Blogiversary!

Happy One Year Blogiversary to Me!

What I have learned in my first year of blogging:

1. Blogging takes time. I don't just mean the actual time to sit down and write a post, or even the time I spend reading other blogs. Building a readership takes time--months, even. 
2. Fun events draw people in. I got a huge stats jump last February, thanks to my Romance Title Generator. People who don't read my blog on a regular basis came by every day just to see what the new category was, and to offer suggestions.
3. You get out of it what you put into it. If you want people to read your blog, you've got to read theirs. It's as simple as that.

And the biggest thing I learned this year?

Shakespeare Sells.

Yep, Madison Avenue is wrong. It's not sex that sells, it's Shakespeare. Last April, I wrote a blog post about how to write like Shakespeare. That post has received far, far more page views than any other. Part of that is because I discussed the authorship controversy, right before Anonymous came out in theaters. That was just dumb luck, frankly.

I am amazed, however, at the number of people who've found my site by searching for variations of "write like Shakespeare."

So what's in store for 2012? Well, the biggest news is that I'll be moving to a Wordpress blog in February, with my own domain name. I've been putting this off for a while, but with some help from my brilliant cousin, it's finally going to happen.

That's the only real plan for the blog. I've got a set of goals for the new year though. Why don't you share yours in the comments?

1) Pay off my credit cards. (Gotta put the boring one first.)

2) Revise and publish my Colonel Fitzwilliam story.

3) Go to NYC for JASNA this October.

4) Go to San Francisco for the Night of Writing Dangerously in November.

5) Write book 3.

6) Plan a trip to England for fall 2013.

ETA @ 12:00: Cause for even more celebration! I just passed 2500 sales! *cue streamers and balloons*

Review: Jane Austen Made Me Do It

The world of Austenesque fiction is filled with talented authors. With such an embarrassment of riches, the only logical thing to do is develop a project to involve as many of them as possible. Edited by Laurel Ann Nattress of Austenprose.com, Jane Austen Made Me Do It is just that. Twenty-two authors, all telling stories with one theme: their tales must be "inspired by literatures most astute observer of the human heart."

I was absolutely delighted with the entire book. There's a short story in Jane Austen Made Me Do It for every kind of Austenesque lover. Sequels, retellings, modernizations; Jane Austen Made Me Do It has them all. There's even a ghost story or two--all written in a very tasteful, Jane-like manner of course.

As a brand-new author myself, I was most anxious to read Brenna Aubrey's "The Love Letter." As you may know, Brenna won a contest last year to be included in this volume. This is her first publication credit, and I have to say, it was an excellent way to begin her career. "The Love Letter" is a fresh, modern take on Persuasion which I absolutely loved, and I cannot wait to read her next work--perhaps a longer piece of fiction?

Overall, this volume delivers exactly what it promises: a respite from today's busy world into the heart of Jane Austen. Five stars.

FTC disclaimer: Review copy provided by publisher.

Happy Birthday, Jane!

Over two hundred years ago in a small Hampshire village, Jane Austen was born. She died before her 42nd birthday, but in those four decades, she changed the course of English literature. The novel as we know it was birthed in her keen observations and clever wit.

More than most authors, I owe my own literary career directly to Jane Austen. I wrote stories before finding the niche of Austenesque fiction, but I never finished anything that was remotely publishable. Today, on her 236th birthday, I can say that I am a successful author thanks to Jane.

I've said my thanks before, but I wanted to once more: Thank you, Jane, for sitting down at that little table and writing books that would change my life. Happy birthday.

Northanger Abbey Event!

We just started a Northanger Abbey event over at Indie Jane. On the blog so far we've got a review of There Must Be Murder by Margaret Sullivan, with a guest blog post from her on Wednesday. If you're not familiar with her wit, you should also be reading her own blog, Austenblog.

Next week, I'll review Nachtsturm Castle by Emily C.A. Snyder on Monday, followed by a guest post from her. She blogs over at O Beauty Unattempted, often about her Austen related works, or about her theater work.

We're also halfway through our group read of Northanger Abbey, and you're more than welcome to join in. Discussion questions are posted every week in the forums.

Sense and Sensibility Adaptations

I know I've been remarkably lax in the one reading challenge I entered this year. I confessed in January that Sense and Sensibility is not my favorite Austen book, but still, I felt I should re-read it before I started reading and watching various adaptations.

