Writing skills - how to learn to write texts correctly. Is a writer a hobby, creativity or a prestigious job? How does a screenwriter work?

In a wide range entrepreneurial activity writing business occupies a special place. There is no need for offices, machines, equipment, or other means of production; The main resource is the human intellect, his knowledge, imagination, and creativity.

The need for communication with the reader, for self-realization and free creativity leads the author to literary work in the most different genres– poetry, fiction, writing novels, detective stories, educational and popular science literature, plays, scripts, children's books.

It often happens that authors write for themselves, “for the table”, realizing their writing talent in a private, private manner. In this case, writing does not go beyond the scope of a hobby and an intellectual pastime. Writer's leisure turns into business when the author has his own readership, with its own preferences, tastes and needs. Markets, which may have different shape– paper media and audiovisual information (see Fig. 1).

Literary work begins to become a writing business when the author has his own consumer, his own readership, ready to pay for a writer’s product - be it novels, poetry, memoirs, plays or film scripts. Thus, we can divide buyers of the original product into two large segments:

1. The author writes for wide range readers, i.e. end consumers. This type of relationship in business is usually called “business to consumer” or B2C;
2. The author writes for intermediate consumers, which are business structures that process and finalize the writer's product, give it a different form, and adjust the content. This, in particular, happens with screenwriters, playwrights and computer games, who write not for end consumers (although this is also possible), but for film companies, theaters, computer companies. Such entrepreneurial activity is classified as “business to business”, B2B.

The literary path can be the main activity of the author or combined with other work. Much depends on the income received from the writing business - if it is significant (like JK Rowling, who became a billionaire after writing and selling the Harry Potter books), then the writer can focus only on his creativity. If the income from the writing business is small, then the author, as a rule, combines literary work with journalism, translations, teaching, hired work and other activities.

Authors enter the writing business in different ways. Some write poetry and novels with young nails, others join it out of duty - such as, for example, scientists, others begin to write already in adulthood or older age, when it appears free time for thoughts, analysis, memories.

It should be noted that the competition in the writing business in almost all segments is truly serious - over 100 thousand book titles are published in Russia in a year alone. And this despite the fact that there are fewer and fewer readers in our country from year to year. According to surveys, about 35% of the Russian population does not read books at all. The same number do this in fits and starts, occasionally.

But it seems to us that everything is not so bad. Times of radical social reforms and economic crises will sooner or later end, life will stabilize, and readers will return to offline and online publications. Extraordinary authors with own style, theme and personality continue to be in demand among the readership. All you need is talent, perseverance and a fair amount of hard work, which, multiplied by each other, determine the final result.

It is not for nothing that we mentioned here high performance, which must be considered in conjunction with such a quality as stress resistance. The pangs of creativity, dissatisfaction with what is written, everything that is hidden from the reader’s view, sometimes reduces the author’s productivity to almost zero. Almost finished chapters are mercilessly destroyed (just as N. Gogol destroyed the second volume under the influence of emotions “ Dead souls"), and the author himself falls into a state of frustration (in this state, 20-year-old M. Gorky shot himself in the chest with a revolver and the world almost lost one of the best Soviet writers).

Most authors put their soul into their works; their books embody philosophical quest, reflections, practical advice, humor and fantasy. Due to this circumstance, authors highly value their work and, as a rule, are very sensitive to criticism of their works. History knows many cases when unflattering reviews of the works of an author forced the latter to abandon literary creativity forever.

Speaking about the difficulties of the writing business, one cannot ignore the fact of mental emptiness after writing one or several works, the inability to concentrate, when one has to write through force, against one’s desire. In this state, E. Hemingway went to the railway station and unloaded the cars, F. Dostoevsky was locked in the room where he wrote “The Gambler,” and his wife set A. Kuprin a mandatory quota of several pages a day.

The positive aspects of the writing business are the following:

- a successfully written literary work brings the author not only a feeling of deep moral satisfaction, but also monetary income, which is higher the greater the reader demand. Entrepreneurship and work for the soul in the writing business are thus very harmoniously combined;

— the author’s ascending career leads to an increase in the recognition of his works, an increase in fame, authority, and influence on the minds and hearts of readers. The author's name becomes a brand that works for its owner, increasing his income and social status.

