Almost at the same time , British critic Q. D. Leavis printed `` Critical Theory of Jane Austen 's Writing '' in Scrutiny in the early 1940s . In there , Leavis argued that Austen was a professional , not an amateur ( untrained ) , writer . Almost simultaneously , influential British critic Q. D. Leavis argued in `` Critical Theory of Jane Austen 's Writing '' , published in Scrutiny in the early 1940s , that Austen was a professional , not an amateur , writer .