Quite often when we begin a story, even as the writer we may have no idea what direction it is going to take. Most of the time, we come up with a story because our imaginations have been suddenly sparked by an image, a situation, or even a feeling; only rarely do we have an…
Whether you’re enthusiastic about it or not, social media has been a huge part of peoples’ lives since the start of the 21st century. And while some of us (or is it just me?) would still prefer the simplicity of a phone call, or—dare I say it—a handwritten letter, our main outlets for communication these…
For centuries, fairytales and folklore have served audiences of all ages as sources of inspiration and grim moral lessons. Writers in recent years have taken some of these stories and re-imagined them, or even turned them completely on their heads in order to bring their timelessness into our modern age. Books like Naomi Novik’s Uprooted and…
One of my writing professors once told the class to “write weirdly about the plain things, and plainly about the weird things.” And within Nocturnal Mind we have frequently commented on the strange beauty of contrast—whether from characters, ideas, settings, or situations. Beautiful songs about death; frightening-looking people having the gentlest souls… These are things…
A garret, or small attic room–commonly defined alongside words like “dismal,” and “wretched”–is a space dedicated to lonely artists and young people reflecting on their lives. It is a room of boxes stuffed with memories; things we’ve outgrown, but haven’t had the heart to say goodbye to. Write a poem in the style of Jo…