Book-Diva

My Inner Jane Austen

Jane Austen had a knack for developing an interesting plot that always seemed to work out for all of her characters, whether good or bad.  Take Pride and Prejudice, one of my favorite novels.  It has just enough twists and turns to make it an enjoyable plot.

I love the way Austen gives just enough illustration of her characters to allow the reader to extend their own imagination.  Just htis book alone has spurred several different modern spin-offs including Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife and Darcy and Elizabeth by Linda Berdoli which adds a more salacious, but entertaining, aspect to the main Pride and Prejudice characters.  Another spinoff, Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange, seeks to tell the story from Darcy's side.  It is interesting to see how the various authors take off of their own intepretations of this renowned novel.

When I've looked at any background marterial on how Jane Austen wrote her novels, it is often suggested that she based many of her characters on the people in her life.  The movie, Becoming Jane, explores her supposed relationship with Tom LeFroy and how it impacted the writing of Pride and Prejudice.  I belive that this is her singular genius, the ability to take the details of every day life and extend them to fit the lives of the characters that she creates.

I am struggling with how much to leverage the detials of my own life in the writing of the novel I am working on.  Will I offend the people I care about?  How much license should I take?  Like Austen, I believe in writing about the life details that I do know about intimately.  It gives stories much more power.

The Plot Thickens…

The more that I think about the plot, the more I realize how easy it is to go too deep into the details. When dealing with a crime, it is easy to take it too far. I keep on asking myself, is this realistic? Will the reader believe this? The books that I have enjoyed the most are those books that leave some of the details unknown and allows the reader to use his imagination.

I recently came across an article in the New York Times from 1891 that captures the essence of what the story I‘m trying to write. It draws the reader in about an unusual event with no evident explanation. It describes an apparent double suicide in the Long Island Sound of a man and a woman with a picnic basket left behind. This is the type of cryptic situation it would be interesting to be a witness to. The link is :

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=940CE3D6123AE533A2575AC0A9679D94609ED7CF .

I have copied the text below:

“A Double Suicide: Drowning of a Man and Woman in Long Island Sound

Bridgeport, Conn, Nov.8 - A double suicide by drowning occurred to-night about three miles outside the harbor. Two persons, a man and a woman, took their own lives by jumping together from a boat.

The Oyster sloop of Huntington, L.I., was entering the harbor around 7:30 o’clock, when the men on board heard cries over the water from the east. That the would-be suicides had repented of their purpose when it was too late is evident by their agonized cries of “Help! Help! Save us!” The night was very calm, and the cries were carried for a great distance. The oyster sloop put out a small boat, and the men in it named McGuire and Larsen, rowed almost half an hour before they came to the wretches struggling the water. They arrived too late, however. When the rescuers were within forty feed of the drowning pair, the woman threw up her hands with a despairing cry, and sane beneath the waves, followed immediately afterward by the man. All that remained above the surface were their hats, which floated on the water above the scene of the disaster. These were unmarked and gave no clue to their owners’ identity. The boatt was also empty, with the exception of a common wickerwork lunch basket.

Reporters were at work trying to clear up the mystery all evening, without success. The suicides will probably always remain a tragic mystery. The case has been referred to the police in this city.”

Another issue that I am confronting is how to reveal what details of the plot at different times. I’m trying to develop two-levels to the story with characters in the present and with some characters in the past using flashblacks. How much should I reveal at each stage?

Plot Ideas….Exploring a criminal plot

I’ve decided that I want to focus on a plot that involves a crime.  The question is how to develop this plot realistically.  I’ve started to develop a timeline that lays out the sequential events of the crime I’m centering my novel around. 

The issue that I keep getting stumped on is how to develop a realistic approach to writing about the actual crime.  How do I realistically portray the motivations of the victim and the perpetrator?  I don’t want to turn

the perpetrator into something less than human. I want to keep this person interesting as a central character in the storyline.  Also, I don’t believe that the victim will be completely innocent in the plot either.

I’ve been googling various key words but with little effect.   I wonder how other authors address this type of challenge of writing about a crime.  Where do they get the details that make it realistic while at the same time keeping the story original and interesting?  What resources do they seek out when they are writing this type of plot-line? 

If there anyone out there that can suggest any ideas, I would be grateful.