Well, the Sense and Sensibility group read at Indiejane.org just finished yesterday, so now I'm ready. We started our read by hosting a virtual movie night--the '95 movie--in our chat room, and then last week I finally watched the newer BBC production. I'm going to compare them today, knocking off two items for the challenge!

There are two major areas that affect the way an adaptation strikes the audience: casting and script. Both productions have pros and cons on both.

Casting:

I do not care for Hugh Grant in the role of Edward. Dan Stevens was far more suited to it, and I realized as I watched how much Grant's demeanor affected my opinion of the character--keeping in mind that the movie was my first introduction to the story and characters.

Until I watched Dan Stevens as Edward, I truly disliked the character. I could not forgive him for his behavior at Norland, for not leaving once he realized he was in love with Elinor. I couldn't understand how Elinor could accept it! Why wasn't she angry when she found out he'd been engaged the whole time? Looking back on the story, I think it was Grant's delivery of the apology which struck me wrong. Stevens was just pitch perfect in all those scenes, including... ah, but that is part of the script, is it not?

On the other side, for me, Alan Rickman is Colonel Brandon. I didn't dislike David Morrissey, but once you've seen a portrayal you love so much, it is hard to accept anyone else in the role. My favorite scene is at Cleveland when he begs Elinor to give him something to do to keep his mind off Marianne's illness. It strikes just the right note of barely restrained despair that I imagine him to feel.

Script:


Something odd happened here. Usually, I prefer the mini-series version of Austen novels, as there's simply too much to fit into a feature length film. However, despite the things that were cut or only hinted at in Thompson's script, I feel she did a better job, for one reason: she use a much larger percentage of Austen's dialogue.

Jane Austen wrote superior dialogue. It moves the plot along, it defines her characters, and it is charming and witty. Why write other lines that only attempt to say the same thing hers did? I was surprised to find this problem, because the 1995 Pride and Prejudice, also by Sir Andrew Davies, did an amazing job at sticking to the dialogue in the book.

I have to wonder if the shorter length played a part here. Sense and Sensibility is only half as long as Pride and Prejudice, and it's possible he felt there simply wasn't time to use Austen's dialogue. There were certainly some very choppy scene changes, such as when Mrs. Jennings announced they were all removing to Cleveland.

There were four places where I really appreciated the new script:

1. The beginning. Mildly salacious (which Davies seems to prefer), it goes a long way toward displaying Willougby's character. However, on further reflection part of the plot of the book is the whole mystery--is he a rogue or an honorable gentleman? Showing his seduction of Eliza in the first five minutes of the film is like reading the last chapter of a mystery first.
2. The duel. I loved actually seeing this. It's one of those little things you might not even be aware of if you skim over that chapter of the book, but Brandon does indeed call Willoughby out. However (again, a caveat!), I thought the way they filmed in and where they placed it made it seem like he was calling him out over Marianne, not Eliza. If one hadn't read the book before, they would certainly get that impression.
3. Edward's first apology. Though I don't believe for a minute that Elinor and Edward would have had a conversation that came that close to acknowledging what their relationship was while he was still engaged, I absolutely loved his question--"Why don't you think badly of me?" (Um... paraphrasing here!) That sincere admission of guilt and repentance did more to win me over to the character than anything else. 
4. Willougby's horrible excuse for an apology. Okay, Austen purists. I admit, this is one thing I really don't care for in the book. Why does he get to come back and explain away all his bad actions? Why does Elinor give him time to do so, and then accept at the very least, he always loved Marianne and will regret her? Why doesn't she just say, "Hey! You lost your chance because you were too selfish to do the honorable thing. Get out!"? These are things Nancy wants to know, and the abbreviated apology in the mini-series (which is completely omitted in the film) gave me some small bit of satisfaction.

All that being said, the film script wasn't perfect. As mentioned, it omits Willougby's apology altogether. There are times when dialogue moves from mouth to mouth, most notably when Marianne gives Elinor's quote about how Willougby might soon have learnt to rank the demands of his pocketbook above those of his heart. Since this quote is given by Elinor in answer to Marianne's doubt that Willoughby was truly selfish, it is really out of place in the film. 

Also, I don't think it's just Hugh Grant's delivery that makes Edward's explanation and apology at the end fall flat. It's just... off. Like, it doesn't sound like his voice. Also, it didn't sound really apologetic, more like... "Hey, I know things didn't go so well earlier, but now that I'm free, what do you think?" which really made me hate him.

