The Shadow Self: Writing Across Genre
Like (I suspect) many other writers, I’m an English teacher by day, and since it’s October, my class is being forced to read one of the great Gothic classics: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
This is not my first time reading the novella, but it is my first time teaching it, which means I’m reading it with entirely new eyes. The story is not without its flaws, but I think the reason it remains so enduring in the literary imagination is its commentary on the duality of man.
To summarize: Dr. Jekyll famously discovers a way to release his shadow self — all of his worst, vilest qualities — and at first seems to do so without suffering any of the consequences of acting out his basest impulses. Of course, that state of things doesn’t last for long, and soon Dr. Jekyll has to deal with the repercussions of unleashing that monstrous other onto society, made worse by the realization that Hyde is essentially taking over his consciousness.
Stevenson’s story endures because almost all of us have our surface persona, our Dr. Jekyll, that face we present to the world that embodies what we want everyone to think of us. Buried underneath it is our shadow self, our Mr. Hyde, those impulses and desires that we don’t want anyone to know about.
My own Jekyll/Hyde tug-of-war has to some degree always existed in my own writing. I was a good student, trustworthy, on the honor roll, class salutatorian, from a religious household, and fairly mild-mannered. The only time I ever really got in trouble in school was when some of my stories were uncovered on the school computer. I’d been writing to entertain my friends – silly, outrageous things – but I jokingly alleged that one of my friends had been having an affair with a teacher. (I remember him as being at death’s door, which made the joke completely ridiculous, but since I was in middle school and my perspective on age was skewed, he was probably only in his 50s or so.) It didn’t end up being a huge deal in the long run, but it taught me an early lesson about my writing: I had to be careful about who saw my work.
I wouldn’t say the incident scarred me for life, or anything, but I’ve always felt there was something a little dangerous about sharing my writing with others. Putting your work out into the world makes you vulnerable; it lets others take a peek in at your own personal Mr. Hyde, those inner doubts and fears and desires and petty grievances and obsessions that swirl around in your mind and take shape in plots and characters.
I’ve come to discover in recent years that I have two fairly distinct writing personas: my Dr. Jekyll self, who writes family friendly, overall non-offensive material that I feel comfortable sharing with my Mormon relatives; and my Mr. Hyde self, who wants to explore all the darkest parts of humanity. These two personas stay relatively self-contained; I feel myself switching in between these modes as needed, and their two worlds very rarely overlap in my fiction.
A better comparison for me personally might even be my Austen self (a little snarky, but overall optimistic about the world) and my Bronte self (wallowing on the moors, dreaming up dark, angry fairy tales). These two personas would never collaborate; they wouldn’t even like each other; and yet they co-exist in my personality and in my writing.
This duality can be a dangerous thing to admit as an author. We’re supposed to fit into an easy, marketable box where we basically write the same type of thing over and over so a reader knows what to expect when they buy one of our books. I’ve never been the kind of reader who only likes to read one genre, though, so I don’t know how I could possibly be expected to write only one style of story.
All of this is basically a very long-winded way to explain why I will be writing under two different names. I don’t want to confuse anyone who’s been kind enough to follow me on my writing journey; if you open a book expecting a quirky mystery and get a flesh-eating monster, I understand it can be a bit jarring.
So for future reference, for anyone who’s paying attention, my Austen self will be writing as Elizabeth Gilliland. Elizabeth Gilliland is the author of the Austen University Mysteries, a humorous modern-day retelling of Austen’s novels with some crime thrown in. (Okay, there might be just a LITTLE overlap from my Bronte self in there…Who doesn’t love a good murder?)
My Bronte self, E. Gilliland, is the author of the standalone Gothic horror novel, Come One, Come All, filled with evil circuses, ghost owls, and ancient monsters. Her mind is a very dark, morbid place, and you can usually find her in the months of about August through October.
Writing across genre can be a tricky endeavor for even really established authors, but some have managed it. The great Agatha Christie also wrote romance (as Mary Westmacott); famed fantasy novelist Neil Gaiman also writes a children’s series about an adorable Panda named Chu; and J.K. Rowling dabbled in literary fiction after Harry Potter before moving on to mystery.
I’m not trying to put myself into the same category as any of these authors, by any stretch of the imagination, but since I’ve always known that I have this double nature in writing, I wanted to establish very early that this was the case. If Elizabeth Gilliland was going to have her debut novel come out in 2022, then E. Gilliland better get her name out there, too. They are both a part of me and my writing, and I’ve had to learn to embrace that.
If you’re interested in meeting either of my writer personas, check out my books below. I’d also love to hear in the comments if anyone else has split personalities with their writing – especially if you have a specific nickname or author pairing for your dual personas!
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E. Gilliland (aka, the Bronte self) mostly believes in ghosts and other supernatural spooks, but she has a standing agreement with them to keep a respectful distance. When she isn’t writing, she is most likely sneaking classic Gothic novels into her class curriculum, or arguing why we need to value adaptations as art. She is also the author of the Austen University Mysteries, and she lives in Alabama with her husband and son.
Check out Come One, Come All HERE (debuting October 18th)
Elizabeth Gilliland (aka, the Austen self) has taught for eight years and puts as much Austen into her syllabi as she can get away with. In 2018, she completed her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, where she wrote her dissertation on Jane Austen adaptations and fever-dreamed this series in a caffeine-induced haze. She is a proud member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, and excerpts of the Austen University series have won awards through JASNA and Jane Austen & Co/The Jane Austen Summer Program. She lives in Alabama with her husband and son.
Check out What Happened on Box Hill (book one of the Austen University Mysteries) HERE
