(Also, I have been re-reading and re-listening to Pride and Prejudice on a loop, and have been struck by how much of the book is a person trying to imagine the mind and heart of another person, getting it wrong, "owning it" as we say now, then getting it right.)
Right?!?! That's a big part of Emma, too, so Jane Austen was really into that particular thought-and-feeling trajectory. Something else that strikes me every time is how important it's considered to carve out actual time for "solitary reflection." There are several moments where Elizabeth, overwhelmed by all the surprising information and experiences she has to process, is palpably relieved when she can be alone and think everything through. If it were written today she'd be expected to grab her phone, zone out in front of Instagram stories or Tiktok, and push back everything she's feeling. I think a lot of fucked up norms about our current moment could be amended if we collectively paid attention to Jane Austen.
In other words, the answer to "what's the story?" is: "Herein I figure out what happened and what it means." That's all the story you need. If what happened is interesting enough and what it means is true.
I think maybe the ideal reader is you if you didn't know the story and didn't know what you were about to say or where you were about to go. This hypothetical you reads carefully and thoroughly and thoughtfully. If it works for hypothetical you, it will work for other people. But that's secondary, I think.
A problem (IMO) with the whole "write for yourself" vs. "write for an audience" thing is that writing for an audience suggests selling yourself out, while writing for yourself suggests letting yourself off the hook. As in, "If I like it, it's good, so I don't have to make it actually good." But you do (have to make it actually good), because the hypothetical reader you won't stand for that shit. They will call you on it. Because hypothetical reader you will smell a rat. That reader is (must be) a tougher crowd than any other imagined audience.
(Also, I have been re-reading and re-listening to Pride and Prejudice on a loop, and have been struck by how much of the book is a person trying to imagine the mind and heart of another person, getting it wrong, "owning it" as we say now, then getting it right.)
Right?!?! That's a big part of Emma, too, so Jane Austen was really into that particular thought-and-feeling trajectory. Something else that strikes me every time is how important it's considered to carve out actual time for "solitary reflection." There are several moments where Elizabeth, overwhelmed by all the surprising information and experiences she has to process, is palpably relieved when she can be alone and think everything through. If it were written today she'd be expected to grab her phone, zone out in front of Instagram stories or Tiktok, and push back everything she's feeling. I think a lot of fucked up norms about our current moment could be amended if we collectively paid attention to Jane Austen.
In other words, the answer to "what's the story?" is: "Herein I figure out what happened and what it means." That's all the story you need. If what happened is interesting enough and what it means is true.
I think maybe the ideal reader is you if you didn't know the story and didn't know what you were about to say or where you were about to go. This hypothetical you reads carefully and thoroughly and thoughtfully. If it works for hypothetical you, it will work for other people. But that's secondary, I think.
A problem (IMO) with the whole "write for yourself" vs. "write for an audience" thing is that writing for an audience suggests selling yourself out, while writing for yourself suggests letting yourself off the hook. As in, "If I like it, it's good, so I don't have to make it actually good." But you do (have to make it actually good), because the hypothetical reader you won't stand for that shit. They will call you on it. Because hypothetical reader you will smell a rat. That reader is (must be) a tougher crowd than any other imagined audience.