Okay, I know this was long, but I thought it would be easier to do them both in one blog post. These are my second and third completed items for the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge.

Darcy In My Head and a Giveaway

When I decided to write His Good Opinion, I printed a copy of Pride and Prejudice out from Project Gutenberg and sat down with a pen to make notes. I listened to the book while reading, and when the DIMH spoke up, I jotted down his thoughts. In this way, I created a sort of map of what Darcy was thinking throughout the book, and that map became the back bone of my book.

(I actually turned it into a mind map, but apparently those scare people so I won't show you that. However, you can see it here if you wish.)

However, DIMH could only explain the things that were within my scope of experience. If I didn't know what a certain phrase referred to, my own subconscious couldn't make it clear to me. That's when I had to turn to outside sources, AKA reference material.

My final pass of His Good Opinion is being made with an annotated Pride and Prejudice. I want to know what experts have said about the novel, in particular its social situations.

Since this is where I am now, I'd like to give away a copy of The Annotated Pride and Prejudice. 

To enter, simply comment on this blog post.

You can also gain additional entries by: 

• Following me via Google Friend Connect
• Following me on Twitter
• Tweeting up to once a day about the giveaway with this tweet: Want to know more about Darcy and Elizabeth? Enter to win The Annotated Pride & Prejudice from @Nancy_Kelley: http://ow.ly/6vchp 

Please add an additional comment for each entry. This giveaway is open to US/Canadian entries only, and runs through the 9/28/2011. I will then use a random number generator to select a winner, who will be announced on 9/29/2011.

Good luck!

Why Twitter Is Your Friend

Or, Why Twitter Friends Are Amazing.

I'm finally down to minor tweaks to my MS for His Good Opinion. My crit partners have the last few chapters now, and my beta readers are halfway through. Meanwhile, I'm going through, meticulously analyzing every word and style choice I've made--because of course, I want the copyeditor to receive as clean a draft as possible.

One thing I noticed recently was an over-use of italics. I use italics to indicate internal dialogue, and that will remain. However, Jane used italics frequently to indicate emphasis. While I have decided against removing every exclamation point from her dialogue, I do believe I can rid myself of most of the italics without raising a fuss.

However, the thought of scrolling through the document looking for italics made my eyes cross--and this is where Twitter comes in. Over a year ago, author Gary Corby wrote an amazingly detailed and helpful blog post on using Word's search function. You can make it do things I'd never even dreamed of!

I follow Gary on Twitter, so who else would I turn to with my question? I sent him a quick @ reply, and before the day was over, I got this answer:

Yes! In search dialog, click More--Format--Font--Italic. RT @Nancy_Kelley: Gary, is there a way to search Word for all italicized text?

Bingo!! Now I can let my computer do the eye-crossing work for me, rather than staring at the screen for hours on end.

Maybe you don't need to know everything there is to know about the find and replace feature in Word (though that is very helpful). However, in your writing you will come across things that stump you. Twitter puts you in touch with people from dozens of backgrounds who know more collectively than you could ever hope to learn in your lifetime. It's the Hive Mind, and it's one of the greatest things about Twitter.

Have you been assimilated into the Collective? What kinds of questions has Twitter or the blogosphere answered for you?

PS: If you like mysteries and Ancient Greece, I highly recommend Gary's novel, The Pericles Commission.  It's funny, the characters are well-drawn, and his attention to detail makes historical research look absolutely effortless.

Introducing Shannon Winslow, Austenesque Author

Today I invited Shannon Winslow, author of The Darcys of Pemberley, to guest blog. (See my review on Indiejane.) Please also check out her blog and follow her on Twitter--she's a great asset to our Jane Austen community.

Thank you, Nancy, for inviting me to guest blog for your readers. I love making connections with other fans of Jane Austen, and talking about how I happened to write my first novel, The Darcys of Pemberley.

I was as surprised as anyone that I should turn out to be a novelist. You see, although I’d dabbled in other creative mediums (music, art), I’d never given any serious thought to writing. Besides, I had a practical career, a house and husband to look after, and two sons to raise. I barely had time to read a book, let alone write one.

Then about eight years ago, I discovered Pride and Prejudice and simply fell in love – with the beautiful story, with Darcy and Elizabeth, with the elegant period language, and with Jane’s witty writing style. I couldn’t get enough. It became my passion – or arguably, my obsession. Still, it might easily have amounted to no more than yearly rereads of the novel and countless watchings of the ’95 film adaptation.

