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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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. #43: Use Discovery to Create Satisfying Resolutions and Denouements

#43: Use Discovery to Create Satisfying Resolutions and Denouements

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #43: Use Discovery to Create Satisfying Resolutions and Denouements

If an airplane pilot crashes the plane while landing, it doesn’t matter how good the rest of the ride was. The same goes for novels—if you don’t land the ending, the book will not be satisfying.

Jane Austen is a novelist who always “lands the ending.” One of the main ways she does this is by incorporating discoveries into the resolution of the story: in particular, she uses discoveries to answer the big questions that have been raised throughout the story.

In lesson 40, we talked about some of the big questions raised in the novel Persuasion, including:

  • What will Anne’s future look like?
  • Can Anne and Wentworth reconcile?

Most of the other big questions in the book have been explored and answered by the time we hit the last two chapters of the novel, but not these two questions. Characters and readers have yet to discover the resolution.

The second to last chapter of Persuasion acts as the final “unravelling,” the final section of the climax sequence where the most important questions must be answer, the most important discoveries made. In this chapter, Anne and Captain Harville discuss love and the inconstancies of men and women—who suffers the most from loss of love? Whose feelings are the most tender, the most constant? Captain Wentworth overhears their conversation, and as a result of Anne’s words, writes her a letter which begins:

I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own, than when you almost broke it eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than a woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you.

Upon reading the letter, Anne cannot sit still—she goes out into Bath, and when she sees Captain Wentworth, she joins him on a walk. And here, here we discover the answers we’ve been seeking. Anne and Captain Wentworth do reconcile, they express their love to each other, and they become engaged.

In a novel, when questions are raised for the characters, readers want answers by the end of the story. Some of these discoveries occur, and should occur, throughout the book, but some should be saved for the end.

Answering a key question or key questions near the end of the novel provides a satisfying resolution for both the characters and the reader.

In Persuasion the key discoveries are made in the second to last chapter. But there are still more discoveries saved for the denouement.

Discoveries in the Denouement

The denouement serves to show what happens as a result of the final resolution. It is a chance for characters to make any final smaller discoveries, to show any relationship changes, and to wrap up any lingering subplots which have not been resolved.

In the novel Persuasion, the final chapter serves as the denouement. It begins with the following paragraph, which reassures us that the key questions will truly be resolved in the way in which we as readers hope:

Who can be in doubt of what followed? When any two young people take it into their heads to marry, they are pretty sure by perseverance to carry their point, be they ever so poor, or ever so imprudent, or ever so little likely to be necessary to each other’s ultimate comfort. This may be bad morality to conclude with, but I believe it to be truth; and if such parties succeed, how should a Captain Wentworth and an Anne Elliot, with the advantage of maturity of mind, consciousness of right, and one independent fortune between them, fail of bearing down every opposition?

There are a number of other minor discoveries in the final chapter as part of the denouement:

  • We discover Sir Walter’s view on his daughter’s engagement. He approves (he decides that Captain Wentworth has a nice balance of physical attractiveness and fortune, which are two of the only things that matter to him).
  • We discover that Anne’s sister Mary is happy for her, and (mostly) not jealous.
  • We discover how Anne’s other suitor, Mr. Elliot reacts:

The news of his cousin Anne’s engagement burst on Mr. Elliot most unexpectedly. It deranged his best plan of domestic happiness, his best hope of keeping Sir Walter single by the watchfulness which a son-in-law’s rights would have given.

  • We discover that Mrs. Clay has become Mr. Elliot’s mistress (and thus, Anne’s father Sir Walter is safe from Mrs. Clay’s scheming).
  • We discover that Lady Russell and Captain Wentworth are able to reconcile with each other. This is an important discover, as Lady Russell was the person who convinced Anne to break off her original engagement to Wentworth eight years before.
  • We discover the resolution to the subplot of Anne’s friend Mrs. Smith being in poverty: Captain Wentworth is able to use his connections to secure Mrs. Smith’s fortunes, her health improves, and she maintains a good friendship with Anne.

Austen, of course, never leaves her endings completely tidy—there’s never a sense of complete assured happiness. In the final paragraph, we read:

Anne was tenderness itself, and she had the full worth of it in Captain Wentworth’s affection. His profession was all that could ever make her friends wish that tenderness less; the dread of a future war all that could dim her sunshine. She gloried in being a sailor’s wife, but she must pay the tax of quick alarm…

Austen makes no pretense that Anne and Wentworth’s lives will be perfect. But it is a wonderful resolution because it answers the core, larger questions of the book. It’s a wonderful resolution because this discovery is made in a beautiful way. And it’s a wonderful resolution because the denouement is able to provide the reader with discoveries for lingering questions and subplots.

