Welcome!

Welcome!

About a month ago I decided that I would love to write a novel, and so I set out to learn as much as I could about the creative process. I am still enjoying learning about how to develop characters, plot, setting etc and I am slowly planning my first novel. I have always wanted to write, but never thought I could write a good enough novel to be read by anyone else. Since finding Brandon Sanderson's lectures on youtube my planning and outlining has come on in leaps and bounds (excuse the cliché) so thank you for that Brandon!

You're probably wondering why I decided to call my blog 'Writings of a 21st Century Aesthete', and it does seem pretty pretentious. I love late Victorian poetry and prose, and feel most inspired by the writings of Oscar Wilde, the art (and poetry) of Aubrey Beardsley, and the poetry of Arthur Symons. So in order to help my planning and eventual writing, I thought I would use a blog to write about these fantastic artists! I feel that they are indeed artists, and I aspire to write prose which evokes a similar beauty. The late Victorian aesthetes and decadents appreciated art in a completely unique way, believing that life should imitate art and not the other way round. They sought beauty almost everywhere, and the protagonist of my (soon to be) novel appreciates art and beauty in the same way.

So in this blog I will write about what inspires me, including: late 19th century art, decadent poetry, prose, fairy tales and pre-raphaelite art. There will probably be a whole lot more too about the writing process I will eventually undertake! So thank you for visiting.