Undertaking a huge creative project, like writing a first novel, requires a ton of inspiration (which I had, thanks to Jane Austen), but also a major dose of motivation. I found mine in an unexpected place: in the first Pride and Prejudice sequel I stumbled upon.

I’m fascinated with the “what ifs” of life. What if this had happened instead of that? What if I had turned right instead of left at the crossroads? These questions play a significant role in my second novel, and serve as the central theme for my third (both yet to be published). They also apply to my life, and to my writing career in particular.

What if I’d resisted the impulse to buy that movie at Costco years ago, the one with Colin Firth’s handsome face on the cover? Would I have ever discovered Pride and Prejudice? I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure that if I had loved that first sequel (a book praised by many other JA fans), if it had been everything I was personally looking for, I never would have written a sequel of my own.

I wrote The Darcys of Pemberley, first and foremost, to satisfy my own longing to continue the story the way I thought Jane Austen would have done herself, to spend more time with her characters and in their world. In the process, I discovered another passion – a passion for writing that has changed my life.

Build Your Own Austenesque Novel: Character

Week 1: The Set-up
Week 2: Conflict

Character development is at the heart of any novel, but it's crucial when you're writing fanfiction. Your readers are already intimately familiar with your characters. Does the way you portray them match up with the version they have in their heads?

First, a caveat. No two people will see a character in exactly the same light. Part of your job as a writer is to believe enough in your version of the character that the reader will accept it, even if it's not the way they saw them before. Your words must carry enough authority that they will lay aside their own thoughts and opinions long enough to enjoy your story. Perhaps in the process they might even change their minds.

That aside, there are certain things we know about Austen's characters. If you stray too far from accepted reality--say, if Mr. Darcy is suddenly acting more like Henry Crawford than himself--you will lose the reader.

His Good Opinion was enjoyable to write largely because I simply immersed myself in Darcy's character. A version of him took up residence in my head--I call him the Darcy in my Head. DIMH gave me flawless advice about what he would do next, and what he was actually thinking at various points in the story. Examining the slow process of his transformation into a man "capable of pleasing a woman worthy of being pleased" both exasperated and delighted me.

Colonel Fiztwilliam is very different from his cousin. In my story, he is the youngest of three siblings. The nagging of his older brother and sister and the constant fretting and worrying of his mother are part of what propelled him into military service. He is confident and sure of himself, and not unaware of the effect his uniform has on the female sex.

Which characters are you focusing on? Do you have a solid picture in your mind of who they are at the beginning of the novel?

Build Your Own Austenesque Novel: Conflict

Now that you've chosen the basic scenario for your novel, the next step is to determine the plot. At this point, it helps to remember the 3 Cs of plot: Plot = Conflict that forces your Character to Change.

Conflict is easier for some types of Austenesque novels than others--POV and AU novels should be able to simply tweak the conflict in Austen's original work, though you will of course see those events differently through the lens of your particular character or alternate universe. However, if you're writing a sequel or a variation, you will have to choose a conflict yourself.

A word to variation authors: Many fanfiction writers start writing from a desire to get their favorite characters past the roadblocks more quickly. For instance, you might wish Elizabeth never heard Darcy's initial insult or that Wentworth returned in 1810. However, Jane created those problems for one very good reason: without conflict, there is no plot. Conflict is what drives the story. If you eliminate one difficulty, you must create another.

Since His Good Opinion is told from Darcy's POV, the basic conflict in Pride and Prejudice is expressed differently. I increased the stakes by showing, in detail, how his impression of events is so far from how Elizabeth perceived them. For instance, at the Netherfield Ball when she can barely speak a civil word to him because of his behavior to Wickham, he thinks... well, here. I'll let you read it.

Darcy glanced at his watch one last time. Guests had begun arriving over half an hour ago, and he had purposely delayed his own entrance in order to avoid the Bennet family. For Mrs. Bennet surely saw to it they were among the first to arrive.

He walked through the open doors, and all his good intentions were lost. Elizabeth Bennet stood not ten feet away. Her back was to him, and though Darcy told himself to turn away, to pretend he had not seen her, he could not.

She took his breath away. The delicate fabric of her ball gown revealed more of the lithe lines of her figure than he had previously seen, and the candlelight caught and reflected off the jewels in her hair.

 Darcy approached her slowly, gauging his own reaction. Only when he was certain he could maintain his usual reserve did he speak. "Miss Elizabeth?"

