towards forty miles from Dawlish and
would not be talked of there. I have put
Starcross instead.”
Austen suggested revisions were a
necessary part of any author’s work, so as
to accomplish the best read possible. As
she wrote to Anna, “The scene with Mrs.
Mellish I should condemn; it is prosy and
nothing to the purpose” and “I have also
scratched out the introduction between
Lord Portman and his brother and Mr.
Griffin. A country surgeon … would not be
introduced to men of their rank. Revise. Reread and revise again, if needs be.”
From Miss Austen's critiques, it is apparent
that she knew rural English indigenous
customs and local geographic distances
quite well; and that accurate corporeal
details mattered for the novel to be
believable. She clarified to Anna,“Russell
Square is a very proper distance from
Berkeley Square. … They must be two
days going from Dawlish to Bath. They are
nearly 100 miles apart." Austen’s
observations and suggestions regarding
character and scene development were
made some 200 years ago.
Today's promising authors would do well
to follow Jane Austen's advice in
presenting believable and interesting
characters placed in realistic settings with
which the writer is most familiar. This
advice certainly worked exceedingly well
for England’s leading romantic novelist,
Miss Jane Austen.
Sources:
Letters of Jane Austen - Brabourne Edition,
Republic of Pemberley. October 3, 2010.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen
didn't do punctuation- dash it,
The Australian. October 3, 2010