In recent decades, everything large quantity people want to try their hand at the writing business. And this is quite natural, since unlike other types of entrepreneurial activity this business does not require any one-time capital investments, personnel costs, rental of premises, or purchase of equipment. You don’t even need to officially register as an entrepreneur. Therefore, if the author fails and his works are not in wide demand, then in material terms he will not suffer any losses. Moreover, even in this pessimistic version, the author will acquire writing skills, master the craft, and begin to appreciate other people's literary talents more.

We will talk below about how the work of the author and his co-authors can be organized.

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you often see on paper.
2. Never use a long one where you can get by with a short one.
3. If you can throw away a word, always get rid of it.
4. Never use passive voice when you can use active voice.
5. Never use borrowed words, scientific or professional terms if they can be replaced with vocabulary from everyday language.
6. It's better to break any of these rules than to write something downright barbaric.

1. Make the most of your time stranger so that it does not seem to him wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one hero for whom you want to root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it's just a glass of water.
4. Each sentence should serve one of two purposes: to reveal the character or to move events forward.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your main characters are, treat them horribly; the reader needs to see what they are made of.
7. Write to please only one person. If you open the window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will catch pneumonia.

Modern British writer, very popular among fantasy fans. Moorcock's key work is the multi-volume series about Elric of Melnibone.

1. I borrowed my first rule from Terence Hanbury White, author of The Sword in the Stone and other works about King Arthur. It was like this: read. Read everything you can get your hands on. I always advise people who want to write fantasy, or science, or romance novels, stop reading these genres and pick up everything else: from John Bunyan to Antonia Byatt.
2. Find an author you admire (mine was Conrad) and copy his plots and characters for your own story. Be an artist who imitates a master to learn how to draw.
3. If you're writing plot-driven prose, introduce the main characters and major themes in the first third. You can call it an introduction.
4. Develop themes and characters in the second third - the development of the work.
5. Complete themes, reveal secrets, etc. in the final third - the denouement.
6. Whenever possible, accompany meeting the characters and their philosophizing various actions. This helps maintain dramatic tension.
7. Carrot and Stick: Heroes must be haunted (by obsession or villain) and pursue (ideas, objects, personalities, secrets).

American writer XX century. He became famous for such scandalous works for his time as “Tropic of Cancer”, “Tropic of Capricorn” and “Black Spring”.

1. Work on one thing at a time until you finish.
2. Do not be nervous. Work calmly and joyfully in whatever you do.
3. Act according to plan, not according to your mood. Stop at the appointed time.
4. When, work.
5. Cement a little each day instead of adding more fertilizer.
6. Stay human! Meet people, go places, have drinks if you want.
7. Don't become a draft horse! Work only with pleasure.
8. Depart from the plan if you need to, but come back to it the next day. Focus. Be specific. Eliminate.
9. Forget about the books you want to write. Think only about what you are writing.
10. Write quickly and always. Drawing, music, friends, cinema - all this after work.

One of famous science fiction writers our time. From his pen came such works as “American Gods” and “Stardust.” However, they filmed it.

1. Write.
2. Add word by word. Find the right word, write it down.
3. Finish what you are writing. Whatever it costs you, finish what you start.
4. Put your notes aside. Read them as if you were doing it for the first time. Show your work to friends who like something similar and whose opinion you respect.
5. Remember: when people say something is wrong or doesn't work, they are almost always right. When they explain what exactly is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
6. Correct the mistakes. Remember: you have to let go of the job before it's perfect and start the next one. - this is a pursuit of the horizon. Move on.
7. Laugh at your own jokes.
8. The cardinal rule of writing is that if you create with enough self-confidence, you can do anything. This can also be a rule throughout life. But for writing it is best suited.

Master short prose and a classic of Russian literature that hardly needs any introduction.