A Recap

We’ve spent the past seven lessons talking about discovery. To recap, we covered:

Discovery is a powerful tool that can be used in any sort of fiction to drive the character forward and invoke the reader’s interest. Ultimately, the process of discovery assists the character on their external journey, as they interact with the world and find their place in it. Discovery is also fundamental to a character’s internal journey: it gives them reason to change, and sometimes the greatest discoveries come from reflection about themselves, as characters recognize who they really are.

Writing Exercises - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Exercise 1: Write a new denouement

Take a short story or a novel that you have written and write a new denouement. Keep the main resolution the same, but write a different denouement, which resolves subplots, relationships, and other small discoveries in a new way.

Exercise 2: Write just the ending of a story

The author Victoria Schwab (also published as V.E. Schwab) writes her climax and denouement first, before writing anything else. In episode 15.42 of Writing Excuses she explained, “I don’t do anything until I’ve planned the ending. The ending…and that climax through the last page determines the entire story I’m telling….Rather than write toward the end, and think ‘What kind of resolution do I need in order to fulfill the promises I’ve made early on?’, I write backwards, from the end, and make those promises from the ending that I know I want to achieve.”

Take a story idea that you haven’t used and write the ending. To reemphasize—you are just writing the ending of the story, not the beginning or the middle. Consider what sorts of discoveries would you like your characters to make at the end of the story, and what emotions you would like to evoke in your reader. Also, ask yourself the same question that Victoria Schwab asks herself: “Who are my characters the moment we leave them?”

Once you’ve written the ending, consider what storytelling it will take to reach this ending, and how to get your characters to this point.

Exercise 3: Best and Worst Endings

Think of two stories, one which had a satisfying and rewarding ending, and another which had an ending that didn’t quite work for you. Now go back and analyze the endings—what specifically made the endings effective and ineffective for you as a reader?

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #42: Use Large Discoveries and Plot Twists

#42: Use Large Discoveries and Plot Twists

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #42: Use Large Discoveries and Plot Twists

Every Jane Austen novel has at least two or three large discoveries. These are grand reveals, surprise proposals, plot twists—these are moments when everything the character (and the reader) knows experiences a large shift or change. Sometimes these discoveries are unexpected for the reader, and other times, they are long hoped for by the reader (such as two favorite characters finally expressing their love to each other).

But how do you effectively write these grand discoveries? What are the essential elements?

The first element is something we discussed in the previous lesson: if there is a large discovery, there must be foreshadowing in advance. That way, even if the discovery is a surprise, it is believable and fits within the story world.

The next elements relate to the scene in which the discovery occurs. We’re going to discuss the biggest discoveries and plot twists that occur near the end of Jane Austen’s novel Emma. So prepare yourself for epic spoilers, which are necessary, or we can’t talk about how these scenes work.

Spoiler Alert: The ending of Jane Austen's Emma

The Sequence of Large Discoveries in Emma

Near the end of Emma, Jane Austen stacks four huge discoveries in a row, all near the climax of the book.

Here is the sequence of discoveries:

Discovery 1: Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax have been secretly engaged for months.

Discovery 2: Harriet is not in love with Frank Churchill: she is in love with Mr. Knightley.

Discovery 3: Emma realizes that she herself is in love with Mr. Knightley and wants to marry him. (This discovery is one that is for the character and her character arc, but one that readers have likely suspected for quite some time.)

Discovery 4: Mr. Knightley loves Emma.

When I read Emma for the first time, I was completely surprised and blown away by the first discovery, that Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax have been secretly engaged. I was not expecting it at all, and yet it was beautiful and horrifying and compelling and perfect and made me reconsider everything I’d read.

Other discoveries, like the third and fourth, I suspected, but that did not lessen the impact of these discoveries, because they are such key moments for the characters.

There is so much happening in each of these scenes, and they are well worth rereading. But each of these scenes contains a few core components. These are not always in the same order, and sometimes these components occur more than once within the same scene.

1. Advance signaling

Austen always builds up anticipation right before a large discovery—she gives advance signaling that there will be a large discovery.

Before Emma finds out about Frank and Jane’s engagement, Mr. Weston requests that Emma visit his house for news which only his wife can tell her, which sets off all sorts of warning signals in Emma’s head (she even worries that something has happened to her sister or brother-in-law or their children).

Before Harriet’s revelation, Emma notices that Harriet’s speech and mannerisms are not what she would expect:

It was indeed, so odd; Harriet’s behaviour was so extremely odd, that Emma did not know how to understand it. Her character appeared absolutely changed.

2. The Discovery Itself

The discovery itself is always expressed in a compelling way, whether it’s through someone’s speech, actions, events, or a combination.

