The myths of Mr. Shakespeare!

Becoming a part of William Shakespeare's world is not just learning about his plays and his sonnets, it is also a world of conspiracy theories and hidden messages.
Was he really an actor and a writer from Stratford?
Was it really his sister that did the writing and hid behind the name of her brother?
Was he really Francis Bacon?
Were his plays penned by a group?
Could this group be the Freemasons?
Was William Shakespeare the secret lover of Queen Elizabeth I?

I am a true Shakespearean.
I believe he was William Shakespeare, and that all the conspiracy theories are just that, conspiracy theories. What's more, it's pretty hard to verify or demystify at this point in time, as the plays were written over Four-hundred years ago.
But that does not stop the questioning, some people seem to need the mysteries, and as they need the mysteries the mysteries grow. And here I am, feeling it's up to me to defend the master of words.

We frequently hear about talented people. They are the embodiment of art, or of music, they are natural born actors, they dance like Nurejev, and there are even natural talents in numbers, fashion, mechanics, etc. The funny thing is, they have existed forever. So why should we not believe that a natural writer could be born among the common man? A writer so talented that his work will survive several wars and revolutions, his work will survive the rice and fall of an empire, survive the constant doubt regarding authenticity of the writer himself.
I read this book about all the codes hidden within his writing, especially if one looks at the First Folio (published a few years after Shakespeare's death). In this book it is more than implied that Francis Bacon wrote the stories together with the Freemasons.
It is said that in order to write about all the subjects Shakespeare tackled, he would have to be a man with extensive knowledge about state affairs and about the royal families. How could a mere actor know all this? This is a valid point, and I can feel a certain slant of doubt in my own conviction when this point is presented. He does seem to know an awful lot about matters of state and of warfare, and also about history and about myths from ancient Greece, to mention a few things...
But if he was a learned man, a man who knew the art of reading and writing, he would be able to acquire knowledge, and quite accurate as such, to write correctly. What's more, back in the day when he lived, writing plays and sonnets was a trade, a profession. And things that seems to go above our heads in terms of knowing stuff, would have been common knowledge back then. Today we have to learn what a sonnet is in order to recognize one, and I urge you all to read my entry on the subject. Back then anyone would recognize it simply by hearing one recited. This was, like I said, common knowledge. So without checking my facts here, I think it would be possible to know a lot about the affairs of state, whilst being a simple actor/writer.

It is also said that the stories were, or are so complex that it would have been impossible for one man to write them alone. Hence the theory that it was written by a group of learned men. And since we are speculating, why not imply the Freemasons? Or I could go even further, I could imply the Knights Templar, Illuminati, Area 51, Elvis... Needless to say, I find this silly, "stop that, stop that, this is silly". What could possibly be the point of writing plays under a different name, only to leave behind several clues as to the real identity of the writer? Why not tell the world who you are if it's so important that they know? Leave behind a mace of codes...
And those searching for codes will find them...

Well...
I could say a lot about my
Life in general..
Love and lack of such...
I could go on and on about dreams,
About wishes I have for
Me and for my child...
Reading about my life
Ought to give someone a
Certain satisfaction,
Knowing secrets about a
Stranger....

See how easy that was? This was pretty clear cut, the first letter on each verse are forming a hidden message. However, in this book I read, the man behind these vivid ideas was completely crazy. At least living in a world of conspiracy theories... He would pick out random letters across the pages, forming the so called hidden messages, and this is something you can to to any novel, any written document... I would probably be able to find deeper meaning to a Barbara Cartland novel... So this is silly! Look to the plays and the sonnets for meaning, not to random letters in the first folio.

Then I much more like the theory that William Shakespeare had an affair to the Queen, thus learning all the secrets of state and previous kings and queens.
But I'm certain he was indeed William Shakespeare.

To conclude; the plays are here.
Their existence are the proof that they were, in fact, written. We read, stage and enjoy them still, and probably will for the next Four-hundred years. And whether it was Shakespeare or Bacon is basically irrelevant as someone did write the plays.
However, I choose to believe that William Shakespeare was William Shakespeare, a prodigy of his time, a man who loved a queen, a genius surviving throughout the ages aided by his magical pen, and a true vizard of words.

Harry!

How can I possibly write about a story that has changed me as a person? A story that rejoiced with me in in my moments of glory, a story that has been a safe haven in my deepest despair, a story I'm passing on to my child with all my heart.
So how can I possibly have something new to say about the story that has enticed an entire world?

To be quite honest, I don't think I have something new to say. All the praise and all the bad stuff is out there, and if you by now don't know what I'm talking about, then you've been living in the deepest of forests, or simply don't care for fantasy, and reading this would not swing you either way. The only thing I can bring, that is new, is to tell you how this has affected me, how life altering the reading experience has truly been.

