Guest Post - Nusha' on Shakespeare and his influence

Today's wednesday guest post is by Nusha', a very wonderful member of my website - Writer's Haven. Below you will find a beautiful post about the influences of Shakespeare.

To be, or not to be: That is the question.

You probably recognize that from somewhere, right? You probably know it’s a Shakespeare quote. You might not know that it’s from Hamlet, act three; scene one, but now you do.

Could you imagine for a moment, what literature today would be like if Shakespeare had...I don’t know...died from falling off a cliff onto a pile of sharp rocks? We’d have no Macbeth, no Romeo and Juliet, none of his sonnets or other plays to entertain ourselves with. You may not see the importance of that unless you’re a writer, or an avid reader.

It’s been internationally debated on the rank of Shakespeare in the world of literature. Many claim that he is the best; rightly so, what with the obvious proof of his impact on literature today. He’s not just the crotchety old man that wrote plays four hundred years ago; he was a legend, and any writer will agree with that.

Not a day goes by that you don’t quote Shakespeare; you just don’t know you’re doing it. He invented a wide range of words that a commonly used today. ‘Bedroom’, ‘assassination’, ‘bump’, ‘watchdog’ and ‘puke’ are some of the commonly used words of his. The phrase, ‘to laugh it off’ is also his wording. Sarcasm! One of the famous stunts we pull [especially as moody teenagers!] when we’re angry or generally annoyed. We can all thank Mr.S for that lovely new way of expressing negative feelings.

If you’re a writer, it always helps to read the writings of someone who is talented in a area of literature: description, dialogue, plot or character development, etc. Shakespeare was really good at that, just so you know... One major reason that people still go around making movies out of his plays is because people still like them today. And, one major reason that people still like his plays is because one can relate to his plays.

I’m not suggesting that every-day people go around plotting to kill their government leader like Macbeth, or that average passers-by plan to commit suicide for their lovers like Romeo and Juliet. His characters, however, are just so realistic. Trust me, at the end of reading a play of his, you feel like you either want to savagely murder one of the characters with a genuine hatred, or you want to marry another out of pure admiration.

I think it’s the way he wrote his character’s speeches. His dialogue technique is one to admire, and one for every aspiring writer to take a look at and study. [I’m really not suggesting you write your stories in iambic pentameter, though!]. What you should look at, however, is the way he expresses the character’s thoughts and personality development. He really did a fantastic job of expressing their thoughts the way we would. It’s almost like reading exactly what we would do in a situation like that of the character. [This is what almost every writer is trying to achieve!].

If you’re an aspiring writer, or already a writer, you should analyze a few of his popular works, just to see how a professional does it. It’ll help, trust me. He’s a good source for reference when it comes to writing deep, intellectual soliloquies and monologues, as well as one for similes, metaphor and other literary devices.

Now, after going on that little rant about how amazing he was [and still is], I’ve got just a couple suggestions for you. Grab a copy of some of his plays and read them. You’ll thank yourself for doing it later. My second suggestion for you is that when you’re taking a break from reading his pages of wonder and fulfillment, you come back to this young lady’s blog and read what she writes. She’s a good writer, so follow her advice and give her your feedback! Thank you, Tiff, for allowing me to go on a tangent on your beautiful blog! Stay awesome, and read Macbeth.

All’s well that ends well, right?