Newbie shout out to Jane Austen, romance writing ‘OG’
‘There’s
nothing special about Shakespeare,’ the joke goes, ‘all he did was take a bunch
of famous sayings and string them together.’
The punch
line being of course, it was ‘The Bard’ who made those sayings famous.
William and
I have a respectful relationship, meeting in high school through The Merchant
of Venice, Hamlet and King Lear. My sister Lahring would be far closer to his
writings however. A masters degree in English and History from Western
University, career selling books, and at least one well-thumbed version of his
complete works, the Riverside Shakespeare in her possession, will do that.
Unlike her, I have not taken in a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in
London, England. However we do trundle off to the Stratford (Ontario) Festival
together annually to share the enjoyment from one of his plays.
‘Old, dead
white dude,’ say some critics, others pointing out he may not have been above
re-writing contemporary playwrights’ works.
‘Old dead
white dude whose timeless truths resonate today as they did in the late 1500s’
at least two of his supporters might respond. That’s not to say we’re married
to the past. We equally enjoyed Andrea Scott’s world premiere of Get That Hope,
the study of a dysfunctional Jamaican-Canadian family based loosely on Eugene
O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Hiro Kanagawa’s ‘Forgiveness’, a
remarkable story of reconciliation.
In that
spirit of trying new things, my wife agreed to vary a steady diet of Christmas
romance movies. We settled on Pride and Prejudice based on the Jane Austen
novel of the same name, figuring anything with Keira Knightley, Judi Dench and
Donald Sutherland in it couldn’t be that bad.
Not only did
we confirm it was better than ‘quite good,’ it wasn’t the departure we had
expected. Lahring has embraced my foray into romance writing with an
appreciated sense of humour, encouragement and advice while continuing to be a
font of knowledge on things literary. You don’t know what you don’t know it
turns out, including her confirmation Ms. Austen was a romance writing OG
(original gangster), featuring the kind of brilliant dialogue which makes her
books ideal candidates for movie adaptation.
And like
Shakespeare - who she was also a great admirer of - the quality of Austen’s
work continues to resonate today.
Staying
truer to original form than Shakespearean adaptations West Side Story (Romeo
and Juliet) or 10 Things I Hate About You (The Taming of the Shrew), the Pride
and Prejudice movie nevertheless underwent change. Austen’s brilliance shines
through, as do principles both foundational to and echoed within modern
romance: characters, one at least often wealthy or powerful who begin as
enemies undergoing personal and character transformation, plot twists and turns
featuring apparently insurmountable obstacles, gradual progression toward
friends and then lovers surviving a late crisis to emerge with the happiest of
endings. Add an interesting setting, sprinkle in a strong supporting cast - and
some quality dialogue - and you’re halfway to a romance novel template.
The best
part is, while Jane was arguably an early ‘be all’, she certainly wasn’t the
‘end all.’ Her work has led or inspired others through subsequent
centuries. Across that time, romance readers may have a reasonable idea where a
story is going, but individual author’s interpretations on how it gets there
means the genre continues to evolve. Respecting the past, but moving forward
into a dynamic future.
Take a look
through BWL’s list of romantic offerings, and I’m confident you’ll find a
writer, characters, setting and plot to your liking. Each will be original and
each will have an author’s unique stamp, an attraction which continues to draw
both new readers - and writers.
The list
includes one ‘newbie’ bearing zero illusion his work will rival Jane Austen’s,
but who has thoroughly enjoyed a journey leading to a first publication.
Sincere thanks are in order to ‘OG Jane’, Jude, Jay and Nancy at BWL and of
course, to anyone considering giving it a read.
I hope you
enjoy it half as much as I have getting it here.
For those
curious to learn more, following is a YouTube link to a 52-second video on my
romance novel, Accountant With Benefits, and also, a link to a guest appearance
on Dick Bourgeois-Doyle’s Dover Writes podcast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F80CS3nDcc
https://soundcloud.com/user-447729085/jeff-tribe-doverwrites
Jane Austin's books have inspired me. I've read them all more than once. I did wnjoy youe book, Great start for a first book.
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