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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. #44: Avoid Writing Groups of Characters as Monoliths

#44: Avoid Writing Groups of Characters as Monoliths

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In real life and in fiction, people are part of groups.

Some groups are chosen—for example, in Pride and Prejudice, people have chosen friendship groups, such as Mr. Darcy’s friendship with Mr. Bingley and Colonel Fitzwilliam, or Elizabeth Bennet’s friendship with Jane Bennet and Charlotte Lucas. Other people choose to join a group such an occupation—for example, Mr. Collins becoming a clergyman.

Other groups are formed more naturally or organically, like five Bennet sisters, who did not choose to be sisters, and yet, because of their birth into the same family, share many commonalities.

Many groups are constructs by society or other people. For example, the gentry is a societal construct that impacts many of Jane Austen’s characters.

There are many other types of groups, defined by religion, race, physical characteristics, nationality, personal interests…the possibilities are endless.

In order for people to be part of a group they must share things in common, and often they share many things in common. While these commonalities are essential, the risk in writing groups of people is representing them as monoliths.

Don't write your groups of characters as monoliths. (From Jane Austen Writing Lessons.)

(Image of the Utah monolith by Patrick A. Mackie, CC license)

A monolith is a large stone, often made a single material.

When you write a group of people as a monolith, you treat them as uniform and homogenous. They have the same perspectives, the same attributes, the same belief systems.

Yet this is not an accurate representation. The five Bennet sisters are each very different. Not every clergyman in Austen’s novels is like Mr. Collins. The gentry in Pride and Prejudice have very different lifestyles and resources: Sir William Lucas is titled, but comes from an occupational background; Mr. Bennet owns land but cannot pass anything to his daughters; Georgiana Darcy is set to inherit a large fortune; Anne de Bourgh also will inherit, but struggles with health problems.

Not everyone with the same religion, race, class, or nationality is of one mind on any issue.

If you write a group of people as a monolith, it is easy to fall into stereotypes, and some of these stereotypes can be damaging and harmful. If you are writing a group that you are not part of or are not familiar with, you increase your risk of writing a group as a monolith or using harmful stereotypes. When you’re not part of a group, you must take the effort to become fluent in the range of people and perspectives within a group.

Writing a group as a monolith also misses out on so many fictional possibilities.

The goal is to give individuals within a group a range of perspectives and attributes.

When you do so, it:

  • Allows for greater tension
  • Produces genuine obstacles
  • Fosters more possibilities for character growth, and
  • Creates higher stakes and risks in relationships.

Let’s look at how Jane Austen introduces a single group of people in Pride and Prejudice: Mr. Bingley’s party at the Netherfield Assembly.

Mr. Bingley

Mr. Bingley was good-looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners.

Mr. Bingley’s sisters (Miss Caroline Bingley and Mrs. Louisa Hurst)

His sisters were fine women, with an air of decided fashion.

Mr. Hurst

His brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, merely looked the gentleman;

Mr. Darcy

but his friend Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year….he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.

What unifies this group is clear: they are all with Mr. Bingley, and they each have a level of fortune and prestige. Yet even at this initial introduction of these characters, all of the other characters are doing their best to figure out the group’s distinguishing features.

Jane Austen’s narrator makes contrasts between members of the Bingley party time and time again. Many of these contrasts are about the differences between Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, but key contrasts are made between other combinations of characters, such as Mr. Darcy and Mr. Hurst:

Mr. Darcy said very little, and Mr. Hurst nothing at all. The former was divided between admiration of the brilliancy which exercise had given to her complexion, and doubt as to the occasion’s justifying her coming so far alone. The latter was thinking only of his breakfast.

Creating contrasts between characters who are very similar

The two characters in the group who are the most similar are Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley. In some cases, such as the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, their characters are even combined into one character, because of their similarities.

Yes, one is married and one is single, but they are both prideful, judgmental, conniving, kind to Jane, and unkind to Elizabeth.

