Councils for novice authors. Useful tips for the aspiring writer

Aspiring writer- 17 secrets of success:

1. Never leave your very best for last. Reveal yourself immediately, and then see what happens. The better the start, the better the sequel.

2. Opening a paragraph, sentence, line, phrase, word, heading - is the beginning of the most important part of your work. It sets the tone and makes the reader know that you are a commanding writer.

3. The first duty of a writer is to entertain. Readers lose interest with descriptions and abstract philosophy. They want entertainment. But they feel cheated if they don't learn anything while having fun.

4. Show, do not tell or present tendentious.

6. The piece is much more important than anything. Readers (and publishers) care less about skill than content. The question they ask is not “How did you achieve becoming a writer?” But “How well is the work written?”

7. These rules are quite contradictory. This is the nature of rules in art.

8. All entries create conflict. Give quality attention to opposition and good lines. The power of the antagonists must equal the power of the protagonists.

9. Switch frequently. Try sentences of different structure and type. Create a good mix of narratives, descriptions, expositions and dialogues.

10. Be careful with your word. One word, like a drop of iodine in a gallon of water, can change the color of your manuscript.

11. Provide the reader with a conclusion. The last sentences of the story echo something that happened before. Life goes on in a circle. "If in your first chapter there is a pistol, then the book ends with a pistol" (En Rul)

12. Towards the end of the work, the conflict should be resolved. Not necessarily a happy ending.

13. Correct, correct. You will never get a good result on the first try.

14. Avoid excessive use of adjectives and adverbs; trust the accuracy of your nouns and verbs. Verb form: the shorter the better. Avoid passive language, clichés, and clichés.

15. Be interested in every offer. Be concise. Hemingway's first editor at Kansas City Star gave him the following rules: “Use short sentences. Use short paragraphs. Use emphatic English. Be positive. ” Hemingway later said about these tips: "These are the best rules of writing that I have ever known."

16. If you can be misinterpreted, you will.

17. There are no rules for writing well. Anyone who successfully breaks the rules is a true artist. But: first, learn the rules, practice, bring your skill to mastery. "You cannot step over what you do not know." - Sri Nisargadatta Maharai.

• Ask an experienced person for advice. A good mother tongue teacher is a great source of inspiration!
• If you go on a trip, you can meet many people on the plane and get inspiration from them. For example, a man with a beard might be the hero of your book.
• There must be a mystery in the book that the heroes of the book will try to solve! It doesn't have to be a mysterious story, but you can make it so that the characters in the book do not know what is happening, and so that even the readers do not know it.
• Find a secluded and quiet place to find new ideas and concentrate.
• If you see a sad person on the street, ask yourself what could have happened to him and write a story about him. You might see two giggling girls or girls laughing at someone. You can also easily describe this in your book. You don't need to know these people; just pretend you know the circumstances!
• Even if you are young and love to write, you should try to stand out from the competition so that you have a better chance of winning. If you don't win, that's fine. We all have different opinions! But you should review your work and edit it so that you don't repeat mistakes.
• Once you have finished your book, copy it to your computer for easy editing and later publication.
• Make a list of heroes and ideas, and carry the NOTEBOOK with you at all times so you can jot down new ideas!
• When drafting, try to use the “heart, star, dot” format if it's a short story. The heart is your main idea, the stars are the important details, and the dots are examples from the text that support the details.
• If you ask your friends for advice, be careful. Your friend will either say that you wrote an "excellent" book out of loyalty to you and fear of hurting your feelings, or he will say that it is terrible and will be ruthless to your feelings. If your friend says the book is good, ask him why he liked it, what he liked the most, and what he didn't. If a friend says the book is awful, ask him why he thinks so, and if he doesn't give a worthy argument, ignore his comment. If a friend gives a detailed answer, think about what they said to you, because chances are that other readers will think so too. Reader feedback is very important!
• If you're having trouble describing heroes, ask yourself if the heroes have pets, secrets, or what their favorite food and activity is. Get to know them as your best friends!
• Don't worry if you make a mistake, nobody is perfect. Try asking your parents or teachers to review your work.
• Drink plenty of water and eat healthy foods for concentration. Try to eat sweets and chocolate for energy.
• Show your book to a professional editor, and if you want to add illustrations, show it to an illustrator.
• Keep a pen or pencil and notebook with you at all times.
• You must type well.
• As soon as you finish the book, dedicate it to the person you love. For example, "To my friend, Christine."