She turned, and he wondered if perhaps he had overestimated his own control. Up close, he could see the smooth texture of her creamy skin, and he clenched a fist to keep himself from taking her hand to see if it felt as satiny as it looked.

"Yes, Mr. Darcy?"

He flushed at the question in her voice; how long had he stood without saying a word? "I trust the weather has not dampened your sprits this evening?"

He thought her smile was a little forced, but as he himself struggled to find enjoyment in balls, he did not wonder at it. "You will find, sir, that I rarely allow anything to interfere with my enjoyment."

He bowed and walked away to hide the emotions those words stirred in him. "You will find…" Could this possibly be a hint that she would welcome further attentions from me? Darcy had thought himself immune to her charms, inured against them by the knowledge of her family connections. However, the idea that she would encourage his suit enthralled him, and none of his previous arguments held any weight.

His belief of her affections grows during their stay in Kent, and by the time we get to his first proposal, you might actually feel sympathetic for him, despite the fact that he actually deserves most of Elizabeth's anger.

The conflict in my Colonel Fitzwilliam story revolves around his career as a spy. He's betrayed by someone he trusts, and the resulting disaster makes him unwilling to trust himself. The heroine has to get past his mountain of self-recriminations to prove he's worthy of her trust, and thus, her love.

What kind of monkey wrenches would you throw at our beloved Austen characters?

Build Your Own Austenesque Novel: The Set-Up

During the month of August, I'm running a series for Austenesque fans. We're going to build our own Austenesque novels, from the ground up. Each week, we'll discuss another story aspect until we have a complete toolkit for writing an Austenesque novel.

The Set-up

The first thing you have to decide when you sit down to write a piece of Jane Austen fiction is what do you want your story to be? What novel do you want to focus on? Do you want to write a sequel, a variation, a POV story, or an alternate universe?

If you came over today from Meredith's Austenesque Extravaganza, you might be familiar with those terms. I'll define them very quickly for those who aren't.

• Sequel: The most obvious, this type of novel starts where one of Jane's leaves off. It might follow the primary couple (for instance, Darcy and Elizabeth), or it might follow a secondary character, like Charlotte Collins.
• Variation: This novel takes the original Austen story and deviates from it at some point. Maybe Elizabeth never heard Darcy's first insult, or maybe Captain Wentworth did come back to court Anne in 1810. It branches off from that point of departure to create its own story.
• POV story: These tell the same story as Jane, but from the POV of a different character. My current novel, His Good Opinion, is a POV story.
• Alternate Universe: AU stories take the characters and situations from the original novel and places it in a completely foreign setting. This might be a modernization, or Jane Austen Does Outer Space. The sky is truly the limit with AU stories.

So, what kind of Austenesque novel do you want to write? My next novel is a sequel, based on Pride and Prejudice once again. This time, I'm telling Colonel Fitzwilliam's story. Some interesting bits of back story surfaced while I wrote His Good Opinion, and I'm eager to explore his adventures.

Week 2: Conflict.
Week 3: Character

REMEMBER!

Commenting on this post will enter you in the Amazing Austenesque Giveaway. Make sure you've filled out the form on Meredith's blog, and then any post you make on her blog or on the posts she links to throughout the month will count as another entry in the giveaway. Thank you, and good luck!

Graphic designed by Drew Parsons

Winchester Cathedral and Jane Austen

It's a beautiful sunny day in March, and I've just landed in England. I made it through customs and caught the train to Winchester, where a friend met me. She knew immediately what I would want to see first: Winchester Cathedral, the place where Jane Austen is buried.

It was after 4:00 PM when we started the self-guided tour, and even my jet-lagged brain could appreciate the beauty of the afternoon light coming through the stained glass windows. Sometime I might do a blog post just on the stained glass I saw in England--I have even more pictures of that than I do of the willows.

The various altar pieces were beautiful. This one in particular struck me, with the gilded paintings and the beautiful masonry.

After seeing the cathedral in all it's glory, you finally come to Jane's grave. This is the actual stone marking where she is buried. I still find it a little odd to think of people being buried inside a building--can anyone explain this to me? I realize it was something of an honor, as not just anyone gets space beneath the transept, but beyond that...?

(Please forgive the slightly blurred picture--the batteries in my camera were dying.)

