidence which challenges their viewpoints; they can see the negative impact of some of their actions. Rather than leaning into their justifications, as Lady Susan does, they both make changes in their lives. Note: Emma at first does resist change, and does resist recognizing her error, even after seeing negative consequences for her behavior; it is only at the end of the book that she makes a change. Elizabeth’s perspective on Mr. Darcy begins to change after the midpoint of the novel, upon reading his letter.

Writing Exercises - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Exercise 1: Make a list of ten negative behaviors or actions (these could be anything—yelling at someone, cutting someone off on the road, not paying a bus fare, etc). Now write down a justification a character could have for each behavior. Make sure to use each type of justification at least once (necessary/have a good reason for it, placing blame elsewhere, someone else’s behavior is worse, interpreting the event more favorably for themselves).

Exercise 2: Choose a book not written my Jane Austen. Find a moment when a character justifies their behavior to themselves, and another moment when they justify their behavior to someone else. Do they use the same justifications or different? How does the other person respond, and how does the character react to that response?

Exercise 3: Option 1: for a story you have planned, find a scene or a moment where your character has an objectionable perspective or behaves in a negative or harmful way. Brainstorm ways they might justify themselves, and, if you’re ready, write the scene.

Option 2: Most characters have an objectionable perspective or perform a harmful action at some point. For a story you have drafted, does your character have any objectionable perspectives or harmful actions? Does the character justify themself? If not, add a justification. If they already have a justification, try to improve their justification.

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #46: How to Give an Objectionable Perspective to a Protagonist

#46: How to Give an Objectionable Perspective to a Protagonist

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #46: How to Give an Objectionable Perspective to a Protagonist

Often, objectionable opinions—ones the author strongly disagrees with—are assigned to antagonists: if the perspective belongs to an antagonist, it is easy to represent it without condoning it.

Yet our protagonists should not be perfect people—they need flaws and weaknesses, and sometimes even objectionable perspectives that actively cause harm to others.

An example of this is Emma, the title character and protagonist of Jane Austen’s novel Emma. She is the protagonist, and while at times the narrator makes commentary on her, the narrative voice generally leans into her perspective.

Emma is clever, handsome, and rich. She has a dominant, influential position in her society. She also holds objectionable viewpoints on who has value; she believes her perspective is always superior to that of anyone else; she is judgmental, classist, and self-centered.

Emma opening the carriage window (from Emma 2020)

So how do you give an objectionable perspective to a protagonist?

1. Understand your character’s views and the reasons for their views and behaviors

In last week’s lesson, we discussed the importance of understanding your character’s views, even—and especially—when you disagree with them. This is also essential when a protagonist holds objectionable perspectives, and when these objectionable perspectives lead to negative behaviors.

After giving a little background on Emma’s character and situation, the narrator helps us understand the reasons for Emma’s perspectives:

The real evils, indeed, of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes with her.

This does not necessarily absolve Emma of her approach, but it does help us understand her.

2. Craft an unreliable narrator

An unreliable narrator is one who cannot give us a full perspective—or chooses not to. When using a close third person point of view (as much of Emma does), or when writing in first person, readers are given the story through a character’s lens. No character can see the big picture—every character is limited by their experiences, their knowledge, and their interactions with other. If the character has an objectionable perspective, this can make them even more unreliable: everything they see or experience will be filtered through that perspective and their understanding of the world.

