Jane Austen Writing Lessons

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.

One of the best ways to learn to write well is to learn from the examples of great writers. Jane Austen Writing Lessons is a series of blog posts about creative writing principles from plot structure to character development to dialogue. This blog was selected by “The Write Life” as one of the 100 Best Websites for Writers in 2021.

New Posts 2x a Month

New Jane Austen Writing Lessons will be posted 2 times a month. Sign up for the newsletter to get a notification in your inbox anytime there’s a new lesson. Links to the previous lessons can be found below.

Examples from Jane Austen

Each lesson looks to Jane Austen’s novels and her other works for examples of excellent writing. Quotes from her six published novels and an analysis of her craft–and how we can apply it to our own writing–is included in each lesson.

Writing Exercises

Writing Exercises - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Each lesson includes 2-3 writing exercises that will help you practice the creative writing principle and apply it to your own writing.

Most Recent Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Jane Austen Writing Lessons #68: Establishing Relationships and Character Connections in Fiction
Jane Austen Writing Lessons 67. Creating an Emotional Map: Making Interconnected Emotions
Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #66: Evoking Emotions through Objective Correlative (External Objects)
Mary Bennet and Mr. Collins. Why didn't they marry? Would they have made a good match?
Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #65: Different Character Approaches to Dealing with and Expressing Emotions
Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #64: The Size or Degree of Character Emotions
Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #63: Four More Internal Emotion Techniques
Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #62: Conveying Emotion Through Character Thoughts and Free Indirect Speech
Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #61: How to Convey Emotion. Planting Clues to What Characters Feel

Jane Austen Writing Lessons by Category

Overarching Principles - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

#1: Make Your Character Want Something
#2: Combine Multiple Elements to Create an Engaging Premise
#3: Use an Inciting Incident to Set the Plot in Motion
#4: Create an External Journey for your Character
#5: Make Things Hard for Your Character
#6: Use a Character Arc to Make Your Character Change and Grow
#7: Create Multiple Relationship Arcs to Show Your Character’s Journey in Relation to Those Around Them
#8: Use Setting to Influence Plot and Character
#9: Use Dialogue to Create Dynamic Interactions Between Characters
#10: Use the Reader-Writer Contract to Create a Satisfying Resolution for Your Readers

Recognition for Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Jane Austen Writing Lessons: one of the

Jane Austen Writing Lessons was selected by The Write Life as one of the “100 Best Websites for Writers in 2021.” They wrote:

“[Jane Austen Writing Lessons] is filled with blog posts about creative writing that use Jane Austen’s novels and other related stories to share what good writing looks and sounds like. Whether you’re interested in plot structure or character development to dialogue, each Jane Austen writing lesson focuses on one principle of writing at a time.”

About the Author

In addition to writing Jane Austen Writing Lessons, Katherine Cowley is the author of the novels The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet, The True Confessions of a London Spy, and The Lady’s Guide to Death and Deception. She teaches writing classes at Western Michigan University.

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Introduction to Jane Austen Writing Lessons

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you wish to write well, you should learn from the very best writers.

In other words, you should read Jane Austen.

I do not find this to be a great sacrifice.

Elizabeth Bennet Reading from 2005 Pride and Prejudice

Elizabeth Bennet in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen Writing Lessons

I am a writing teacher by profession and a long-time Janeite. Jane Austen Writing Lessons is my attempt to combine these two interests by creating a series of writing lessons based on the books of Jane Austen.

What will these lessons look like?

Each writing lesson will focus on a principle of creative writing. I will address how to use this principle, examine how Jane Austen uses the principle in one of her works, and then provide writing exercises that apply the principle. While the examples draw from the writings of Jane Austen and other Austen-inspired works, the principles can be applied to writing in any genre, and the writing exercises provide the opportunity to apply these principles in a variety of ways.

The first ten lessons address big picture principles for writing. After that, sets of lessons will go into depth on specific topics, like dialogue.

The Benefits of Writing Exercises

Musicians practice scales to teach their fingers to move in certain patterns. The coach of a sports team runs drills to prepare the players for different things that might happen on the field or on the court.

Writing exercises fulfill the same purpose: they are a chance to exercise or practice a principle in order to internalize it and be prepared to use it appropriately in your writing.

In my years of teaching writing, I have found that learning about a principle is rarely enough. Writers learn the principles best when they practice them, and writing exercises are an easy, contained way to do this.

Who Am I?

I have an MA in Rhetoric and Composition and focused my studies on the teaching of writing. I have taught writing classes at Mesa Community College and Brigham Young University, and I currently teach writing at Western Michigan University.

My debut novel, The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet, will be released in April 2021 by Tule Publishing. I also have over a dozen published short stories and novellas.

Visit the Jane Austen Writing Lessons homepage to view all of the writing lessons index.