But even in their similar attributes, Jane Austen gives them marked differences:

  • Caroline Bingley’s attention is constantly on Mr. Darcy. Her every word is calculated to endear herself to him.
  • Louisa Hurst pays Darcy attention, but is just as likely to pay attention to others, watch cardplaying, or play with her bracelets.
  • It is always Miss Bingley who begins the criticism of Elizabeth or her family. It is a topic that she takes great personal interest in, largely because she wants to distinguish between herself and Elizabeth and feel superior to her.
  • Louisa Hurst is more of a follower. She likes to be part of the conversation, so once Miss Bingley has begun a critique, then she joins in and they feed off of each other. Yet she seems that she is involved more for the sport of it and for the approval of her sister.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the novel where we see this distinction:

When dinner was over, [Elizabeth] returned directly to Jane, and Miss Bingley began abusing her as soon as she was out of the room. Her manners were pronounced to be very bad indeed, a mixture of pride and impertinence; she had no conversation, no style, no taste, no beauty. Mrs. Hurst thought the same, and added,

“She has nothing, in short, to recommend her, but being an excellent walker. I shall never forget her appearance this morning. She really looked almost wild.”

“She did, indeed, Louisa. I could hardly keep my countenance. Very nonsensical to come at all! Why must she be scampering about the country, because her sister had a cold? Her hair so untidy, so blowsy!”

When Jane Austen writes groups of characters, they are never monoliths. Each group contains a range of perspectives and attributes, which is part of what makes her character groupings interesting and memorable.

Writing Exercises - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Exercise 1: Write a few paragraphs about your own membership in a group:

What is a group that you are a part of? What attributes unify the members of the groups? What makes group members different? Even in attributes that group members share, what differences are there?

Exercise 2: Take a book or a movie that you have read or watched recently and make a list of all the different groups of people in the story. Do the groups change over time? How do the groups interact? Are there people who are not fully part of the groups, or who are trying to enter or interact with a particular group?

Exercise 3: Write a scene with two characters who are very similar (like Louisa Hurst and Caroline Bingley). Make sure to give them several key distinctions which differentiate them throughout the scene and create a more real dynamic.

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #39: Create a Progression of Knowledge Discovery

#39: Create a Progression of Knowledge Discovery

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #39: Create a Progression of Knowledge Discovery

In lesson 37, we talked giving your characters things to discover, and how this compels both the characters and the reader forward in the story. In lesson 38, we discussed five ways to create these “information gaps”—gaps between what we know and what we want to know.

Yet it’s not enough to simply have a number of information gaps and discoveries in a story: unless you’re using an episodic structure, larger discoveries should often be connected to each other and build on each other.

But how do you create this progression of knowledge discovery?

Let’s consider how Jane Austen does it, first in the novel Northanger Abbey, and then in Pride and Prejudice.

Murder? Imprisonment? Or Tragic Death?

The first time that Catherine Morland hears of Mrs. Tilney, Mrs. Allen is attempting to establish the basic facts of Mrs. Tilney’s existence (or lack of existence):

“And are Mr. and Mrs. Tilney in Bath?” [Catherine asked Mrs. Allen.]

“Yes, I fancy they are, but I am not quite certain. Upon recollection, however, I have a notion they are both dead; at least the mother is; yes, I am sure Mrs. Tilney is dead, because Mrs. Hughes told me there was a very beautiful set of pearls that Mr. Drummond gave his daughter on her wedding-day and that Miss Tilney has got now, for they were put by for her when her mother died.”

Later, when Catherine is visiting the Tilney estate, Northanger Abbey, she learns more of the facts from her friend, Miss Eleanor Tilney, and asks questions which might help her define these facts (label them in ways to help her understand them) and determine what these facts indicate or mean about Mrs. Tilney’s type of death (was it truly a sudden death? Or was wrongful behavior involved?)

Catherine had never heard Mrs. Tilney mentioned in the family before, and the interest excited by this tender remembrance showed itself directly in her altered countenance, and in the attentive pause with which she waited for something more.

“I used to walk here so often with her!” added Eleanor; “though I never loved it then, as I have loved it since. At that time indeed I used to wonder at her choice. But her memory endears it now.”

“And ought it not,” reflected Catherine, “to endear it to her husband? Yet the general would not enter it.” Miss Tilney continuing silent, she ventured to say, “Her death must have been a great affliction!”

