Facts & Tips - Paper & Pens - Wizard Crafts

When one thinks of writing, one automatically thinks of fiction along with libraries and bookshops.

Most writings from the ancient world, whether on tablets or papyrus, detailed mediocre things such as food inventories, temple inventories, tax records, etc. The only “stories” were those pertaining to the gods.

However, fiction started to appear very early. In 8,000 BC, Homer wrote “The Iliad”. While it might contain some semblance of truth, it is highly romanticised, and a fiction based on truth.

During the ancient times up to the middle ages, everything was passed down orally, stories, poems, songs, herb lore etc. These oral traditions were eventually written down by the monks, although how like their original renditions they were is debatable. Stories can change with each telling. Just look at the children's game “Chinese Whispers”.

During the 12th century, a cleric by the name of Geoffrey of Monmouth decided to compile a history of Britain. His offering, named Historia Regum Britanniae, was widely read until the 16th century. It has now been discredited and is reckoned to be mainly myth, However, it is from this book and Geoffrey of Monmouth that we get the tale of King Arthur.

Geoffrey's history was discredited because where there was a gap in his knowledge - and there were plenty of these – Geoffrey made up the information to fill the book. It makes a great work of fiction.

Similarly, a lot of people think they know about monarchs and events because they have read Shakespeare. However, Shakespeare was a playwright. Like Homer, his plays were based on reality, but then grew in the writing, as romance, facts, characters, events and places were added.

In the 18th century true fiction became popular. This was fiction not based on fact. Some well known authors from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries are as follows: Jane Austin, William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Sarah Fielding, Samuel Johnson, Alexander Pope, Mary Wollstonecraft, William Wordsworth, Louis Carroll, Robert Browning, Emily Bronte, Charles Dickins, George Eliot, Mrs, Alfred Gatty, Edward Lear, Rudyard Kipling, Charles Kingsley, Thomas Hardy, Beatrix Potter, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, HG Wells, Agatha Christie etc.

Nowadays, it is said that everyone has a book inside them. Certainly it seems that everyone is writing them. However, not all books written today are a pleasure to read. If the plot is ok the grammar is atrocious. If it is well-written the plot is non-existent. Also, there seems to be hundreds of autobiographies in bookshops (and indeed in charity shops). Just because a person has written a book does not mean it is good, interesting or enjoyable.

I would like to bet that there are some good authors out there, as yet undiscovered. Those that have been working and developing a plot line for years, but have to work all hours to make a living and therefore have no time left to put pen to paper. To these I say, grab a pen, grab a notebook and make your dream come true.

We have a wide range of items in this category so please take a look. These include:-  leather journals; A4 refills; A5 refills; notebooks in A4 and A5 with various bindings; and pens.  Please have a browse through this category and see if anything catches your eye.