Have you ever read a book and thought, "what does that mean?" Not in the sense that a word is difficult, but that the circumstance is outdated.

This is my absolute focus as a writer. When I write something, I do everything I can to make it timeless. Though I know this remains to be seen being as how I haven't posted any new writing yet, but please take my word on this.

Victor Hugo once said, "If a writer wrote only for his time, I would have to break my pen and throw it away." I agree with him. Sometimes I catch myself doing that, and have to remember that if it ever were to get published, it wouldn't be a classic. Classics are timeless, because they center around a virtue. Too many times today, I read a book and it is just an introduction, character development, climax, exposition. Boom, boom, boom.

Yes, there is a certain structure that writing can take, but it's not just elemental. Character, plot, setting, theme, and style can be created by a computer or monkey. Where is the anima? Deal not with just the randomness of today, deal in the constant fundamentals of humanity. In the words of Aristotle, be concerned not "with things as they are, but with things as they might be and ought to be".

The easiest books to read from the past are the ones written on virtues and humanity. There's no history lesson necessary to understand the virtue of individualism or the tendency of man to harness power. Although there are many books set in historical events that I enjoy, they tend to be more difficult. First you have to remember the beliefs of that era, the economic factors, etc, just to understand the circumstances surrounding the characters.

Of course, I know that there are some people who will probably disagree with me on this subject. Art is fickle in the sense that what is beauty to one person is flawed to the next. (Take Picasso for instance.)