….“Was she a very charming woman? Was she handsome? Was there any picture of her in the abbey? And why had she been so partial to that grove? Was it from dejection of spirits?”—were questions now eagerly poured forth; the first three received a ready affirmative, the two others were passed by; and Catherine’s interest in the deceased Mrs. Tilney augmented with every question, whether answered or not. Of her unhappiness in marriage, she felt persuaded. The general certainly had been an unkind husband. He did not love her walk: could he therefore have loved her? And besides, handsome as he was, there was a something in the turn of his features which spoke his not having behaved well to her.

“Her picture, I suppose,” blushing at the consummate art of her own question, “hangs in your father’s room?”

No; it was intended for the drawing-room; but my father was dissatisfied with the painting, and for some time it had no place. Soon after her death I obtained it for my own, and hung it in my bed-chamber—where I shall be happy to show it you; it is very like.” Here was another proof. A portrait—very like—of a departed wife, not valued by the husband! He must have been dreadfully cruel to her!

Catherine attempted no longer to hide from herself the nature of the feelings which, in spite of all his attentions, he had previously excited; and what had been terror and dislike before, was now absolute aversion. Yes, aversion! His cruelty to such a charming woman made him odious to her. She had often read of such characters, characters which Mr. Allen had been used to call unnatural and overdrawn; but here was proof positive of the contrary.

Catherine continues to gather knowledge, such as the facts that neither of the Tilney children were there when Mrs. Tilney died, and that Mrs. Tilney’s room are off-limits. From these discoveries, Catherine determines a course of action (or policy) to follow: to go, when alone, and search Mrs. Tilney’s rooms. When she does so, she discovers more facts (the lack of evidence of ill-treatment) and new definitions and understandings of the quality or nature of Mrs. Tilney’s death from her son, Henry Tilney. Ultimately, she realizes that all of her suspicions around Mrs. Tilney’s death were due to an overactive imagination.

These discoveries build on each other and create a progression across multiple chapters, a progression which interferes with her romantic interest in Henry Tilney, and which teaches Catherine more about herself and her relationship with others.

Northanger Abbey is not limited to this single progression of discoveries; in the lesson on character arcs, I discussed the progression (with accompanying setbacks) of Catherine coming to understand John Thorpe’s character. Often a novel will have a number of discovery progressions, sometimes at different points in time, and sometimes layered concurrently.

A Framework for Understanding These Progressions: Stasis Theory

Aristotle, Hermagoras, Quintilian, Cicero, and others developed a theory that we now call stasis theory.

Stasis theory is a way to understand the different spaces where argument can occur: in other words, the different spaces where people can disagree about knowledge. This can be a useful theory if you’re writing an argument between two characters, but it also can help us understand the different categories of information gaps that can occur.

In stasis theory, there are four main places where arguments occur:

  • Fact

  • Definition

  • Quality

  • Procedure

As I define each of these different stases, we’ll consider a progression of discovery from Pride and Prejudice.

Fact

Often, the characters must determine the facts. What happened? What caused something? What actually occurred?

While facts seem non-debatable, it’s actually very common to have extensive debates on the facts, and it can take much effort to acquire them (and to get people to agree upon them).

A Fact Information Gap in Pride and Prejudice

  • What happened between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham? What caused their cold greeting?

Definition

Once you have facts, you must categorize and define them. Did what happen cause a problem or a conflict? If so, what type of problem is it? How are the facts related and what connects them?

A Definition Information Gap in Pride and Prejudice

  • As Elizabeth learns more about Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham’s interconnected pasts, she attempts to find a satisfactory definition to explain them. What she initially discovers leads her to define what happened as a disregard of the elder Mr. Darcy’s wishes and a removal of Mr. Wickham’s intended inheritance.

Quality

Following discoveries related to definition, judgments about quality are often made. What is the nature of what happened? Is it good or bad? Can we pass a judgment on a character, event, or situation?

A Quality Information Gap in Pride and Prejudice

  • Elizabeth decides what she has discovered indicates a severe mistreatment of Mr. Wickham by Mr. Darcy. She has made a judgment on quality.
  • Then, after she rejects Mr. Darcy’s proposal, he informs her of additional facts which lead her to change her definitions of the situation and her judgments on quality (Mr. Withrow squandered his inheritance and attempted to elope with the young Miss Darcy—clearly, the blame and fault lies with him).