Some people think that writing a book- a very complex process that only a very talented person can handle. Of course, in order to create a work, you need to have a large amount of knowledge in different areas, a well-developed imagination, willpower, patience and, of course, some kind of skills to express emotions and feelings. If several of these points suit you, I can congratulate you - sit down to the book now. In this article, we will give tips for aspiring writers to help you write your masterpiece.

What to write about?

First you need to think about why you need write a book... What to tell the readers? What idea to push them, etc.? As an example, you can talk about your life, about your profession, well, or about famous personalities. Or, on the contrary, you want to create a fictional world and populate it with fictional characters. Your right. All of these topics are fine for the book. And it doesn't matter at all what you are going to write: prose or poetry. The main thing is to start.

It is necessary to sketch out a plot plan for the future book. Writing a plot plan will keep you from getting confused about the content of your book. It will help, ultimately, to create a coherent text, without plot defects.

How to start creating?

Very simple. Write about what is currently in your mind. At the moment of creation, do not think about how you will arrange the chapters. The main thing is to have a ready-made content at the end. And the rest is a matter of time.

Write, then edit

First, you need to write, completely surrendering to the creative flow and inspiration. Write whatever comes to mind. Even the most banal nonsense. Perhaps the inspiration itself requires it. And after a few days, you can safely sit down and amend the material you have written. The bottom line is that when you try to edit material at the time of creation, you break out of the creative wave, your idea is irretrievably lost.

How not to be distracted from work?

To fully devote yourself to writing a book, you need to create the most comfortable conditions for yourself. Decide what will help you create. Maybe some peace? Pleasant music? Writing in an environment that is pleasing to you will make the creative process a lot of fun.

How not to quit write a literary work? Tell everyone you know that you budding writer that you have begun to create a work and want to finish it at such and such a time. Thus, you will be ashamed in front of yourself for breaking your promise.

How to create interesting?

A lot of stories! Readers love stories from their personal lives. Avoid templates and boring formal speeches! Create your own writing style: your own artistic language, your own rhythmic constructions, and so on.

Where to find inspiration?

Think about whether you need it at all. Take your creativity as a responsibility. Set yourself a schedule: write that many words every day, or something like that. For if you want to create a book only at the moment when inspiration supposedly arose, the process of writing a book will last for many years.

A lot of useful things can be learned by studying advice from famous writers... Who else but a writer can help in writing a book ?!

We are sure that these tips have instructed you to get hold of the pen and sheet. Good luck to you! We will be waiting for your book.

How to get your first book published?

As you know, in order to become an aspiring writer, it is not enough just to write a book. No one will know about your book without readers' criticism. Therefore, you definitely need to publish your work!

Publishing can be assisted by such a printing house as ROLIX. Here you can publish books with a circulation of 10 pieces. Little-known writers are usually offered to make a "pilot" edition with the subsequent possibility of additional printing. This allows you to avoid large financial costs in case it will not be in demand among readers.

It should be borne in mind that the cost of one copy is influenced by:

• The volume of publication in the number of sheets;
• circulation (the larger it is, the lower the cost of 1 copy);
• soft or hard cover;
• paper quality;
• the amount of ink used for printing;
• complexity of layout

The process of book layout and printing can take from 1-2 months to six months. It all depends on the number of illustrations and the complexity of the layout itself. You can print the book. In the same place, you can find a handy calculator that will help you draw up an approximate budget for printing your book.

To learn how to make your new book popular, see the following video:

What can you write a book about? How not to get confused in the plot? Do you need to wait for inspiration to create a truly masterpiece? Almost all young writers are tormented by such questions. The tips for the aspiring writer collected in this article will answer them, encourage them and help them cope with the difficulties that await authors at different stages of their creative life.

8 secrets of writing

Read a lot

To learn how to write books well, you need to read as much as possible. It is never too late to get acquainted with the world classics, to delve into the literary process. Reading different literature, it will become clear to which genres, directions, authors are "drawn" more, and which are generally neutral.

Nor should we neglect the current wave of mainstream readership. What do people read on the subway? What work is talked about more on social networks? It is important to understand what the modern public wants, what literary tendencies are, but not be tempted to borrow the style of a popular author.

Don't wait for inspiration

There is an opinion that one should write books only when a muse comes. This is bad advice for aspiring writers. But what if the muse does not come at all, or comes, but does not wait for the author? Maybe you should put in a little effort?