When Emma discovers her own nature, her own feelings towards Mr. Knightley, we read:

Why was it so much worse that Harriet should be in love with Mr. Knightley, than with Frank Churchill? Why was the evil so dreadfully increased by Harriet’s having some hope of a return? It darted through her, with the speed of an arrow, that Mr. Knightley must marry no one but herself!

And when Mr. Knightley his love for Emma, we have some of the most romantic lines in the novel:

“I cannot make speeches, Emma. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more….At present, I ask only to hear, once to hear your voice.”

3. Physical Reaction

A large discovery marks a huge shift of knowledge and understanding for a character. In cases like this, there is always some sort of physical reaction. Sometimes this is an internal reaction for the character (for example, a headache, stomach pain, etc.), and sometimes this is expressed in outward physical behavior (for example, speech, body language, movement, etc.).

After Mrs. Weston gives news of Frank and Jane’s engagement, we read:

Emma even jumped with surprise;–and, horror-struck, exclaimed,

“Jane Fairfax!—Good God! You are not serious? You do not mean it?”

Later, as Emma learns of Harriet’s true affections, we read:

[Emma] could not speak another word.—Her voice was lost; and she sat down, waiting in great terror till Harriet should answer.

4. Emotional Reaction

Large discoveries should always create an emotional reaction within the character, and as such, this emotion must be conveyed to the reader.

Emotions are conveyed throughout each of these four scenes in various ways. Here’s a passage that occurs after Emma’s discoveries of Harriet’s affection and of her own affections, which uses free indirect speech to convey emotion:

The rest of the day, the following night, were hardly enough for her thoughts.—She was bewildered amidst the confusion of all that had rushed on her within the last few hours. Every moment had brought a fresh surprise; and every surprise must be matter of humiliation to her.—How to understand it all! How to understand the deceptions she had been thus practicing on herself, and living under!—The blunders, the blindness of her own head and heart!—she sat still, she walked about, she tried her own room, she tried the shrubbery—in every place, every posture, she perceived that she had acted most weakly; that she had been imposed on by others in a most mortifying degree; that she had been imposing on herself in a degree yet more mortifying; that she was wretched, and should probably find this day but the beginning of wretchedness.

5. Reflection

Finally, large discoveries and twists demand further reflection from the character (which allows for reflection by the reader). This reflection is a chance for the character to consider the discovery in context, and to think about what this discovery means for the future.

A few minutes after the discovery of the hidden engagement, Emma reflects verbally on the discovery as she speaks to the Westons:

“Well,” said Emma, “I suppose we shall gradually grow reconciled to the idea, and I wish them very happy. But I shall always think it a very abominable sort of proceeding. What has it been but a system of hypocrisy and deceit,–espionage, and treachery?—To come among us with professions of openness and simplicity; and such a league in secret to judge us all!—Here have we been, the whole winter and spring, completely duped, fancying ourselves all on equal footing of truth and honour, with two people in the midst of us who may have been carrying round, comparing and sitting in judgment on sentiments and words that were never meant for both to hear.—They must take the consequence, if they have heard each other spoken of in a way not perfectly agreeable!”

After the final revelation—of Mr. Knightley’s love for Emma—we once again have Emma’s reflections:

What totally different feelings did Emma take back into the house from what she had brought out!—she had then been only daring to hope for a little respite of suffering;–she was now in an exquisite flutter of happiness, and such happiness moreover as she believed must still be greater when the flutter should have passed away.

Conclusion

Well-written discoveries can have a huge impact on characters, plot, and readers. When crafted with these five elements (advance signaling, the discovery, physical reaction, emotional reaction, and reflection) you can create powerful scenes that are satisfying to the reader. In the next lesson, which will be the final lesson on discovery, we will discuss using discovery to create satisfying story resolutions.

Writing Exercises - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Exercise 1: Choose a large discovery that a character could have. First, write a character experiencing this discovery in a single paragraph, but still include all five elements: advance signaling, the discovery itself, physical reaction, emotional reaction, reflection. Now write a longer scene with a character experiencing this discovery, again using all five elements: advance signaling, the discovery itself, physical reaction, emotional reaction, reflection. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each version? Can you effectively tell the discovery both ways?

Exercise 2: Choose one of your favorite books that has been adapted to film. Rewatch and reread some of the scenes of discovery. How are the discoveries treated or expressed differently in book and the film?

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #41: Use Foreshadowing

#41: Use Foreshadowing

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #41: Use Foreshadowing

Jane Austen is an expert at foreshadowing. In each of her books, she leaves a trail of breadcrumbs for readers which lead up to her larger discoveries and reveals, whether it’s Mr. Darcy’s surprise proposal (set up by his glances and his attention and his conversation) or the truth about Mr. Wickham (which is hinted at in his words, behavior, and interaction). On a second read, it’s much easier to see these breadcrumbs, yet even if a reader does not recognize these clues as breadcrumbs, foreshadowing is essential for a good reading experience.