Jane's gravestone makes no mention of her writing--it's simply a commemoration by her family and friends of a life well lived. It wasn't until several years later that this plaque was erected on the wall of the cathedral, honoring "Jane Austen, known to many by her writings..." Above the plaque is a gorgeous stained glass window of St. Augustine, as Austen is an abbreviated form of Augustine. (I do have pictures of the window, but they turned out even worse than the pictures of the stone and the plaque.)

I find it a little ironic that my first stop in England was Jane's last. I don't attach any great symbolic meaning to that, but I know my trip over all grounded me more in her life and her way of thinking. The chapters I've written since I've come back have flowed more easily, with less time wondering how exactly something would work.

Visiting a grave site leaves you with a greater appreciation for what the person accomplished in her life. Jane Austen didn't live long--she was only 41 when she died. But in those short years, she created six of the most-loved novels in modern English, and she left us with numerous remnants and pieces of juvenilia. She worked hard at her writing, frequently sitting for hours a time at her little writing table. That kind of consistency and dedication inspired me to do the same.

If you could visit the grave of one person, whose would you choose and why? What lessons would you take away from the trip?

May I Have the Envelope, Please?

On my birthday, I received three blog awards: The Versatile Blogger Award, One Lovely Blog, and The Stylish Blogger Award. The rules for receiving a blog award are:

1. Thank and link back to the person that gave you the award.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass the award to fifteen bloggers that you think deserve it.
4. Lastly, contact all of the bloggers that you've picked for the award. 

At the time I'd only been blogging for a month and I didn't really feel qualified to pass the award on. Now it's been almost six months--I might not be an Experienced Blogger yet, but at least I'm no longer the new kid on the block. Besides, I finished my draft on Saturday and what better way to celebrate than by throwing an awards ceremony?

1. Thank you Charissa! Those awards gave my confidence a definite boost, and they were a fantastic birthday present too.
2. Seven things about me:
1. I am completely addicted to chocolate.
2. I have a cat named Smokey who might actually be smarter than I am.
3. I've traveled more extensively than the average American, both within the US and abroad.
4. My love for Austen is rivaled only by my love for Tolkien. The one disappointment of my England trip was the complete lack of Tolkien geekery.
5. Some might call me an obsessive planner. I like to think I'm just prepared for the coming zombie apocalypse.
6. I organize things by date--either when I last used them, or when I will need them. Thus, when my roommate straightens the house, I cannot find a thing.
7. Like Charissa, I too am a pastor's daughter.
3. Fifteen people to whom I gift these awards:
1. Jessica at Narniamum
2. Jennifer at Skidding in Sideways
3. Rebecca at A Word's Worth
4. Kaydee at For the Love of Austen
5. Debra at English Epochs 101
6. Kals at At Pemberley
7. Julia at wordsxo
8. Sarah Allen at From Sarah, With Joy
9. Amber Rose at Laughing With Broken Eyes
10. Jen at Neptune Butterfly
11. Austen in Bath at Austen in Bath
12. Rosita at A Writer Forever... 
13. Shannon at Jane Austen Says...
14. Susan at Loves Jane Austen
15. Alexa at First Impressions
4. I've contacted all these lovely ladies (and they are all ladies, interesting!) via Twitter. If you'll notice, I've linked each of them not only to their blogs but also to their Twitter accounts. Please take a moment and follow them--you won't regret it.

I've Got a Dream: Mr. Darcy

On Monday, I used Flynn Rider as an example of a character whose dream changed. Mr. Darcy is exactly the opposite--his dream stayed true, but in order to achieve it, he had to change.

Darcy does a superb job of hiding his growing attachment to Elizabeth. This is largely because he thinks he can't possibly marry her, and therefore it wouldn't be right to show more affection, knowing he can't follow through with a proposal. His attentions are more overt in Kent, but by then, Elizabeth is so convinced he dislikes her that she misreads them completely. The first clue she has of his dream is in his proposal at Hunsford.



Disastrous! He's at a crossroads now; he can either give up on his dream of Elizabeth, or he can work to become a man capable of pleasing "a woman worthy of being pleased."

He of course chooses the latter, which is why women world over have fallen in love with him. Months later, after misunderstandings on both sides, he turns to her in response to her thanks for his actions regarding Lydia and says, "You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever."

This is the story arc I'm in the middle of right now. He tells her later in that same passage that though he was angry with her at first, "my anger soon began to take a proper direction." Her words, "had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner," started a transformation inside him, but it didn't happen over night. That gradual change from indignation to regret isn't easy to write. I begin to think Jane knew what she was doing when she followed Elizabeth rather than Darcy!

