"No--I must keep to my own style & go on in my own Way; And though I may never succeed again in that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other."
-- Jane Austen, in a letter to James Stanier Clarke, April 1, 1816
Can you imagine living in a time when women were shunned for wanting to be writers? For pulling her pen and ink out of her apron pocket and sitting down amidst the chamber pots to jot down ideas, characters and dialogue?
Can you imagine not having a delete key or even -- white out?
Jane Austen is (was?) my kind of woman. Long before it was socially acceptable for women to work, she vowed to make her living "by her pen." When young women were readily marching down the matrimonial aisle to secure a place in society, even if the groom had no place in her heart, Jane Austen thewarted the advances of appropriate suitors and ran off with her true love. OK, she never married him or anyone else, just going to show you that she knew not only her own heart, but her own mind.
Differentiating between the two is hard for us today even with psychology and technology. Austen was a product of her time, yet remains a modern marvel.
Staying true to oneself, in life and in writing is key. Can we be one without being the other? Whether we write fact or fiction, writing reveals our authentic selves, if not at first, then through the process of every writers' eventuality. Because when we're not being true to ourselves, our characters, our readers know -- and we're not fooling them or ourselves.
Jane Austen knew, long ago, that in order to be true to herself she had to follow her own heart in her life and in her work. She found her voice in her works of literary grandeur. We should all be so lucky - so talented - so prolific.
But if we're not - or can only dream to be - finding and maintaining our voice in our writing is a gift we give not only to our friends, family and readers - but to ourselves.
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