Behind the Quill: The Background

One of the most important (and most overlooked) elements of building a fictional world—especially in a shared universe like mine—is background.

Some writers barely touch on it. Others overload their stories with background details that don’t go anywhere. For me, background isn't just pre-story setup; it includes what’s happening off the page during the story and even what happens afterward. Maybe I overthink things (or maybe it’s the ADHD), but that layered structure is part of what makes writing the Austenverse so rewarding for me.

Once I created my shared timeline, I began constructing an Austenverse where everything takes place within the same world, on the same timeline, without changing the original stories. In other words, I created side stories and filled in the blanks, so the characters might coexist and even cross paths without disrupting the canon events. Their interactions are either subtle or unacknowledged, because they simply aren’t relevant to the main character’s growth arc in that particular story.

We have to remember that Austen’s narratives are told from a limited perspective. Her protagonists live in the moment, and the narration follows what matters to them only at that given time. Anything irrelevant to their journey—no matter how interesting—doesn’t appear on the page except in occasional unexplored tidbits of information. That means there’s an entire world operating in the background that we never see.

So, I started layering in those missing details: family connections, overlapping acquaintances, off-page events. I wanted a world where characters could plausibly know one another—or at least have heard of each other—based on shared factors like class, education, family, geography, and social status. Even if those connections don't impact the core plot, they add a level of realism and richness to the world.

Of course, some of these background connections are based on hints and breadcrumbs (the occasional unexplored tidbits of information) left by Austen . Others require a bit of interpretation. For example:

Why is Mr. Collins a Collins and not a Bennet, if he’s inheriting the Longbourn estate?

The entail makes it clear that Collins must be from the male line of the Bennet family. Otherwise, any of the Bennet sisters' future sons (or Mr. Bennet's own sisters' sons) would be next in line. So, why the different surname?

Historically, there were several plausible reasons a man might take his wife’s surname:

• His wife came from a wealthier or more prestigious family.

• She was the last heir of her line and inherited an estate.

• The family wanted their name preserved through marriage.

• Or there was a rift or practical reason to disassociate from his birth name.

In my version, the Collins name entered the line through the final reason listed above added to the fact that his wife's family were their financial benefactors—a detail that doesn’t change canon but helps flesh out the family background.

Similarly, I explored other Bennet relations. The entail to heirs male doesn’t mean Mr. Bennet has no siblings—just that none of them can inherit Longbourn. So:

• Did he have sisters?

• What about aunts, female cousins, or nieces?

• Where are they now?

These questions helped me build a network of connections across the Austenverse.

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Here’s one example (minor spoiler ahead):

In my version, Mrs. Gardiner is the younger sister of Sir John Middleton, which makes her a first cousin to Mrs. Dashwood. This small change creates a meaningful but subtle link between Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice.

In my Austenverse, when Eleanor and Marianne are staying with Mrs. Jennings in London, they visit the Gardiners. But since it’s not part of the core narrative because it isn’t important to their emotional journey, or the romantic plot—it is a small detail that could have feasibly happened without needing to be mentioned and that wouldn't change the original story.

Also, you might as why the Gardiners didn’t help the Dashwood ladies after Mr. Henry Dashwood’s death if they were so closely related: they did (in my Austenverse background). Mrs. Dashwood and Elinor wrote to Mrs. Gardiner about their struggles finding an affordable home on their much limited income. Since the Gardiners' house only has room for one or two guests at a time (likely only one spare room—as seen when the Bennet girls visit), they couldn’t personally take them in. However, Mrs. Gardiner, concerned for her cousins, reached out to her brother, Sir John Middleton, who then invited the Dashwoods to Barton Cottage.

It changes nothing in the Sense and Sensibility canon—but it adds a layer of plausibility to the logistics of how the offer for the cottage came to happen.

And here’s one more: Mr. Gardiner in my version is a cousin of the late Mr. Jennings. They worked in trade together before Mr. Jennings passed away, and it was Mr. Jennings' father who started the business and left it to Mr. Gardiner when he passed, having been predeceased by his son. So, in my story, Mr. Gardiner inherited his business from his uncle-by-marriage.

These details aren't in Austen's text, but they align with what is told and help to thread these stories together more seamlessly.

Background isn’t just filler—it’s what makes the world feel lived in. In a universe as tightly knit as Austen’s, even the unseen connections matter.

Next in the series: The Family Tree