So today I have two questions. First, how long did it take Darcy to get past his anger, and second, what was the inciting incident that turned his thoughts in another direction? I already have some ideas on the latter, but I'm interested in your opinions.

Jane Austen Was Here

To a certain extent, all authors work in the shadow of the literary greats. How will our books compare when stacked up against classics like Les Misérables, Don Quixote, or Wuthering Heights? For the Austen sequel writer, the pressure is infinitely greater. We are not just working in the same profession as those masters; we are actually taking the characters and settings of Jane Austen's stories and adding to them in some way.

Three weeks ago, I stepped directly into Austen's shadow when I visited Chawton. This house, now home to the Jane Austen's House Museum, is where she lived when she wrote and edited the majority of her novels. If you remember, I planned to spend some time writing on the grounds, and there was some debate over how intimidating that might be.

Honestly, I didn't think it would intimidate me--until I saw her writing desk. This is actually the little table she sat and wrote at. I imagined I could hear the squeak in the door which warned her when people approached. Then I was intimidated!

Look at that chair, at the angle of the chair to the table. This was not an ergonomic work station, friends. Granted, the chair is low enough and the table high enough that she wouldn't have to hunch over her paper, but beyond that... Can you imagine the dedication that would drive you to spend hours a day, cramped into one position, writing away?

Yes, I thought, I can imagine it. While my situation at home is far more comfortable, I still have a chiropractor and massage therapist constantly telling me I should take better care of myself. I ignore them, because sitting for hours a day is the only way to get the book done, and the book demands to be finished.

After touring the museum, I walked a ways up the road to the main house--Chawton Great House. This is a fine Elizabethan manor and I learned quite a bit about the Austen connection to the Knight family. Among the group, there was that electric realization that Jane Austen actually visited this house--ate in this dining room--walked on these stairs.

So did I do any writing? Yes, I did. Intimidated or not, I could not let this opportunity pass me by. Jane Austen was here, and now, so was I.

Chawton: A Janeite's Mecca

When I plan a vacation, I separate sites into three categories: If I Have Time, Quite Interested, and Do Not Miss. As a Janeite and author of Austenesque novels, Chawton Cottage definitely falls into the third category.

This house is where Jane spent the last eight years of her life. It was here that she edited and/or wrote most of the six major novels. I hunted around the internet for a picture, and found this on thefemalerambler's Flickr feed:

(I'll have plenty of my own to share when I get back, don't worry!)

Now, while I'm at Chawton I plan to do a little writing of my own. It's supposed to be sunny, so I thought I'd sit outside somewhere with a notebook and engage in some method writing. Where better to get into Jane's mind than at her home?

I mentioned this on Twitter, and one person mentioned she'd be too intimidated to write there. So I'm asking you, friends: If you could visit someplace like Chawton, would you be inspired or intimidated?

Style and the Austenesque Novel--Take 2

In one of my first posts, I asked how closely an Austenesque author should follow Jane Austen's style. The general consensus was that it's better not to try, and I agree with that. Not only would it be extremely difficult to manage, copying someone else's writing style doesn't allow our unique voice to come through.

That being said, I've discovered one place where it's crucial to sound as much like Jane as possible. The nature of HIS GOOD OPINION means I've brought over quite a bit of dialogue from Pride and Prejudice. These have been the hardest scenes to write. Seeing my unpolished rough draft next to her delightful prose is... frustrating, to say the least.

But there's hope! Twice in my revisions, I've stopped over a bit of dialogue and asked myself, "Is that mine or Jane's?" Both times it was something I wrote, and I danced a dance of writerly joy.

While I believe myself to be a good writer, I make no claim to being Jane Austen. That being the case, how did I manage this, not once but twice? Hearkening back to another post, it was all about the character development. Both of those lines fit into the story not because they sounded like Jane Austen, but because they sounded like her characters.

This then is the key to writing the Austenesque novel. Study her characters. Learn to speak like them, and you in turn will sound like Jane.

Austenesque Lesson: Character Development

Characterization is a classic fanfiction pitfall, and Austen sequel readers are especially picky about this. They know these characters inside and out, and they want to recognize their favorites in our stories. To avoid their ire, we work hard to present the characters exactly as Austen left them.