It’s easy, as a writer, to throw in something shocking or unexpected or create a huge twist. Yet readers feel cheated—the experience feels lacking and hollow—if these elements are not set up or foreshadowed properly.

Discoveries, especially large discoveries, must be earned. And this applies to any type of discovery, whether it’s a reveal, a twist, a deeper understanding of someone’s character, or the moment when a character obtains a missing piece of information. In the podcast Writing Excuses, the hosts about the importance making these sorts of discoveries “surprising yet inevitable.” Readers don’t necessarily expect these discoveries (and sometimes you don’t want them to expect these discoveries at all), but these discoveries do follow from what is in the narrative.

In this lesson, we’ll talk about five foreshadowing techniques used by Jane Austen, with examples from her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility.

The Techniques of Foreshadowing

The word foreshadowing literally means “before-shadow”: a shadow coming before. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, “the notion seems to be a shadow thrown before an advancing material object as an image of something suggestive of what is to come.”

Foreshadow: "A shadow thrown before an advancing material object as an image of something suggestive of what is to come.” --Online Etymology Dictionary

So how do you throw these shadows in advance? How do you suggest things without being too heavy-handed and providing the discovery earlier than needed for the character and the plot?

In her novel Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen uses five major foreshadowing techniques:

  1. Introduce events that will have renewed importance later on
  2. Give hints of an individual’s true character
  3. Hide or “sandwich” key details between other information which seems more salient
  4. Intentionally draw attention to key moments
  5. Use a lack of knowledge to allow for new meanings and understanding later

We’ll see how she uses each of these techniques in Sense and Sensibility, but first, a little refresher on the novel.

Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility features a family uprooted. Two adult daughters, Elinor and Marianne, both have hopes and difficulties in their love lives. Elinor was falling in love with Edward Ferrars before they were uprooted, and it seemed that he reciprocated her affections, but he has not visited them since they moved. Marianne is beginning to fall in love with a dashing young gentleman named Willoughby; a slightly older gentlemen (think upper thirties) named Colonel Brandon favors Marianne but she is not interested in him.

Jane Austen's foreshadowing techniques. 1. Introduce events that will have renewed importance later on.

Foreshadowing Technique #1: Introduce events that will have renewed importance later on

In Sense and Sensibility, Colonel Brandon organizes a large party to visit Whitehall. It’s a location of interest that he has a connection to—they could not visit it without him. Elinor and Marianne are invited, as are Sir John, Willoughby, and others.

Just a few minutes before they are to leave for Whitehall, Colonel Brandon receives a letter and announces that they must cancel the trip to Whitehall, for he must go to London immediately. He refuses to tell them what his business is, and refuses to delay his trip.

“We must go [to Whitehall],” said Sir John.—“It shall not be put off when we are so near to it. You cannot go to town till tomorrow, Brandon, that is all.”

“I wish it could be so easily settled. But it is not in my power to delay my journey for one day!”

….“You would not be six hours later,” said Willoughby, “if you were to defer your journey till our return.”

“I cannot afford to lose one hour.”

This event becomes important later on: much later in the book, we discover why Colonel Brandon has gone to London: a young girl in his charge was taken advantage of by Willoughby and is now pregnant, a fact Colonel Brandon reveals after Willoughby breaks Marianne’s heart and becomes engaged to another woman.

Clearly, this event has renewed importance thematically, for the plot, and for the characters later in the story. Yet it’s an important event as the moment as well. Directly after Colonel Brandon’s statement that he cannot delay a single hour, we read:

Elinor then heard Willoughby say in a low voice to Marianne, “There are some people who cannot bear a party of pleasure. Brandon is one of them. He was afraid of catching cold I dare say, and invented this trick for getting out of it. I would lay fifty guineas the letter was of his own writing.”

“I have no doubt of it,” replied Marianne.

This event is important within the chapter because Marianne uses it to judge between Colonel Brandon and Willougbhy. She sees Brandon’s abandoning of their party in a negative light, and sees Willoughby only in a positive light (though ironically, we find out later that it is Willougbhy’s actions that have caused the problem).

Colonel Brandon leaves, and everyone decides to drive their carriages together for pleasure. Marianne joins Willoughby in his carriage, and they soon separate from the rest of the party—for many hours. This could be a little scandalous in and of itself, but he takes her to the home he is to inherit and gives her a private tour, something that is certainly outside of the bounds of proper respectability. This is an action that leads many to assume that Marianne and Willoughby are secretly engaged.

