"There are a few Typical errors--and a 'said
he' or a 'said she' would sometimes make
the Dialogue more immediately clear--but 'I
do not write for such dull Elves that have
not a great deal of Ingenuity themselves.'"
In other words, a smart person would figure
out what she meant to say.
She was also prone to using exclamations,
ampersands, and dashes, especially in her
letters, but was unapologetic about the
habit, saying “I am always wandering away
into some exclamation or other.” She also
wrote her thoughts in a hurry, not always
dividing long passages
into paragraphs. Two original and unedited
chapters from Persuasion demonstrate that
she wrote long sentences, ignored commas,
and used dashes to connect her subclauses.
Austin adamantly decried the use of slang
using it only to delineate a character, such
as John Thorpe, a seedy character in
Northanger Abbey. In 1814, when Anna
began penning her first novel, successful
authoress Aunt Jane cautioned: "Devereux
Forester's being ruined by his Vanity is
extremely good; but I wish you would not
let him plunge into a 'vortex of
Dissipation'... it is such thorough novel
slang--and so old, that I dare say Adam met
with it in the first novel he opened."
On Character Development
As an author, Austen was certainly critical
of her own work. Writing to her sister,
Cassandra, about one of her characters in
1799, she lamented, "Henry Mellish, I am
afraid will be too much in the common
Novel style
a
handsome, amiable,
unexceptionable Young Man.”
Literary love scenes and heroes required
particular attention, according to Austen.
“I do not like a lover speaking in the 3rd
person … I think it not natural,” she wrote
to Anna, adding in a later letter that
Anna's hero must be given something
interesting, but realistic, to do. “What can
you do with Egerton to increase the
interest for him? I wish you could contrive
something, some family occurrence to
bring out his good qualities more. Some
distress among brothers and sisters to
relieve by the sale of his curacy! … I would
not
seriously
recommend
anything
improbable, but if you could invent
something spirited for him it would have a
good effect.”
To Miss Austen, actions needed to make
sense the author should provide the
character with a compelling reason to do
them. She recommended to Anna, “We
are not satisfied with Mrs. Forester
settling herself as tenant and near
neighbour to such a man as Sir Thomas,
without having some other inducement to
go there. She ought to have some friend
living thereabouts to tempt her.”
On Factual Accuracy
In another letter to Anna, Miss Austen
suggested that authors should use words
sparingly
and
wit
and
humour
unsparingly, write descriptions accurately,
apply common sense regularly, and
consult the facts at all times. “Here and
there we have F