Looking at William Shakespeare’s works, you will realize that he covered almost all kinds of story that you might think of. From power struggles to love stories, adventures in the wilderness to life at court.

So here are my 5 tips on how to help you write like William Shakespeare.

1. Use historical events and characters 

Write about historical events and characters, or you may consider borrowing plots from your favorite books. If you choose to write about real events, don’t feel the need to be bound by the facts, and be creative, do make up a funny friend for main characters as Shakespeare did with Falstaff for the young Prince Hal in Henry IV Part I.

2. Weave some magic

As what the great Shakespeare wrote in Othello, “There’s magic in the web of it,” so weave some magic into your fairy tale. Wizards, fairies, sprites, and witches can all play their part, whether it’s a little mischievous misadventure as Midsummer Night’s Dream as Puck or something as a little darker as of those haggard witches with their terrible prophecy for Macbeth

3. Add spice to your language

Many words and phrases that are in common usage today can trace their origins back to Shakespeare. So feel free to experiment and invent your new words and phrases. You may even come up with the next “The world’s mine oyster”, or “Blue-eyed red skin monster”.                                                                                             

4. Introduction

Most plots including many of Shakespeare’s, follow a simple relevant formula. Characters are introduced, the set is set and a goal of introducing it. The tension, fun, and climax in a story come when the problem is introduced, one that hinders the characters achieving a goal. Shakespeare introduced all sorts of problems to his characters, from falling in love with a man with a donkey’s face, to separate identical twins at birth, to meeting the three most terrible witches on a moor. Through many twist and turn, ups and down cycle and by the end of his play, it turns out to be sometimes happy and often tragic.

5. Write about love

Well, all stories are almost all about love, love for friends, for family, for lovers, for work, for everything, and etc, it’s up to your choice. Forbidden love is a popular choice, but there’s also jealous love, love-sickness, unrequited love, luckiness in love, or worst of all, ‘death-mark’d love’ as suffered Romeo and Juliet.

Just keep on writing until you achieve your dream to be the next William Shakespeare!