As Jane Austen was crafting her novel, she could have had Colonel Brandon run off to London at any time—it could’ve happened off the page instead of in a scene; it could’ve been simply been mentioned by another character (“Where is Colonel Brandon?” “Oh, he had to leave for London for urgent business.”) Yet there is a power to including an event of importance on the page, in scene, with character dialogue and reactions, and this event is especially effective because it is not only important later on, but it has so much impact on the characters and the plot at the moment.

Jane Austen's foreshadowing techniques. 2. Give hints of an individual's true character.

Foreshadowing Technique #2: Give hints of an individual’s true character

Ultimately, the most interesting discoveries that a character can make in a novel are those which are about the true nature or true character of both others and themselves. Characters, of course, have the possibility to change and transform; an attribute can have both positive and negative aspects, as well as positive and negative potential for the story.

In Sense and Sensibility, Willoughby is truly dashing. He’s charming and romantic, and his attention thrills Marianne.

At one point, Marianne’s mother, Mrs. Dashwood, makes comments about improvements she would like to make to the cottage, in order to make it more comfortable for their family. Willoughby passionately insists that their home is “faultless…I consider it as the only form of building in which happiness is attainable.” He flatters them and their home and earnestly tries to convince Mrs. Dashwood to not make any changes:

“Tell me that not only your house will remain the same, but that I shall ever find you and yours as unchanged as your dwelling; and that you will always consider me with the kindness which has made everything belonging to you so dear to me.”

The entire conversation makes Marianne feel all aflutter. For her it’s incredibly romantic—he speaks with the passion and language of her favorite poets and writers. Yet it hints at his character, it foreshadows his flaws and later choices. He wants to fix the Dashwoods and their home, to create permanence, as if they are a museum exhibit for him to enjoy, rather than living, changing human beings. He wants them for his own purposes and pleasures, without considering what their needs are and what they desire.

Jane Austen's foreshadowing techniques. 3. Hide or "sandwich" key details between other information which seems more salient.

Foreshadowing Technique #3: Hide or “sandwich” key details between other information which seems more salient

From the moment since they arrived at the cottage, Elinor has been nursing her heartache, not just for her home at Norland, but also for Edward Ferrars. One day while Elinor and Marianne are taking a walk, they see a man on horseback approaching, who Marianne longingly hopes is Willougbhy, but it is not Willougbhy. It is Edward come to visit. Elinor is a little lost for words, but Marianne is all excitement for her sister. Yet all does not seem well:

He was confused, seemed scarcely sensible of pleasure in seeing them, looked neither rapturous nor gay, said little but what was forced from him by questions, and distinguished Elinor by no mark of affection.

A little later we read:

After a short silence which succeeded the first surprise and inquiries of meeting, Marianne asked Edward if he came directly from London. No, he had been in Devonshire a fortnight.

“A fortnight!” she repeated, surprised at his being so long in the same country with Elinor without seeing her before.

He looked rather distressed as he added, that he had been staying with some friends near Plymouth.

“Have you been lately in Sussex?” asked Elinor.

“I was at Norland about a month ago.”

“And how does dear, dear Norland look?” cried Marianne.

“Dear, dear Norland,” said Elinor, “probably looks much as it always does at this time of the year. The woods and walks thickly covered with dead leaves.”

“Oh!” cried Marianne, “with what transporting sensation have I formerly seen them fall! How have I delighted, as I walked, to see them driven in showers about me by the wind! What feelings have they, the season, the air altogether inspired! Now there is no one to regard them. They are seen only as a nuisance, swept hastily off, and driven as much as possible from the sight.”

“It is not every one,” said Elinor, “who has your passion for dead leaves.”

This passage has a number of salient moments: moments which are relevant and important, moments that draw our attention. First we have Edward’s reticence, which seems even more terrible to the sisters when we find out that he has been in the area for an entire fortnight—two weeks!—without calling on them. And then we have the fact that he has been to their old home, Norland, which is an essential moment for both Elinor and Marianne as they reflect on what they have lost. We can see how both sisters deal with loss and emotions differently by how they each talk about dead leaves.

Yet sandwiched in between the two weeks of Edward not calling on them and the leaves of Norland is a seemingly small, unimportant detail: “he had been staying with some friends near Plymouth.”

Yet this small detail is actual a key moment of foreshadowing, an important detail that is recalled later on, when Elinor meets Lucy Steele. For Lucy is one of the friends from Plymouth, and Lucy dramatically informs Elinor that she has been secretly engaged to Edward for years.

This sort of foreshadowing technique is often used in mystery novels—a small detail is given which does not seem relevant at the time, yet later holds the key to unlocking greater discoveries, greater truths. Yet this technique is just as useful in other genres and types of writing.