1. It is assumed that the writer, in addition to ordinary mental abilities, must have experience behind him. The highest rewards go to people who have gone through fire, water and copper pipes, the lowest - natures untouched and unspoiled.
2. Becoming a writer is very easy. There is no freak who has not found a mate, and there is no nonsense that has not found a suitable reader. Therefore, do not be timid... Place the paper in front of you, pick up a pen and, irritating the captive thought, write.
3. Becoming a writer who is published and read is very difficult. For this: be and have a talent at least the size of a lentil grain. Due to the lack of great talents, small ones are expensive.
4. If you want to write, then do so. Choose a topic first. Here you are given complete freedom. You can use arbitrariness and even arbitrariness. But, so as not to discover America a second time and not to invent gunpowder a second time, avoid topics that have long been worn out.
5. Giving free rein to your imagination, hold your hand. Don't let her chase the number of lines. The shorter and less often you write, the more and more often you are published. Brevity does not spoil matters at all. A stretched eraser erases a pencil no better than an unstretched one.

1. If you are still a child, make sure that. Spend more time on this than on anything else.
2. If you are an adult, try to read your work as a stranger would. Or better yet, how your enemy would read them.
3. Don't exalt your "calling". You can either write good sentences or you can't. There is no such thing as a “writer’s lifestyle.” The only thing that matters is what you leave on the page.
4. Take significant breaks between writing and editing.
5. Write on a computer that is not connected to the Internet.
6. Protect work time and space. Even from the people who matter most to you.
7. Don't confuse honors and achievements.

Biography

American writer, classic science fiction. He wrote under the pseudonym William Elliot. Ray Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 in the town of Waukegan, Illinois, into the family of a minor employee of an electric power company. Father - Leonard Spalding Bradbury - was a descendant of the pioneers who sailed to America from England in 1630. Mother - Marie Esther Moberg, Swedish by birth. Ray's paternal grandfather (Samuel Hinxton Bradbury) and great-grandfather were newspaper publishers. In addition to Ray, the family included a son, Leonard Jr. (born 1916), and a daughter, Elizabeth (born 1926).

The first 12 summers of Ray's life were spent in the town of Waukegan. In 1934, at the height of the Great Depression, the family moved to Los Angeles. I became seriously interested in literature while still at school. The future science fiction writer was not 12 years old when he asked his parents to buy him a children's typewriter, on which he typed his first works. From 9 to 22 years old, he spent all his free time in libraries. By the age of 20, Ray Bradbury was determined to become a writer. At the age of 18, he began selling newspapers on the street - he sold them every day for four years, until literary creativity did not bring him more or less regular income.

In 1938 in Los Angeles, Ray graduated high school. I never managed to get into college. In 1940, individual stories were published in magazines; in 1947, Ray Bradbury's first author's collection, "Dark Carnival", was published. In 1946, 1948, 1954, his stories were included in the anthologies of the best American short stories ("Best American Short Stories"); in 1947 and 1948, Bradbury's works were included in collections of stories that were awarded the. O. Henry (“O. Henry Prize Stories”). In 1950, the science fiction writer gained widespread fame after the release of a collection of related short stories " Martian Chronicles"("The Martian Chronicles").

On September 27, 1947, the wedding of Ray Bradbury and Margaret (Marguerite McClure) took place. From the first day family life and for several years Margaret worked so that her husband could stay at home and work on books, learned four languages, and became a true connoisseur of literature. They lived together all their lives (Margaret died on November 24, 2003). The Bradbury family had 4 daughters: Tina, Ramona, Susan and Alexandra.

Writing activity

In 1937, Bradbury joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction League, which was one of many groups of young writers emerging in America, which was resurgent after the Great Depression. Bradbury's stories began to be published in cheap magazines that published many fantastic prose, often of insufficient quality.

At that time, Bradbury worked a lot, gradually honing his literary skills and forming individual style. In 1939-1940 he published a mimeographed magazine, Futuria Fantasy, in which he first began to think about the future and its dangers. In just two years, four issues of this magazine were published. By 1942, Bradbury finally stopped selling newspapers and switched entirely to literary income, creating up to 52 stories a year. Then Bradbury also actively followed the development of science and technology, visited the World's Fair in Chicago and the World's Fair in New York (1939).