This happens constantly in the novel Emma. Emma has disliked (and been jealous of) Jane Fairfax since childhood. When Jane Fairfax returns to Highbury, Emma is forced to renew their acquaintance. In the following passage, we can see her making judgments on Jane—both positive and negative. We can also see her coming to conclusions about Jane being in love with Mr. Dixon, who happens to be the husband of Jane’s best friend. The evidence provided throughout the novel supports that conclusion—because it is filtered through Emma’s perspective. Yet Emma is completely wrong in this judgment, and this interpretation of events is used by Emma to cause harm to Jane later. Here’s a passage describing part of Emma and Jane’s first visit after Jane’s return:

In short, [Emma] sat, during the first visit, looking at Jane Fairfax with twofold complacency; the sense of pleasure and the sense of rendering justice, and was determining that she would dislike her no longer. When she took in her history, indeed, her situation, as well as her beauty; when she considered what all this elegance was destined to, what she was going to sink from, how she was going to live, it seemed impossible to feel any thing but compassion and respect; especially, if to every well-known particular entitling her to interest, were added the highly probable circumstance of an attachment to Mr. Dixon, which she had so naturally started to herself. In that case, nothing could be more pitiable or more honourable than the sacrifices she had resolved on. Emma was very willing now to acquit her of having seduced Mr. Dixon’s actions from his wife, or of any thing mischievous which her imagination had suggested at first. If it were love, it might be simple, single, successless love on her side alone. She might have been unconsciously sucking in the sad poison, while a sharer of his conversation with her friend….

An unreliable narrator is powerful because it invites us to embrace the perspectives—we cannot help doing it, at least to an extent—and yet we gradually realize, as we read, that the narrator is unreliable, which can lead us question the validity of their perspectives.

3. Incorporate a voice that disagrees

If a character has an objectionable perspective, there should always be another character that disagrees with them. Sometimes this disagreeing character takes on the perspective of the author; at other times, this disagreeing character provides other viewpoints which may not represent the author’s perspective, yet still oppose that of the main character.

No matter what time period, no matter what group of people, in real life there has always been someone who has disagreed with objectionable perspectives, even when those perspectives seem almost universal.

In the novel Emma, because Emma is in a place of power and privilege in her community, almost no one will voice any opposition to her. This includes people that could or should oppose some of her viewpoints or behaviors, people like Emma’s father, or her former governess, who did not voice disagreement or objection even when acting as a governess.

Yet despite Emma’s power, there is still a character willing to criticize Emma and point out the flaws in her perspective: Mr. Knightley.

After Emma convinces Harriet to turn down Mr. Martin’s proposal, Emma has a discussion with Mr. Knightley.

Mr. Knightley confides in Emma that Harriet may soon be receiving an offer of marriage, and Emma explains that the offer has already happened, and that Harriet declined via a letter.

Mr. Knightley is shocked:

“You saw her answer!—you wrote her answer too. Emma, this is your doing. You persuaded her to refuse him.”

“And if I did, (which, however, I am far from allowing) I should not feel that I had done wrong. Mr. Martin is a very respectable young man, but I cannot admit him to be Harriet’s equal; and am rather surprized indeed that he should have ventured to address her. By your account, he does seem to have had some scruples. It is a pity that they were ever got over.”

“Not Harriet’s equal!” exclaimed Mr. Knightley loudly and warmly; and with calmer asperity, added, a few moments afterwards, “No, he is not her equal indeed, for he is as much her superior in sense as in situation. Emma, your infatuation about that girl blinds you.”

Mr. Knightley then continues with another 298 words of criticism. Emma presents counterarguments and Mr. Knightley returns in kind.

Emma is not convinced by Mr. Knightley’s arguments—she does not really listen to them, and it does not change her perspective or behavior. Yet despite that, it is a key part of Mr. Knightley’s character to oppose her, and it is essential for Emma to know that her perspective is not universally shared and that others may see it as flawed.

Having an alternative perspective invites the reader to see the flaws in the objectionable perspective. It also sets up the main character for either growth or tragedy.

Emma and Mr. Knightley arguing in Emma 2020

Emma and Mr. Knightley arguing in the 2020 film Emma.

4. Create an opportunity for growth or tragedy

Giving a character an objectionable perspective for growth or change—if the character realizes the problems with their perspective, they have the possibility for a powerful character arc as they transform and become someone better.

If they choose not to transform, then it opens the door for tragedy, in which the readers and the character experience the consequences of not changing.