“Hiding” these key details between things which seem more important to the reader puts this information on the page but intentionally does not draw our attention to the information—we are meant to notice the information without focusing on it. Austen uses this technique in her novels to help set up big reveals and plot twists. In order for a big reveal, a big twist to be a surprise for readers, we can’t expect it. If too much attention was drawn to a detail such as the friends at Plymouth, we might expect the reveal. Yet if the detail is not there at all, if there is no foreshadowing, then the twist or reveal will feel hollow and inorganic to the story. Thus, details such as this can be sandwiched or hidden in other things to strike the right balance of foreshadowing without lessening later surprises.

Jane Austen's foreshadowing techniques. 4. Intentionally draw attention to key moments.

Foreshadowing Technique #4: Intentionally draw attention to key moments

While at times it is important to distract or draw attention away from important details, at other times Austen draws attention to key moments.

A few pages after the previous passage, we read:

[Marianne] was sitting by Edward, and in taking his tea from Mrs. Dashwood, his hand passed so directly before her, as to make a ring, with a plait of hair in the centre, very conspicuous on one of his fingers.

Marianne asks Edward if it is his sister’s hair, even though it seems a lighter color:

He coloured very deeply, and giving a momentary glance at Elinor, replied, “Yes, it is my sister’s hair. The setting always casts a different shade on it, you know.”

Elinor had met his eye, and looked conscious likewise. That the hair was her own, she instantaneously felt as well satisfied as Marianne; the only difference in their conclusions was, that what Marianne considered as a free gift from her sister, Elinor was conscious must have been procured by some theft or contrivance unknown to herself.

The ring could have been mentioned in simply a sentence, sandwiched between other details, but here it is like a flag is placed above it, drawing attention to the ring. Not all foreshadowing can be subtle and invisible, or it will not feel like enough foreshadowing. The foreshadowing that should draw our attention should be that which creates emotional resonance for the characters. Here, we see in a single sentence a complicated set of emotions for Elinor: she is flattered and hopeful that Edward has taken a lock of her hair, but a little conflicted that he has done so without her knowing. Taking the time to have focus on the ring and explore Elinor’s emotional reaction is essential in order to set up her emotional reaction the next time the ring is mentioned. Which leads us to the next foreshadowing technique.

Jane Austen's foreshadowing techniques. 5. Use a lack of knowledge to allow for new meanings and understanding later.

Foreshadowing Technique #5: Use a lack of knowledge to allow for new meanings and understanding later

While some foreshadowing is very direct and clear—Colonel Brandon has left for an unknown reason, and later we learn the reason—at other times it is effective for the characters to misinterpret or misunderstand these moments of foreshadowing. This relates to the last lesson, in which we talked about distractions and red herrings, and how they can lead characters to false conclusions. By having some information or events misinterpreted by the characters and/or the reader, it sets up later discoveries while creating greater surprise (and other strong emotions) because we expected a different result.

In Sense and Sensibility, Lucy Steele arrives shortly after Edward leaves. Based on the comments and teasing of other characters, Lucy begins to suspect that Elinor is in love with Edward, and so she makes a rather manipulative play to keep him for herself. She makes Elinor promise not to tell anyone of her secret, and then confides in her, telling her of her secret engagement. It takes some convincing and a fair amount of explanation on Lucy’s part to achieve her ends. Yet Elinor remembers that Edward has stayed in Plymouth with friends, she remembers that he was “sadly out of spirits,” and she begins to believe Lucy. And then she learns the truth of the ring:

“Writing to each other,” said Lucy, returning the letter into her pocket, “is the only comfort we have in such long separations. Yes, I have one other comfort in his picture; but poor Edward has not even that. If he had but my picture, he says he should be easy. I gave him a lock of my hair set in a ring when he was at Longstaple last, and that was some comfort to him, he said, but not equal to a picture. Perhaps you might notice the ring when you saw him?”

“I did,” said Elinor, with a composure of voice, under which was concealed an emotion and distress beyond any thing she had ever felt before. She was mortified, shocked, confounded.

Fortunately for her, they had now reached the cottage, and the conversation could be continued no farther. After sitting with them a few minutes, the Miss Steeles returned to the Park, and Elinor was then at liberty to think and be wretched.

This scene is powerful and full of emotion for both Elinor in the reader. It is a grand, unexpected twist, yet it has been properly foreshadowed, which makes it more powerful, for it feels more true and more terrible as a result. It hearkens back to “hidden” or “sandwiched” details, yet it also draws upon an emotionally powerful object that was a focus in a previous scene yet was misinterpreted.  It’s an incredibly effective use of foreshadowing to build to this moment.

Austen uses these foreshadowing techniques in each of her novels to set up key scenes, moments, revelations, and discoveries in a way that creates emotion and resonance for readers.