In 1946, in a Los Angeles bookstore, Bradbury met Susana McClure (Maggie), who worked there, who later became the love of his life. On September 27, 1947, Maggie and Ray entered into a marriage that lasted until McClure's death in 2003 and produced four daughters: Bettina, Ramona, Susan and Alexandra. The author's dedication in the novel The Martian Chronicles is addressed to McClure: “To my wife Margaret, with sincere love.”

For the first few years, Maggie worked hard to ensure Ray had the opportunity to be creative. Writing at that time did not bring him much income; the family's total monthly income was about $250, of which Margaret earned half.

Bradbury continued to write stories, the best of which were soon published in the first collection, entitled The Dark Carnival. The publication, however, was received by the public without much interest. Three years later, a collection of “Martian” stories appeared, forming the novel “The Martian Chronicles,” which became Bradbury’s first truly commercially successful literary creation. The writer later admitted that he considered “Chronicles” his best book. When Ray took this collection to New York to the literary agent Don Congdon, he did not even have money for the train: he had to go by bus, and he contacted Congdon exclusively by telephone at the gas station located opposite his house. But on his second trip to New York, Bradbury was met by fans of his work: during a stop in Chicago, they wanted to get an autograph for the first edition of The Martian Chronicles.

- Good afternoon! I have written, prepared, and published several books and publications. I have the ability, experience, and skills to write large texts to order on various topics. With wishes of success, Peter, Moscow.

— People often contact me who want to help me with my writing, namely writing books to order. It's good that there are a lot of people willing to creative activity who are directly related to development and improvement. True, there are no less reasons why I prefer to work independently. I will try to talk about them in this material.

Let's start with the most philosophical one.

Firstly, writing is my path of the Heart (those who have read Carlos Castaneda will understand!), which I must follow on my own, meeting travelers along the way (co-authors, potential clients) who should teach me something. That is, writing a book to order is not entirely a commercial area for me. This is, first of all, my spiritual growth, aimed at numerous insights, insights, experiments, etc.

Let me give you a simple example.

When I decided to change the design of my website and chose this one, my programmer tried to dissuade me for a long time, claiming that it was not corrupt and would not bring success. I answered him like this: “The main thing is that it resonates with my inner world, and everything else is the second and third...” And so it happened. On my way I met exactly those people who shared my point of view and with whom creative path we had to go through some period of time. Writing a book to order cannot be a commercial sphere in the sense in which we are accustomed to seeing a traditional business, because this is not an online store, it is not trading platform for the sale of cosmetics and other products. No. It's pouring here pure creativity! Of course, writers do not feed on air, but the writer who chases money ceases to be a writer. As a result, he may not succeed, either as a writer or as a businessman. Precisely because I am not a businessman, I do not hire third parties to “work” and take orders individually, which will most help me understand certain things.

Secondly, writers are not freelancers. Believe me, not all freelancers are capable of writing a full-fledged book, let alone a completed one. work of art. Just as not all writers will write advertising text that sells. Unfortunately, some who apply treat writers as freelancers: “Oh, it’s cheaper there, I’ll go to him,” forgetting about quality. After all, my individual approach is aimed specifically at the quality of a literary work. Sometimes people ask me to write an autobiographical book in a month to coincide with some high-profile PR event. I immediately say: “No,” because I know perfectly well that good books they are not written in a month. Give me a choice of “three months” of work or “nine months” - perhaps I’ll choose “twelve”. And all for the sake of quality! And for the sake of creativity! Because I want to create for fun! Because the writer puts his soul into his literary work.

Thirdly, writers are a state of mind. That is why I started talking about an individual approach to literary work, because potential client comes to a project with his own idea, plot, characters, and he also comes with his own mood. But if your souls do not unite in creative impulses while writing a book, then write is lost: the client will not get what he wanted, and the writer will remain dissatisfied with his work. That is why I choose an individual approach with two-way traffic. And to attract third parties for me, who will write a book for someone to order or even give a project to someone, is like a crime. No. I am interested in working with a person tet-a-tet, so that only two souls participate in this creative sacrament. Three people are already a team, and I am, fortunately or unfortunately, far from a team person. The word team is alien to me, especially in such a matter as writing a literary work of art.

