Six Writing Tips From Dark Academia Author Donna Tartt
DONNA TART
Okay, I’ll be honest. I’ve never actually read a Donna Tartt novel. But—I have watched every single interview of this mysterious writer available on YouTube, and since I have a total obsession with learning the ins and outs and very specific details of how famous authors write because success leaves clues, right? Well, I wanted to know everything I could find about the godmother of Dark Academia, whose novel The Secret History seems to be in the midst of every bookstagrammer’s feed I follow online.
Known for her lyrical prose, vivid characterization, and intricate plotting, Donna Tartt’s novels explore themes of morality, identity, and the human condition. Best known for her first and bestselling novel, "The Secret History" (1992), which was both a critical and commercial success and was translated into more than 30 languages; it tells the story of a group of classics students at a New England college who become involved in a murder—thus, is the birth of the Dark Acedemia aesthetic.
Dark Academia has gained massive popularity in recent years, specifically on social and is characterized by a fascination with intellectualism, classical literature, and the arts, as well as an emphasis on darkness, mystery, and nostalgia. Overall, Dark Academia is an aesthetic and a lifestyle that celebrates learning, creativity, and introspection while also embracing the darker aspects of the human experience.
Six Writing Tips From Donna Tartt:
1. “To really be centered and to really work well and to think about the kinds of things that I need to think about, I need to spend large amounts of time alone.”
2. “Everything takes me longer than I expect. It’s the sad truth about life.”
3. “In order for a long piece of work to engage a novelist over an extended period of time, it has to deal with questions that you find very important, that you’re trying to work out.”
4. "The best advice I can give on this is, once it's done, to put it away until you can read it with new eyes."
5. "Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."
6. "It takes a lot of energy and a lot of neuroses to write a novel. If you were really sensible, you'd do something else.