You need to perceive writing as a job, not a hobby. Surgeons do not wait for a special wave to start the operation, the actors go on stage even with a fever.

Accordingly, having set aside several hours a day for work, it is worth spending them on writing a text. It doesn't matter what - bad, free, detached from the topic. Soon the habit of writing, perseverance, the need for solitude will develop.

It must be remembered that:

• 50 words is a paragraph.
• Another 350 is a page.
• 300 of these pages is already a novel.
• Writing every day is a habit.
• Redoing weak points is an improvement.
• Letting someone read what you've written is feedback.
• You shouldn't be upset when publishers refuse. This is writing.

Create a bank of ideas

Novice authors are concerned about the question of what a work can be written about. All advice to a novice writer is related to him. To close it races and forever, you can create a bank of your own ideas. You need to replenish it every day, archiving any 5 ideas. Write down everything that comes to mind or hooks: a scene seen in a supermarket, a funny incident, an absurd story. Over time, a bank that stores themes will seem like a real treasure of unique ideas. It remains to logically connect the brightest.

Issue a mental map

Branches are drawn from it in different directions. Each of them is an association leading to the main idea. The diagram should be branched off until the picture is complete.

There are many free programs on the Internet that even a beginner can create mind maps with.

If during writing it seems that there is a dead end ahead, the map will become a beacon indicating to the traveler in which direction to move on.

Seek impressions

A lot of advice for aspiring writers that seasoned writers give comes down to recommending to live brightly. What does it mean? Fill your days with live communication with different people, travel more, try new things. Then the created images will become harmonious, and the descriptions of the landscape will become deeper.

All writers need emotions, impressions, events. For example, a young science fiction writer Max Kidruk sits down to write his technotrillers after traveling to different parts of the planet. As he himself admits, the more extreme the trip, the brighter the episode will be written.

Be prepared for obstacles

Unfortunately, creative crises are not a myth, they do happen. Sooner or later, everyone meets them, but you should not be afraid of them, because, having gone through a turning point, we go to a new, higher level.

In addition to fighting with yourself, you should be prepared for the fact that others may not understand the main idea or criticize the image. No one has yet succeeded in pleasing everyone, then why try?

Take Writing Courses

Courses, master classes, trainings are fashionable and useful ways to improve your professional level. Most importantly, they are effective. If, due to employment, it is not possible to attend the classroom or such classes have not yet been opened in the city, you can find an online course on the Internet.

Chatting with like-minded people and getting practical advice for aspiring writers is worth a lot.

Trust yourself

Schemes that have helped others do not always work for us. Then is it necessary to obey them unconditionally? The answer is no. Tips for aspiring writers and tips for everyone to decide for themselves whether to follow them or not.

Opening a blank sheet, the author needs to obey, first of all, his heart, and not the teacher's voice. Trust yourself, not a textbook on literary theory. Almost all famous personalities were innovators. Once they decided to just be themselves and were not mistaken.

• Screenwriter Etgar Keret recommends to start writing the text from the middle. In his opinion, the middle is the most catchy and interesting part of the story. From it, you can develop the plot in both directions, as well as avoid "extra paragraphs" that have to be deleted if you write from the beginning.
• Stephen King, the author of many best-selling books advises to imagine and write for the ideal reader. You cannot please everyone, and the golden mean is never remembered. You can start with a new email - fill in the "To" column and write a few lines.
• American novelist William Faulkner, having become the Nobel Prize winner at 52, discovered several of his secrets of success. He argued that you shouldn't be a writer, you just need to write. This process revives, becomes life itself. Faulkner believed that anyone who can read can be a writer. He also warned against writing for money. After all, where business begins, creativity ends.
• Young but already famous writer Vyacheslav Stavetsky advises to dream more. He believes that Dostoevsky, Marquez, Hemingway became famous all over the world precisely because they dreamed of a new world. And today's pragmatism and prudence, which dominate the heads of writers, do not let them into the world of art.
• Popular author Paulo Coelho cautions novice authors against over-describing their own research or inferences. If you overdo it with "smart" thoughts, then you can get bored with both readers and yourself. Coelho reminds that books are not created in order to demonstrate the level of education. And in order to reveal your inner world.

The New Writing Tips you just learned about are a powerful pill for discouragement or creative crisis. Enlisting the support of well-known authors and gathering your will into a creative fist, soon you yourself will be able to give newcomers your own, proven by experience, advice.

