tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post822858168500200441..comments2024-03-17T11:17:53.826+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Jane Austen didn't have a Kindle! by Hywela LynKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-88697228483869842822013-01-29T16:13:17.903+00:002013-01-29T16:13:17.903+00:00Hi Lydia - I think you're right about youngste...Hi Lydia - I think you're right about youngsters being made to study her books at the wrong age. <br /><br />I believe Jane actually had an advance for Pride and Prejudice, and although she did have a fairly busy life, especially at the beginning of her writing career, later on, apparently, she had a lot of support from her family who made sure she had enough time for her writing. I think you're right and her brother Edward also supported her financially before she found some success with her writing.Hywela Lynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13789711554354184386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-81649522725008997432013-01-29T15:46:47.560+00:002013-01-29T15:46:47.560+00:00Gosh how blush-making! thank you for mentioning my...Gosh how blush-making! thank you for mentioning my alter ego Lydia Bennet! I'd love to find a way to reach kids reluctantly studying Austen, though it's not really a YA book as such. But I think, maybe like Susan above, many people are put off Jane Austen by being made to study her books for exams when they are the wrong age - books about families and engagements seem very boring to youngsters used to fast-moving films and soaps. Perhaps Austen's like Radio 4, suddenly you grow into it. I love modern technology, write straight onto Word, but for poems I tend to do the first draft in longhand - but can't go much further until I see it on the screen. <br />I think in Jane's time most authors had to pay the publisher to bring them out, I can't remember if she did or got a special deal or a rellie shelled out, poss ber bro Edward? if you read her letters she was actually very busy with domestic life and had to fit writing in, certainly before she became known outside the family, and was quite secretive about it. Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-2532369760110013192013-01-29T14:42:45.630+00:002013-01-29T14:42:45.630+00:00I'm the same, Dennis, I can't read my own ...I'm the same, Dennis, I can't read my own handwriting, and find it much quicker to just compose straight on-screen. I absolutely agree about 'Lydia Bennet's Blog, and the kids on the TV programme last night - they would have got a whole lot more from it than the zombie comic version!Hywela Lynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13789711554354184386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-81809847113276298652013-01-29T14:21:44.940+00:002013-01-29T14:21:44.940+00:00Lovely post, Hywela. I used, by the way, to do al...Lovely post, Hywela. I used, by the way, to do all first drafts longhand but moved to composing straight on to the screen when I realised that not only could nobody else read my handwriting but I couldn't either. There's been a lot of talk about P&P spin-offs, from PD James to zombies, but I haven't seen any mention of Valerie's Lydia Bennet's Blog, which must be the best of the lot and which I, personally, would give to all students studying JA. The kids on TV last night at Chawton could certainly have done with reading it.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-44601586784577388172013-01-29T13:39:46.129+00:002013-01-29T13:39:46.129+00:00Hi Chris, Reb and Susan. Thanks so much for your c...Hi Chris, Reb and Susan. Thanks so much for your comments. I have to say I don't think I could do without modern technology now - and I do remember writing a first draft on a typewriter with a carbon copy, so I would have a spare in case anything happened to the original. Poor Carlyle didn't even have carbon paper!Hywela Lynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13789711554354184386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-12600703396716278142013-01-29T12:08:05.133+00:002013-01-29T12:08:05.133+00:00I can remember revising, when I wrote in long-hand...I can remember revising, when I wrote in long-hand, until I thought I might go mad. And think of Carlyle, rewriting his entire book on the French Revolution from memory because his only copy had been burned. It had to be done, and there was no easier way: so you just got on with it.<br />And Chris, I used to think I disliked Jane Austen until about ten years ago when I was bored, with nothing to read. So I read a Jane Austen - and stap me! She was good. She was funny. I finished the book wondering why I'd ever thought I disliked her.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-9085179589716706432013-01-29T10:26:11.187+00:002013-01-29T10:26:11.187+00:00Interesting question about change in the compositi...Interesting question about change in the composition process. I still write in longhand for all of the first draft. But the computer is a godsend for all subsequent drafts. The better the software, in fact, the easier things get: Office 2010 catching glitches and typos that slipped by when I used Open Office, which I hated. I wonder, though...Now that revision has grown so much simpler, has the proces been rewired to take that into account? I haven't seen much of Dickens' original pages, but I have to guess that he came close to nailing things the first time around--or had an army of secretaries. Going back to the Romans, writers have revised--some till they wore the tablets through. Even so, for longer projects, I'd guess much less, in comparison with us. Your thoughts?glitter noirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11728649916344336118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-45559759871034050012013-01-29T10:03:18.914+00:002013-01-29T10:03:18.914+00:00I'm afraid I'm one of those oddities who d...I'm afraid I'm one of those oddities who doesn't actually like to read Jane Austen. However, I'm full of admiration of her ability to write her book in longhand, I don't think I would ever produce anything if I had to do that. I'm a real child, or should I say oldie, of the technological age, and I love my computer. I love to write on it, I love the ease of editing on it, and all the other benefits. Oh, and I remember with horror having to type out my dissertation for university on a typewriter. It took me longer to type it, plus a fortune in tippex and discarded paper, than it took me to research and write the blasted thing!Chris Longmuirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02488093821886798927noreply@blogger.com