Foreshadowing is a powerful tool, yet can be tricky to use properly. Often in my own writing, my foreshadow is inadequate in the first draft—either too much, too little, or the wrong techniques in certain moments. For both me and many other writers, it is in revision that the foreshadowing is refined to make it most effective.

Writing Exercises - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Exercise 1: Choose a different Jane Austen novel and find at least three moments of foreshadowing. Which techniques does Jane Austen use and how does this foreshadowing set up later discovery?

Exercise 2: Write a scene in which the main character is surprised by a discovery at the end of the scene. The reader should be surprised as well. This could be any sort of discovery, such as a surprise birthday party, a surprise proposal, or a surprise award at work. Use several different foreshadowing techniques in the scene to hint at the upcoming revelation without giving it away.

Exercise 3: Revising for Foreshadowing.

Take a draft you have written of a short story, novella, or novel. Choose a key moment of discovery, a twist, or a reveal, and then look back to see what moments of foreshadowing you used for this discovery. What different foreshadowing techniques did you use? Could any of these moments of foreshadowing be refined? Are there any points where it more effective to use a different foreshadowing technique? Are there moments when it might be helpful to add foreshadowing?

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #40: Use Distractions, Interruptions, and Red Herrings

#40: Use Distractions, Interruptions, and Red Herrings

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Jane Austen Writing Lessons. #40: Use Distractions, Interruptions, and Red Herrings

If a character is seeking to discover something and she immediately discovers it fully and completely, then there is no story. For a story is about the journey, it is about the process, it is about the striving.

In the novel Persuasion, Anne Elliot has various questions that she seeks answers for, various things that she seeks to discover.

The initial question presented in the first few chapters of the book is:

  1. How can her family financially survive?

As this question is established, so are larger questions:

  1. What is Anne’s place in the world and her family?
  2. What will Anne’s future look like?

These two questions are big questions, which require large discoveries: they are asking fundamental questions about her identity, who she is, and who she wants to become.

In fiction, discovery is often about answering the fundamental questions of self. Yet it is difficult to “know thyself” and it is difficult to change and progress and become. As such, the discovery of answers to these fundamental questions should be difficult for characters.

Related to these fundamental questions in Persuasion are questions about relationships:

  1. Does Anne still have feelings for Captain Wentworth?
  2. Does Captain Wentworth have feelings for Anne?
  3. Can Anne and Wentworth reconcile?

While questions 2 and 3 relate largely to Anne’s internal journey, questions 4-6 related to Anne’s external journey. These questions are related to the larger plot arc of the story, and, once again, must be challenging to answer, or they would not be strong enough questions to sustain an entire novel.

Yet as a writer, how do you make discovery difficult for your characters? Jane Austen makes discovery difficult through three primary methods:

  1. Requiring a progression of knowledge discovery—knowledge that requires multiples steps to gain, or multiple types of knowledge.
  2. Using antagonists who interfere with the discovery process.
  3. Creating distractions, interruptions, and red herrings, all which make discovering the true answers more difficult.

We’ve discussed discovery progression and antagonists in other posts, so in this post we’ll discuss how to use distractions, interruptions, and red herrings.

Distractions

Distraction: A distraction draws the attention of the main character elsewhere, away from the core questions they are pursuing. Jane Austen Writing Lessons

A distraction draws the attention of the main character elsewhere, away from the core questions they are pursuing.

Two of the distractions in Persuasion come in the form of two other gentlemen who are interested in Anne Elliot: Captain Benwick and her cousin, Mr. Elliot.

The first time that Anne sees her cousin, Mr. Elliot, she does not know who he is:

When they came to the steps, leading upwards from the beach, a gentleman at the same moment preparing to come down, politely drew back, and stopped to give them way. They ascended and passed him; and as they passed, Anne’s face caught his eye, and he looked at her with a degree of earnest admiration, which she could not be insensible of….It was evident that the gentleman, (completely a gentleman in manner) admired her exceedingly.

The interest of Captain Benwick and Mr. Elliot help her in her quest of answering the second and third questions: What is her place in the world and her family? What will her future look like? With them, she can visualize different possible futures and different possible roles.

On the surface, the time and attention she pays to Captain Benwick and Mr. Elliot is a distraction from asking the three key questions regarding the plot—whether Anne still likes Captain Wentworth, whether Captain Wentworth likes Anne, and whether or not they can reconcile.

Yet in the hands of a master like Austen, distractions do not simply draw away the character’s attention from their process of discovery.

These distractions ultimately help Anne consider what it that she wants. Her interactions with these men help her choose the path of taking more initiative. Her interactions with Benwick and Elliot make her realize how much she still loves Wentworth. And finally, her interactions with Benwick and Elliot create jealousy within Wentworth, and help him realize that he has the risk of losing Anne.