However, that's not true to life and it's not good writing. People grow and change; I will not be the same person at the end of this year as I was at the beginning. That change is even more vital in fiction. If we are to believe the crisis that drives your plot matters, your character must be changed by the events.

In Charlotte Collins, Jennifer Becton strikes the middle ground. Becton begins her story with the Charlotte we all know, the lady who believed that "happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance." If anything, after seven years of marriage to Mr. Collins she is even more pragmatic than before.

After her husband's death, she is assiduously courted by two men; one a gentleman, the other a rake. When the rake ruins her reputation by spreading a scandalous falsehood about her, she is faced with a decision. Will she remain the same Charlotte who chose security over all other concerns, or will she risk everything for one chance at happiness?

Our last picture of Charlotte is of a woman who has finally found true love. Her life is no longer ruled by propriety or a striving for security. Her life is exactly the opposite of where Jane Austen left her, but those same purists we fear have done nothing but praise this book.

There are three keys to Becton's success. I already touched on the first--Charlotte starts out as the recognizable Austen character. The second is an inciting incident that is both believable and big enough to cause the ripple effect you're looking for. Mr. Collins' death certainly qualifies on both counts.

The third is where the magic is. Charlotte doesn't transform overnight. This is where that little thing called plot comes into play. Each decision Charlotte makes drives her to the next change, which leads to the next decision. When we finally reach the climax of the story, she is sufficiently changed that we can almost guess what she will do.

Character development is a difficult balancing act when writing a Jane Austen sequel, but if we pull it off, the result is a book that will satisfy both the purist and someone only looking for a good story.

England, Research, and More

England
Have you noticed the widget at the bottom of the right column? I'm taking off for England in just 28 days! I'll be there two weeks, touring and visiting friends.

Of course, the first stop on my trip is Hampshire and all the Jane Austen sites. I'll stay three days with a friend in Winchester, where I'll visit her grave at the cathedral. I'll also take the bus out to Alton to visit the Jane Austen's House Museum and possibly Chawton House Library. (My only hesitation is that I don't know if I'd have time to actually use the library.) Then I'll be off to Portsmouth and the Royal Naval Museum so I can take notes for a future story featuring Wentworth. When I'm in Bath the following week, I'll go to the Jane Austen Centre there.

I'm reaching out to you, friends. Do you know of any place special I ought to visit a Janeite? Maybe there's a bookstore that carries a wide selection of her works and related criticism, or... well, I don't really know what else.

Research
That brings me to my second point. I'm in the middle of edits, and I am constantly finding things I need to research more. What resources do you turn to? I'm interested in books, blogs, or websites--anything that might give more insight into the early Regency. I do have quite the library of my own, but I still feel like there's something I'm missing.

Right now I'm interested in the life of a Regency gentleman. There are several good books out there on Regency women, but I haven't seen anything focused primarily on the men.

More
I will post the first Austenesque Lesson on Thursday. As you can imagine, I read a lot of Austenesque novels. I try to learn something from each book, a lesson that will make my own stories stronger. Some will relate to the broader craft of writing, but oftentimes they will highlight things unique to writing Jane Austen sequels.

Style and the Austenesque novel

Writing a novel in another author's world, using her characters, presents a special set of difficulties. As I read through His Good Opinion, one comes up more than others: How important is it that I emulate Austen's writing style?

Jane favored indirect dialogue. She did it in such a way that you might not even realize it; did you know Mr. Darcy's proposal contains only four sentences of real dialogue? We are then told what he said regarding her family and her background, but not given the words he actually used. In contrast, I love dialogue. My rough drafts are often little more than conversations strung together with a few actions. Description follows in later revisions.

However, I faltered when it came to the internal monologue. Here again Jane used a deft hand to indirectly tell us what the character was thinking. My usual technique is to italicize the private thoughts of the character, but for some reason, I tried to follow her pattern here. Instead of sounding clever, my observations were little more than thinly disguised exposition. I see some serious rewriting in these areas.

The other stylistic question is trickier. How much of the older spelling should I use? Whenever I pulled over dialogue from Pride and Prejudice, I kept the original spelling. However, when I use the same word later, will the modern spelling jar the readers? It seems inconsistent to me, and yet I do not wish to change the spelling in the quote. "Chuses" was the word that caught my eye this afternoon, and it is certainly a common enough word to warrant consideration.

So what say you, readers? Do I follow Jane's patterns, or forge my own road? Should I do as I... chuse?