”Was remembered by many. Firstly, Ann managed to tell the story of her life in a very interesting way. Secondly, the book really has a lot of useful tips for writers that can be applied in practice. It would be foolish to believe the advice of a writer whose book has frankly failed or would have been uninteresting.

Finding tips for aspiring writers isn't hard at all. Only on Lifehacker there are already much more of them than. Therefore, I tried to choose the most interesting, and most importantly, previously unknown tips. I had to re-read the book almost a second time, but it was worth it.

You may not always like what you write.

Nine times out of ten, I don't like what I write. When I re-read the drafts and articles that were written on the desk, I feel a little uncomfortable. Unfortunately, there is no other way to get better. In order to improve, you will need to write a lot. And you will not always like the result. This is fine.

Publishing is not as important as many people think

It's like thinking that the tea ceremony is for the sake of tea. In fact, the ceremony is needed for the sake of the ceremony. So it is with writing.

Creativity is necessary for a writer in itself - in order to write. You shouldn't strive to get your book or article published.

Publishing should clearly be on your priority list, but don't put it first. Write for the sake of writing.

Writing well is telling the truth.

It seems that the truth is the easiest to write. After all, it is much more difficult to first come up with something, give it a shape and write. In fact, this is not the case. To write in such a way that it is interesting and understandable to the reader is as difficult as bathing a cat.

If you don't know what to write about, start from childhood.

Write about the very beginning. About the time when you just began to be aware of yourself and the world around you. If your childhood was bad, you will get a dark story, if it was good, you will get a bright and colorful story. However, no matter what your childhood was like, at first the result of your labor will still be terrible, but the main thing is to start.

Anyone who has survived childhood has amassed enough material for the rest of their lives.

Flannery O "Connor

When you start remembering all the details of childhood, there may be so much material that you will not understand how you can write about everything. If so, narrow the scope and write about specific events, time periods, or people.

Sit down to write at the same time every day.

Lamotte says that such a ritual will teach the subconscious to engage in creative activity. Sit down at the table at 9 o'clock in the morning, or at 7 pm, or at 2 o'clock in the morning - whichever you prefer. For the first hour, you will probably just stare at a white sheet of paper or a computer screen like an idiot. Then you will begin to swing from side to side. Then you will want to dig your nose - you shouldn't avoid it. You will begin to crunch your fingers, stretch, pet your cat, bite your nails, or bite your lip. And only then can you possibly start writing. Be patient until this moment.

It is better to write in small portions.

If you are planning an incredible job, then fear of its size can lead to a stupor. Write in small portions. Don't be afraid to take breaks and rest.

Writing a novel is like driving at night. All you see is what the headlights pick out of the darkness, and yet you can go all the way that way.

Edgar Doctorow

You don't have to see the entire road right away - the nearest couple of meters is enough. So it is in writing: do not try to master everything at once, but write in small portions - this way you will not go crazy.

Do not be afraid of disgusting sketches

When you read a book by Stephen King, or Salinger, you think they get stories like this the first time around. But this is not the case. All good writers have their first disgusting sketches. And then the second, third, fourth. Then comes the turn of a passable draft, and only after it comes something sensible.

Almost everyone, even great writers, has a hard time writing. And the only way to start writing is to jot down a weak, disgusting draft.

Perfectionism is the enemy of the writer

The desire to make perfect will haunt you all the time. On the one hand, this is good, on the other, it kills life in the text. Trying to get rid of unnecessary junk, you will scribble, shrink and change the text until it becomes dry and lifeless. Know when to stop.

The author must have

Think about your favorite actors. Each of you will definitely have a couple. You're probably ready to watch even the worst movie if your favorite is filmed there, right? What is really there, you would also watch the weather forecast without stopping, if your favorite actor was driving it.

If your outlook on life coincides with the views of the reader and you manage to express those thoughts that also entered the reader's mind, then it is no longer so important for him what is happening in your book. He will read it anyway.

Try your material on someone

Find a good friend, relative, or colleague and ask them to impartially evaluate what you have written. They don't have to be writers either, because you probably write for ordinary people. It is much easier for an outside eye to see all the flaws and gaps in your text, and they are there, do not hesitate.

Writing well is a useful skill, and it's not that hard to develop. The best way is through "", a free and cool writing course from the editors of Lifehacker. A theory, many examples and homework awaits you. Do it - it will be easier to complete the test task and become our author. Subscribe!