Recipe for Great Writing: Add a Pinch of Shakespeare

I spent about thirty minutes writing this morning, and my ideas were influenced greatly by Shakespeare. Two common plot elements in Shakespearean plays are letters and mistaken identity. Letters, however significant or insignificant, often provide information that somehow drives the plot. Similarly, characters mistaking each other's identity is often critical to plot conflicts and many twists and turns that keep the characters and the audience at attention. There is some kind of letter in every play, whether it is a letter from Fortinbras to Hamlet or a letter seemingly from Olivia to Malvolio. Two plays that are greatly driven by mistaken identity are A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night.

Part of becoming a great writer is to read great writing. In doing so, one can find many great tools for the writer's tool box.