We are obviously talking about Harry Potter by Joanne Kathleen Rowling. Her story about the boy who lived has enchanted an entire world. Seven books, eight films, a lot of franchise, and a Harry Potter world in Disney lands and worlds all over the place. I even hear that the Chinese wrote their own ending when J.K took her time, and I bet everything I own that she has inspired more people than me to write. But what on earth was it with her story that made it reach the far corners of the world?
Harry is a very classic hero. I know this because I'm currently enrolled at a literary study on a university, and the classic protagonist is Harry. He has a hard life, and yet he chose the higher path. The antagonist is the hero's exact opposite in reference to choices. They were both orphans, but Harry's mother died protecting him, Voldemort's mother died in spite of her son, she simply gave up. And this is a major point, I think.

Other than Harry, who obviously is a brilliant character, one of my favorites has been Professor Snape. I liked him from the first book, and even more when his role was interpreted by Alan Rickman, who I think is brilliant and I have been completely in love with him since he was the Sherif of Nottingham. "...I'll cut your heart out with a spoon!"And I never believed he was evil, Snape that is...it turned out I was right, and I love being right.
Just a little sidetrack here, if you now get mad at me for revealing the big, big point in the story (that Snape is a good man throughout the story, throughout his entire life, really), well I simply don't care. As you've had plenty of time to familiarize yourself with the brilliant universe of Harry Potter. And if you now are like my mother, you'll be glad I told you, she reads the ending first (kind of like Harry from "When Harry met Sally", he reads the endings first.

Harry's all over the place here), in case you don't survive before the end is revealed. I don't think my mother reads the ending first for that reason, come to think of it, I think it's just comforting knowing that it will be ok, or not, in the end. I love the surprise, but I get impatient, and read books I like rather fast, and when I get to the end I have missed quite a lot, and often have to read them again, and again, and if it's a book I really really like I'll read it again! All the books in the Harry Potter series has been read at least five times, some of the books more. The last book I've read twenty times, and the ending (the last hundred pages or so) still brings me to tears and make me feel as if I'm part of a world that's wonderful and just after all!

But to get back to the characters, I must say that my favorite character in the story is Sirius Black. And to be honest, he could not be interpreted by anybody else than Gary Oldman, another fabulous actor.
The one time I was completely livid with Rowling was when she killed Sirius.
How could she?
I was seriously mad at her for that, but I see now that I've read the rest, that in order for Harry to go through what he had to go through, he had to be alone (obviously apart form his friends).

I really liked Richard Harris as Dumbledore, mostly because I knew him as Marcus Aurelius from The Gladiator. But when he died and Michael Gambon took his place, I finally felt Dumbledore shone as he does in the books.
Harris' portrait of the vizard is that of a weak old man, and as I think Dumbledore is old, but he's far from weak. I think it's all in the voice. Gambon has a stronger voice. Nothing ill of the dead, I adored Richard Harris, and his son has played bad guy in Fringe... But I think the movies became better when Gambon ascended the stage.
Remember, I do not present facts here, these are my observations, and if I'm offending anyone, I do beg your pardon!

Ralph Fiennes... I always wonder how a man like that would be to live with. Not because I'm that into Ralph Fiennes, but I find it very interesting that actors of his caliber are able to dive so deeply into their own evil sides. How are these men and women in real life?
 Do they get it all out of their systems on set, and are sweet as lambs when home to spend time with their loved ones? I guess, before I start dating James McAvoy, I won't be able to provide you with an answer...And as McAvoy is happily married, and I'm living in Norway, maybe that's an answer I'll never be able to give...maybe!
But these are questions I have.
Take The Joker, Heath Ledger... Did he perhaps dive too far into his psyche? He was one of those natural born actors, and I lament his passing. But did he do too much in the name of art? Or is it only when your sacrifices are big enough that true art can occur?
Most of the writers we learn about at university had some sort of mental disability, and many of them ended up taking their own life.
But then again, J.K. Rowling seems like a well adjusted woman with a healthy mental state... Maybe you can be a genius without having to crash land at the bottom of an abyss first. I hope so, because that means there is room for me as well. I don't claim to have what normal people refer to as a normal mental health...as I imagine stories all the time. To a few of my friends this is weird...and I'm ok with weird. And I'm not considering drastic measures to reach my goal of artistic deliberation. I think I have too many stories to tell :-)

How can I possibly write about a story that has changed me as a person?
I feel I've let my mind wander a bit in this entry, and I'm not sure if I've said anything at all. Should I have given an analysis of the books? That I think there is a strong link to what happened with the Jews in WW2? Should I claim that Harry becomes this Christ-figure, giving his life so that others can live, and in doing so obtaining the ultimate weapon to killing Voldemort?
Should we fear death? And in tricking death could anyone accomplish anything good? It's a natural part of life, death...so why is it so frightening?
"But that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country from whose no born traveller returns puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have than to fly to others that we know not of. Thus conscious does make cowards of us all..." William Shakespeare (Hamlet).

How to be inspired.

All I ever want to do is create stories and in order to do so I have to come up with an idea, and in order to come up with an idea I have to be inspired. That's the general rule, right? It's not always so! Things might happen in the wrong order, I might see a picture and get an entire story from beginning to end, or I might think of a word or a phrase and start writing without quite knowing where I'm going to end up, and I might just want to describe a feeling or a notion and suddenly I have a full novel. So inspiration is extremely varied and tricky stuff to come by. Some might never meet a muse, and some feel they are stumbling in their inspiration all the time. I think I'm somewhere in the middle.