Procedure

Once quality has been determined comes the question of procedure: what should be done? What is the best way to deal with this information gap or problem? Will the chosen procedure be effective?

A Procedure Information Gap in Pride and Prejudice

  • Prior to the start of the novel, Mr. Darcy, upon learning of Mr. Wickham’s true nature, rescued his sister and determined to keep the situation secret in order to protect his sister.
  • Once Elizabeth learns of the true nature of events, she agrees with his procedure: keep what happened a secret. She considers changing her procedure when she returns home, but decides not to.
  • For many chapters, this procedure seems to be a good one. But then Elizabeth’s sister Lydia elopes with Mr. Wickham, and it becomes clear that the procedure did not lead to the intended results. Which leads to a new question: what should now be done? Ultimately, Mr. Darcy decides to solve the problem by forcing Mr. Wickham to marry Lydia.

Bonus resources on stasis theory: Silva Rhetoricae on Stasis Theory; Purdue Writing Lab on Stasis Theory.

Creating a Progression of Knowledge Discovery

Sometimes a series of discoveries in a novel are sequenced so that a character moves directly from fact to definition to quality to procedure. At other times, as in Northanger Abbey and Pride and Prejudice, certain types of discoveries are repeated or returned to again and again. And in other stories, a series of discovery may not need a certain type of information gap.

Yet regardless of what exactly the progression looks like, creating a progression helps create movement and a feeling of continuity in the story. Often these key discoveries (such as Mr. Wickham’s true nature) become important for key plot events later (Mr. Wickham running off with Lydia), and by creating a progression it creates better foreshadowing and more satisfying pay-offs for the reader.

Writing Exercises - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Exercise 1:

While all genres of fiction have great examples of using a progression of discovery, one genre that is particularly known for it is the mystery genre. Watch a mystery film or read a mystery novel, and track different discoveries. What is revealed when? Which stases are used? How is a progression created, and how do these discoveries relate to and build on each other?

Exercise 2:

Choose an event or topic that involves disagreement. This could be a current/recent event (for example, something in the news), or something from your own life.

For this topic, consider how one group of people would define the facts, and how another group might consider the facts differently. Then consider how their perspectives would differ on definition, quality, and procedure, and fill out the following chart.

Perspective 1 Perspective 2
Fact
Definition
Quality
Procedure

How could understanding these different perspectives create plot conflict if this event or topic was included in a fictional story?

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. Bonus Lesson: Imperfections and Sending Your Story into the World

Jane Austen on Imperfections and Sending Your Stories into the World

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. Bonus Lesson: Imperfections and Sending Your Story into the World

I am traveling and have a number of other deadlines over the next few weeks, so instead of a regular Jane Austen Writing Lesson, I will instead offer several thoughts on writing, inspired by two of Jane Austen’s letters.

Pride and Prejudice was published on January 28, 1813, and on the 29th Jane wrote a letter to her sister Cassandra, telling her that she had received a copy of her book:

I want to tell you that I have got my own darling child from London.

This book was her “darling child,” and she immediately began reading it aloud to a friend, a Miss B. who had dined with them.

She really does seem to admire Elizabeth. I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know.

Like Austen, I am completely unable to tolerate people who dislike Elizabeth Bennet.

I really like what Austen writes next, about errors or shortfalls in her work:

There are a few typical errors; and a “said he,” or a “said she,” would sometimes make the dialogue more immediately clear; but “I do not write for such dull elves” as have not a great deal of ingenuity themselves. The second volume is shorter than I could wish, but the difference is not so much in reality as in look, there being a larger proportion of narrative in that part. I have lop’t and crop’t so successfully, however, that I imagine it must be rather shorter than “Sense and Sensibility” altogether.

I am currently working on proofreads of my second novel, and I have this overwhelming terror of having errors in the book (because there were a few errors that made it into the published version of my first novel). Yet even Jane Austen had to finish revising her novels and unleash them into the world, knowing that they were as good as she could make them at the time. Furthermore, if she had not left a few lines of dialogue unclear as to the speaker, modern scholars would lose out on all the fun they have debating about who to attribute those particular lines to.

In another letter penned the following week, Austen updated her sister after having read more of the novel aloud:

Upon the whole, however, I am quite vain enough and well satisfied enough.

