How do we bring the lens of race to a story that seems to resist it?

Austen deploys a miniature version of her main story question to show it in a different light.

The story question is clear: Can two right-thinking people in a sea of fools navigate past their previous heartbreak to come together once more?

Learn how Austen uses point of view to create drama and suspense in a scene without much external action.

See the moment Austen activates a key backstory element to enliven the plot.

Austen provides the dangerous Mrs Clay as a suspenseful subplot, not resolved until the end of the novel.

In which Austen reveals the backstory between Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth.

Learn how Austen uses narrative layers to subtly savage the characters she wants readers to hate.

What can we learn from reading un-novel novels, like Jane Austen’s Persuasion?

Learn how Austen introduces her characters in chapter 1 of Persuasion.

Jane Austen’s Persuasion as comfort reading during a pandemic.

How characters work in the machinery of the novel.

How and why your characters and plot should work together to create a book that readers can’t put down.

How visualizing your readers can help you embrace your creative power and overcome writer’s block.

Why crafting believable, engaging characters is central to writing a successful novel.

What is genre and how can understanding it help you tell the story you want to tell?

Learn how to tackle the first big step of revising your novel: choosing a tool that will help you get an overview of your story.

What’s stopping you from revising your novel?

Many times, when writers think they are revising, they are actually just editing. What’s the difference between the two?

What metaphors can help us understand the purpose and process of revising a book?