I am on the constant lookout for a good story and I seem to find them on the strangest places. An evening sky, waves crashing to shore, flowers, beautiful music...sounds like something you've heard before? Well, I must admit that my inspiration presents itself in a different manner than all the cliches. I don't think a picture of a lovely white cat in moonlight overlooking a blue inviting and grotesquely romantic waterfall (I actually had this poster on my wall growing up...My brother bullied me about it, I later replaced the cat with Bono!) ever inspired me to write any kind of stories. But I have been known to write a story based on just one picture.
My brother reads a magazine called Classic Rock, and I pick it up when I'm at his place, as I'm into those kinds of things. There was an article about Mötley Crüe. I was stunned by this one picture of Vince Neill, intoxicated to the limit of what any human body can take. Vince Neill is the lead singer. And what surprised and inspired me further is that this was the deal every single night on tour. When he wasn't drinking, he had sex, loads of it! Knowing what I know now, having read The Dirt, I know he lost a daughter and tried to forget by drinking heavily... I believe I would have chosen a similar path had I lost my child, so I can understand... he did eventually pick up the pieces, and is currently screaming for the crüe...

This is obviously not Mötley Crüe, but Matt Bellamy from Muse... And Muse, and their music has given me both inspiration and support to writing many stories. I suspect they'll continue doing so for many years to come.
Not to mention Marillion, I think they are even bigger than Muse, in my mind... They write music for the sublime of my mind... And by this I mean, the part of me that I can't explain.
But, I kept looking at this picture (the one of an intoxicated Vince Neill, remember...), thinking about all the horrid things his body was going through at that moment, and suddenly I was writing, writing as if mad. A screenplay... Looking back at it, I must be honest and admit that the story ended up being a massive load of crap, crashing in all the cliches I try to avoid, and I wouldn't show it to anyone, even if I still had it. But my point is that inspiration can strike where and whenever, one simply have to have a channel open at all times, waiting, ready. And this is not only in reference to writing, this goes for any creative process. Believe me, I've been through a few various areas, painting, drawing, making music, singing, acting, making accessories etc.
I have, however, always been very aware of my ability to imagine and create stories, so that's where I eventually focused my...well, focus!

So where can you look to find inspiration?

If you are an artist, you first have to deduce where you belong, obviously. And if you are a writer, then you have to decide if you write social realistic dramas, or if you wish to engage your imagination to write truly inspiring stories... Was I being a bit general, and perhaps a bit sarcastic in my statement here? I guess I was. I think it's no secret that I need the stories I surround myself with to be of the fantastic kind, even contain a dragon or two. And the social realistic drama is a category I rarely visit. I know, however, that I need to rid myself of my naive look upon life in order to tell better stories. I've concluded that I'm too kind, too into the happy ending. I need to be able to kill my darlings...at least on paper;) And I must write stuff that is able to surprise, even myself. A work in progress, I assure you, and it's not only easy.

 When you know that a story will benefit from entering the dark side, the "Dark Half", only you fear going there... But when I (the few times I did manage the trip to the dark side) did visit the darker corners of my mind, my stories became so much deeper and so much better.

I have, over the years, found a lot of inspiration in films and series, and not only through the male actors...Liv Tyler and Drew Barrymore are two strong and beautiful women I both admire and wish I knew.
I do love other displays of power...and here I'm talking about the ability to entice your audience simply with one look or just being there.

A few actors have that ability, and their being on this planet makes me write all that better. And I might get an idea for a story that has noting to do with the story in which they are performing, and this is a great example of how inspiration can come disguised as entertainment. I'm always looking further than what's right in front of me, at least I wish to do so... Sometimes I'm blinded by that naive spot I told you about, and I have to look deeper... But usually it happens without warning, and I suddenly find myself deep in my own imagination than paying attention to what goes on around me, and I simply love that! I'm sort of there at the moment. I have an idea, just a title really, and my mind wanders off, creating the story, and when I then sit down to write, I will be hard to get to the surface...I just have to finish my exams first!!!

A writer who claims he or she has a writer's block, I have no compassion with what so ever. I believe that writer's block is a fancy way of saying "I can't, or won't be bothered". I know for a fact that inspiration can strike when and wherever, that has been my point throughout this entry. But I also know for a fact that I sometimes have to work hard to find it. And sitting down claiming I have writer's block won't do. I'm blessed with a lot of good ideas, but to tell the story, I have to put in the hard work and the time. I'm also a singer, and if I were to say that my voice isn't working, then I couldn't call myself a singer. I can sing all the time, but sometimes I have to put some effort into it...this is also the case with writing. I know how to tell a story, but sometimes it's hidden, and I have to look deeper...and believe me, I do!!!
James McAvoy... a man I suspect will hold the lead in a few of my coming stories...and should I ever get as far as I wish with my writing, then he will hold the lead, just wait and see!!!