May we all work to make our writing as good as we can possibly make it, and then may we be “well satisfied enough” to find joy in our work.

[Make sure to come back on August 4th—I’ll be back to my normal schedule of a new Jane Austen Writing Lesson every other Wednesday. Also, if you scroll down you can subscribe so you never miss a lesson!]

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #37: Give Your Characters Something to Discover

#37: Give Your Characters Something to Discover

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #37: Give Your Characters Something to Discover

In one of the famous scenes in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy dance at Netherfield Ball. After Elizabeth asks him a series of questions, Mr. Darcy says:

“May I ask to what these questions tend?”

“Merely to the illustration of your character,” said she, endeavouring to shake off her gravity. “I am trying to make it out.”

“And what is your success?”

She shook her head. “I do not get on at all. I hear such different accounts of you as puzzle me exceedingly.”

Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy dancing in 2005 Pride and Prejudice

Gif of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy dancing in the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice

Throughout Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth attempts to discover Mr. Darcy’s character, through conversations with him, conversations with others (including Mr. Wickham and Miss Bingley), and through observation of his behavior. In a sense, Mr. Darcy’s character is a mystery, and Elizabeth the detective.

While most of Jane Austen’s novels would not be considered mystery novels on the surface (with the exception of Northanger Abbey, which is a Gothic pastiche), every single Jane Austen novel contains mysteries, things big and small which the characters are attempting to discover. And whenever Austen’s characters are on the road to discovery, readers are hungry for discovery as well.

People in general—and readers especially—are curious, and this is why we like mysteries, this is why we like reading about the process of discovery.

Scientific research backs this up, particularly the theory called the information gap of curiosity.

The information gap theory of curiosity

An article in Wired magazine, “The Itch of Curiosity,” provides a good explanation of the information gap:

The information gap theory of curiosity…was first developed by George Loewenstein of Carnegie-Mellon in the early 90s. According to Loewenstein, curiosity is rather simple: It comes when we feel a gap ‘between what we know and what we want to know’. This gap has emotional consequences: it feels like a mental itch, a mosquito bite on the brain. We seek out new knowledge because we that’s how we scratch the itch.

Jane Austen constantly constructs information gaps which provoke the curiosity of readers and keep them turning the pages.

Sometimes these information gaps are small. For example, as Elizabeth arrives at Netherfield Ball, there are a series of information gaps:

  • Where is Mr. Wickham?
  • Is Mr. Wickham even going to attend the ball?
  • What is Mr. Wickham’s real reason for staying away?

And then, the novel has larger information gaps, gaps that take a large portion of the narrative to answer:

  • Who is right—Mr. Wickham or Mr. Darcy?
  • And what should be done once that knowledge is obtained?

There is also a series of questions which invite discovery about Mr. Bingley:

  • What will Mr. Bingley be like?
  • Will Mr. Bingley be interested in one of the Bennet daughters?
  • Why has Mr. Bingley left?
  • Will Jane see Mr. Bingley in London?
  • Will Jane and Mr. Bingley find happiness?

In his famous screenwriting book, Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting, Robert McKee writes, “Curiosity is the intellectual need to answer questions and close open patterns. Story plays to this universal desire by doing the opposite, posing questions and opening situations.”

Over the coming weeks, we’ll discuss different aspects of incorporating mystery and discovery into fiction of all genres and styles. By following Austen’s example, and creating possibilities for discovery, we can make our stories more compelling and pique readers’ curiosity.

*Note: There’s a great article by scholar Ellen R. Belton titled “Mystery Without Murder: The Detective Plots of Jane Austen.” Belton makes the argument that Austen’s novels are not simply using aspects of mystery and discovery, but are bona fide detective novels—the protagonists are “not investigating criminals, but potential marriage partners.”

Writing Exercises - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Exercise 1: Rush write a short reflection on the following: What is something that makes you curious? When did you first become interested and why? What makes you want to find out more?

Exercise 2: Choose a published story that’s not in the mystery genre. Make a list of examples of information gaps, mysteries, and discoveries within the story.

Exercise 3: Write a scene about a character doing something that is ordinary or routine, such as taking the subway or drinking coffee. The catch? The scene must include an information gap—a mystery, something that must be discovered.

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