Throughout the novel, Emma hurts many characters including Mr. Martin, Mr. Elton, Jane Fairfax, Harriet Smith, and Miss Bates. It is when she insults and hurts Mrs. Bates at Box Hill that she begins to feel guilt for her behavior (and Mr. Knightley criticizes Emma’s behavior, not allowing her to brush it off).

The next chapter begins:

The wretchedness of a scheme to Box Hill was in Emma’s thoughts all the evening. How it might be considered by the rest of the party, she could not tell. They, in their different homes, and their different ways, might be looking back on it with pleasure; but in her view it was a morning more completely misspent, more totally bare of rational satisfaction at the time, and more to be abhorred in recollection, than any she had ever passed.

At this point, Emma could continue to act as she has—assuming her perspective is superior and justifying her actions. Yet instead, she goes to visit Miss Bates, and for once she is truly interested in Miss Bates’ conversation and appreciative of Miss Bates’ virtues.

There is still regression for Emma—still opportunities when her harmful perspectives come into play and she risks a tragic ending—but ultimately she begins to transform and heal some of the damage she has done.

Endowing Emma with objectionable perspectives gave her great opportunities throughout the novel. By the end, she’s still a bit classist, still overconfident at times, but some of her core problematic perspectives have shifted.

Note: There are characters who do not grow, and yet do not suffer tragedy, such as Jane Austen’s title character in Lady Susan.

Conclusion

Giving a protagonist an objectionable perspective can be a powerful tool, and you can give them this perspective without condoning it.

In the next lesson I’ll discuss how characters justify their behavior, especially when it’s negative behavior.

Writing Exercises - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Exercise 1: Write a scene from the perspective of an unreliable narrator, where their viewpoint taints or colors their interpretation of the world around them. Give one or two clues to the reader that this perspective may be unreliable.

Exercise 2: Make a list of characters or protagonists you like (from any storytelling medium) and their viewpoints or perspectives that you disagree with. Consider why you like these characters despite disagreeing with them.

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Book unboxing in the snow - The True Confessions of a London Spy

Book Unboxing Video for The True Confessions of a London Spy

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I have a confession to make.

I love snow.

Not the “it’s March and it’s been snowing non-stop for five months and my car just slid off the road” snow. But in general, I love snow. Watching it fall, bundling up and walking through a snow-filled forest, making snow angels with my kids, drinking hot cocoa next to a fire with snow falling outside the window.

Mary Bennet doesn’t necessarily feel so positively about snow. In January and February of 1814 London received feet of snow (at one point, there were mounds of snow five feet high). It got so cold that the Thames River froze over and an ice fair was held on it. Which all is part of my book The True Confessions of a London Spy.

My advance copies of The True Confessions of a London Spy arrived, so I just had to unbox them in the snow.

The weather is practically a character in the book. Here’s a short excerpt of the first few chapters which gives a feel for the book and a taste of the snow:

When Miss Mary Bennet agreed to become a spy for the British government, she had not realised how many dead bodies the job would entail. True, since accidentally discovering a corpse on the beach in Worthing she had not seen any additional individuals bereft of life, but now she was headed to London for her first time in an official capacity, and she already had an appointment to call upon a corpse.

The carriage windows fogged with the warmth of their breaths. Despite pressing her feet against a hot rock, Mary’s toes felt frigid. She shifted closer to Fanny, one of her fellow spies, to better share the blanket they held over themselves. The other inhabitant of the carriage, a spy named Mr. Withrow, rubbed his gloved hands together.

Snow continued to fall outside the carriage, adding to the piles already on the London streets. A man stood on a roof, pushing at the two or three feet of accumulated snow. It fell heavily onto the walk and road below, to the anger of a couple who had walked into the snow shower.

The book comes out on March 1, 2022, but it is now available for preorder–links are on the main page on my website for The True Confessions of a London Spy. Preordering helps show initial support for the book and makes sure that the publisher prints enough copies.

And now, I should get back to editing book 3 in the series, which comes out late next year.

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