Memories. From serfdom to the Bolsheviks Wrangel Nikolai Egorovich

Writing activity

Writing activity

I sat at home and wrote. I wanted to write a novel from modern life and worked diligently for several months. One fine day I got ready and left for Terpilitsy - I wanted to see my nanny. In Terpilitsy I continued to write. I wrote during the day and talked to my nanny in the evenings. My friend Kalina was no longer in Terpilitsy. He left the estate shortly before his father’s death and, according to rumors, became an actor somewhere in the south.

Books, like people, have their own destiny. It was the fate of what I wrote not to appear in the light of day. I have written a lot during my life, but only two books were published - one, which I mentioned earlier, in French, the other - “Peter Basmanov and Marina Mnishek, two dramas from the history of the Time of Troubles” 59 *; I also translated the first part of Goethe’s Faust, which was also published on 60*. I wrote because I wanted to, and this activity gave me a feeling of joy and peace with myself. But I never knew how to return to what had already been written - the fate of what I had written did not interest me. I believe that neither I myself nor society have lost anything. My “Marina Mniszech” was unlucky. The drama seemed interesting to the director of the Imperial Theaters I.A. Vsevolozhsky 61*, he offered it to the theater committee, Strepetova 62* was ready to take the role of Maria Mnishek in her benefit performance, but the theater censorship did not approve of the choice. Why? Only Allah knows.

The comedy “Our Augurs” was even less fortunate. This play made fun of our journalists, and I did not foresee any difficulties with it. However, they were not allowed to print it, and the censor, a good-natured and middle-aged man named, if I’m not mistaken, Friedberg 63*, explained why. The censors, according to his explanation, feared that the publication of this play would further strain their relations with journalists, who were already bad.

The story of the translation of Faust was strange. The censor demanded that some passages be “softened.” I decided to talk to the censor of the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee personally. I mentioned that two translations of Faust have already been published 64*.

“I know,” he said. - But the translators agreed to make changes in many places that could cause confusion among the reader.

I didn't want to change anything.

Do I have the right to lodge a complaint with the Minister?

“Complain to anyone,” he said, unexpectedly very rudely. - Just don’t stop me from working more. And believe me, the minister will not help you.

The historian Sergei Tatishchev 65* was a persona grata in the highest government circles and, after listening to my story, advised me to talk with the chief censor Feoktistov 66*, offering to introduce me to him. We agreed to meet for lunch at the English Club on the following Saturday, when other club members usually gathered there, believing that Feoktistov would also be there.

Arriving at the club on Saturday, I asked the manager to leave an empty seat next to me, as I was expecting a friend. After some time, a gentleman I didn’t know approached the table and wanted to sit next to me. I said that the place was taken for Tatishchev.

“He won’t come,” the gentleman quickly answered. - I am from him, he was summoned to Moscow in front of me, where he is leaving this evening.

The gentleman sat down and we began to talk. I was annoyed that Tatishchev could not come, and I asked the gentleman if he knew what Feoktistov looked like and whether he was in the club.

Oh yes, I know him quite well. Do you need it?

I told him about my case and described my conversation with the censor with all the humor available to me.

Yes,” he said, “it is sometimes impossible to reach the censors, as well as everyone else.” But I think your case can be helped.

He took out his business card and wrote a few words on it. The unfamiliar gentleman turned out to be Feoktistov.

The next day I hurried to the censor, who greeted me very hostilely and, instead of greeting me, said that he did not have time for me. The expression on his face changed as soon as I showed him Feoktistov’s card. He called and ordered the secretary who came in to draw up the papers authorizing the publication of Faust.

But the fate of one of my plays still saddens me. Of all the things I wrote, this was probably the only thing I really liked. Catherine the Great was portrayed in the play, although, of course, she did not appear in it as actor, since censorship did not allow depictions of monarchs on stage. I showed it to four friends who served as theater censors to see if it would be passed. They liked the play, and they praised me, saying that there was no reason to ban it, but they did not let the play pass.

Many years later, the Maly Theater wanted to stage this play. I was asked to add a fifth act and make changes to some scenes. The changes spoiled the play, and the fifth act was not a success, and the play was never staged. All this has now lost all meaning, and the play, along with the rest of my archive, was probably burned by the Bolsheviks.