Can you imagine Jane Austen just sitting in front of a blank piece of paper, wondering where the next word was coming from? Well, if you believe a lot of the scholars who claim that she got it completely right first time; this is just the sort of thing you could imagine happening.
It seems that the published works of author Jane Austen's may not have been in her own unique experimental style, and could well have been changed considerably by her editor.
This conclusion was reached after three years of research by Professor Kathryn Sutherland of Oxford University.
Professor Sutherland studied 1,100 unpublished, handwritten pages of Jane Austen's work before reaching that conclusion.
The manuscripts are said to include corrections, blots, and a "counter-grammatical" style of writing.
The corrections are said to show that the author is not the "perfect stylist" that she has been made out to be.
However, not everything that you first put down on paper is going to be your best work.
It is also said that the manuscripts are lacking the "polished punctuation and epigrammatic style" of Jane Austen's six published novels.
Also, the manuscripts have a more free-flowing style, and feature far less punctuation than her published novels.
But is this enough to show that someone else was "heavily involved" when the novels were being edited? To most, the fact that an editor would make changes seems to make sense.
Whether the editor, William Gifford, made changes that limited her style and creativity is something we may never really know.
Jane Austen was, it seems, even better at writing dialogue and conversations than the published novels show.
So maybe there were changes prior to publication? The publishers would certainly have had things to take into consideration before publishing; maybe the novels didn't quite reach their intended audience? Perhaps the style was ahead of its time? Who can say? The novels have been an inspiration in the 190 plus years since the last novel, Persuasion, was first published; and, just knowing that Jane Austen's perfect prose may not have been how it was first put down on paper, should be an encouragement to the people who think they have to write the 'perfect' novel on their first attempt.
Were Jane Austen's novels experimental? By the standards of the day they may well have been, even if they may have been published in a largely altered state.
So, as you sit there in front of a blank screen, wondering where your next word is coming from, just remember this, even the greats experimented; so get writing and see where the journey takes you.
It seems that the published works of author Jane Austen's may not have been in her own unique experimental style, and could well have been changed considerably by her editor.
This conclusion was reached after three years of research by Professor Kathryn Sutherland of Oxford University.
Professor Sutherland studied 1,100 unpublished, handwritten pages of Jane Austen's work before reaching that conclusion.
The manuscripts are said to include corrections, blots, and a "counter-grammatical" style of writing.
The corrections are said to show that the author is not the "perfect stylist" that she has been made out to be.
However, not everything that you first put down on paper is going to be your best work.
It is also said that the manuscripts are lacking the "polished punctuation and epigrammatic style" of Jane Austen's six published novels.
Also, the manuscripts have a more free-flowing style, and feature far less punctuation than her published novels.
But is this enough to show that someone else was "heavily involved" when the novels were being edited? To most, the fact that an editor would make changes seems to make sense.
Whether the editor, William Gifford, made changes that limited her style and creativity is something we may never really know.
Jane Austen was, it seems, even better at writing dialogue and conversations than the published novels show.
So maybe there were changes prior to publication? The publishers would certainly have had things to take into consideration before publishing; maybe the novels didn't quite reach their intended audience? Perhaps the style was ahead of its time? Who can say? The novels have been an inspiration in the 190 plus years since the last novel, Persuasion, was first published; and, just knowing that Jane Austen's perfect prose may not have been how it was first put down on paper, should be an encouragement to the people who think they have to write the 'perfect' novel on their first attempt.
Were Jane Austen's novels experimental? By the standards of the day they may well have been, even if they may have been published in a largely altered state.
So, as you sit there in front of a blank screen, wondering where your next word is coming from, just remember this, even the greats experimented; so get writing and see where the journey takes you.