City of Belmont - Ruth Faulkner Public Library

The Jane Austen Writers' Club, inspiration and advice from the world's best-loved novelist, Rebecca Smith ; illustrations by Sarah J Coleman

Includes bibliographical references (pages 325-328) and index

The Jane Austen Writers' Club

Rebecca Smith ; illustrations by Sarah J Coleman

inspiration and advice from the world's best-loved novelist

"Pretty much anything anyone needs to know about writing can be learned from Jane Austen. While creative writing manuals tend to use examples from twentieth- and twenty-first-century writers, The Jane Austen Writers' Club is the first to look at the methods and devices used by the world's most beloved novelist. Austen was a creator of immortal characters and a pioneer in her use of language and point of view; her advice continues to be relevant two centuries after her death. Here Rebecca Smith examines the major aspects of writing fiction--plotting, characterization, openings and endings, dialogue, settings, and writing methods--sharing the advice Austen gave in letters to her aspiring novelist nieces and nephew, and providing many and varied exercises for writers to try, using examples from Austen's work, "--Amazon.com

Plan of a novel : planning, plotting and getting started -- 'Intricate characters are the most amusing' : creating and developing your characters -- Building the village of your story : creating and utilizing your setting -- A fine pair of eyes : point of view -- Light, bright and sparkling : writing dialogue -- Secrets and suspense : Jane Austen's recipe and method for a suspenseful novel -- In Jane Austen's pocket : techniques and devices of the great author -- 'And what is fifty miles of good road?' : making use of journeys (and staying at home) in your work -- 'You know how interesting the purchase of a sponge-cake is to me' : using food and meals in your writing -- Joints of mutton and doses of rhubarb : about the writing life, not food