Good distractions help the character learn and act in ways that will ultimately help them in the discovery process.

Interruptions

Interruption: An interruption halts possible discovery or disrupts forward movement toward the discovery. Jane Austen Writing Lessons

An interruption halts possible discovery or disrupts forward movement toward the discovery.

After Anne sees her cousin Mr. Elliot for the first time, and Mr. Elliot admires her, there is a key moment between Anne and Captain Wentworth:

Captain Wentworth looked round at her instantly in a way which shewed his noticing of it. He gave her a momentary glance—a glance of brightness, which seemed to say, ‘That man is struck with you,–and even I, at this moment, see something like Anne Elliot again.’

These two sentences open the possibility of future discovery about and between Anne and Captain Wentworth. Both Anne and Wentworth are more aware of each other, and Captain Wentworth seems to remember his interest in Anne. If an interruption had not occurred, they might have resolved their past and their future much more quickly.

But an interruption does occur:

Louisa falls and experiences a head injury. As a result, Anne returns to her family, and it also places Captain Wentworth in a position of obligation with Louisa. He has been pursuing her, and now that she is injured, he cannot simply begin pursuing Anne: his duty as a gentleman demands that he continue to assist Louisa, and even potentially become engaged to her.

When Anne returns to live with her father and older sister, she goes from being in a group that appreciates and understands her to being largely unappreciated and misunderstood. Yet she does not wallow in inactivity, for instance, spending time with her friend Mrs. Smith even though her family disapproves of it.

Wentworth is able to see more fully the result of his actions. When Louisa becomes engaged to someone else, he is free to choose anew what he wants, and he begins more actively reestablishing a relationship with Anne.

Interruptions create hardships or difficulties for characters, often in ways that help them grow internally.

Red Herrings

A red herring is a conclusion or path which seems to be the truth, but ultimately is a false conclusion or a false path.

Earlier in the novel Persuasion, Anne follows a red herring. She sees Captain Wentworth’s pursuit of Louisa and concludes that Captain Wentworth has completely moved on from their relationship. She believes that he feels nothing for her, and that there is no possibility of a future between them.

Anne did not wish for more of such looks and speeches. His cold politeness, his ceremonious grace, were worse than any thing.

In this first half of the novel, Anne is quiet and unassertive, and she does not pursue her interests, in part because of her belief in this red herring.

Jane Austen’s novel Emma arguably uses more red herrings than any of her other novels. Emma consistently notices the wrong things about people, which leads her to great trouble in relationships. She takes clues and carries them to false conclusions, and then she pursues these red herrings relentlessly, which blinds her to the truths and the real clues around her.

For instance, when she paints a portrait of her friend Harriet, Mr. Elton excitedly offers to have the portrait framed in London. Emma takes this as a clue for Mr. Elton’s interest in Harriet, and does everything to set up a relationship between Elton and Harriet. Yet this is a red herring. Mr. Elton is interested in Emma, and it was for this reason that he was enthusiastic about the portrait.

Red herrings make it more difficult to find the truth, creating internal and external obstacles that the character must overcome in order to continue the path of discovery.

Conclusion

Distractions, interruptions, and red herrings are essential elements of storytelling. They don’t exist simply to make the story take longer. They exist because struggle is essential for refining character, and because the things that characters most want and need should be initially outside of their grasp if they are truly worth seeking.

Writing Exercises - Jane Austen Writing Lessons

Exercise 1:

Write out answers to these questions about your personal life:

  • What everyday things distract you from your goals? Is there a time when you have had a larger distraction from your goals?
  • What sort of everyday interruptions do you experience? What is a large interruption you have experienced which has halted for a time or changed the progression of your life?
  • Are there any times in your life when you have come to false conclusions, or headed down a path that seemed like the right path but turned out to be the wrong one?
  • What can you learn about distractions, interruptions, and red herrings from your own personal life that you can apply to writing fiction?

Exercise 2:

Take a scene that you have written and add a distraction, interruption, or red herring to it. (Or, if you’d like, you can add more than one!) This distraction, interruption, or red herring can be small and localized (and could potentially be overcome by the end of the scene), or it could be larger, with implications for later in the story.

Exercise 3:

Picture the classic character of Little Red Riding Hood, who desires to visit her grandmother in the woods. Set a timer for 5 to 10 minutes, and create a list of as many possible distractions, interruptions, and red herrings that she could encounter on her journey. This list can include those in the original tale, but should not be limited to them. Circle the three ideas that seem the most interesting to you.

Bonus: Write a new version of the Little Red Riding Hood story using your chosen distractions/interruptions/red herrings.

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