Writing skills - how to learn to write texts correctly. Example usage for Illusion

What will the book give you?. After reading, you will easily select the right words, feel your native speech on an intuitive level, and still be able to bypass tautologies and clichés on autopilot.

Description. Nora Gal is an almost unattainable standard. She became the idol of millions of writers, editors and translators. In her book The Word Living and Dead, the Soviet literary icon analyzes the typical mistakes of novice and professional authors using specific examples.

Nora Gal stands up for the preservation of the purity of the Russian language, the eradication of borrowed words and phrases in texts. I won’t argue, from time to time she goes too far, as, for example, with the adaptation of proper names. However, in the amount of useful advice, minor controversial points dissolve without a trace.

2. “Alive like life”, Korney Chukovsky

What will the book give you?. It will help develop a sense of proportion and form an excellent literary taste. It will discourage any desire to use ossified linguistic forms.

Description. Although the book-reflection of Korney Chukovsky "Alive as Life" was first published back in 1962, it still has not lost its relevance. The children's writer, in the course of analyzing the problems of Russian literature, comes to the conclusion that the lion's share of them arises due to the dominance of bureaucratic turns. The stationery is especially dangerous when targeting a young reader.

3. "High Art", Korney Chukovsky

What will the book give you?. "High Art" will be of help to all translators without exception. The author in a humorous form gives valuable advice to avoid annoying oversights and keep the emotional message of the original intact.

Description. As such, the book does not have a logical structure, but it is not positioned as a classic textbook. There are separate sections on vocabulary, rhythm and syntax. The specifics of translation, both prose and poems, are considered in detail. The blunders of famous translators are ridiculed incredibly well, and examples of good and bad adaptations are also given.

4. How to Write Books by Stephen King

What will the book give you?. Stephen King will tell you what skills you need to develop so that your works become bestsellers and enter the golden fund of the genre.

Description. The King of Horror is one of the most productive writers. His daily norm is 2000 words. He works every day, regardless of the physical condition and the presence of inspiration. An interesting fact is that King created some of the most popular works while intoxicated. The meter admits that he does not remember at all how he wrote "Tommynockers", "Misery" and "It".

A responsible approach distinguishes a professional from an amateur. The author urges to treat writing as a job and not be afraid to get it right. Stephen King, without a shadow of sarcasm, says that only through tireless work and constant correction of one's own mistakes can one learn something new, find out the strengths and weaknesses of one's talent. He talks about the importance of prioritization. For example, creating an atmosphere is much more important than carefully drawing the appearance of the characters, although you should not forget about it.

5. "How to Write Well" by William Zinser

What will the book give you?. Following the advice of William Zinsser, you will gain independence from the genre and be able to write on any topic without much difficulty. The author gives practical methods that allow you to come close to perfection.

Description. The book "How to Write Well" is fundamentally different from other similar manuals. It is completely devoid of romanticism and winged inserts introduced "for greater literary content." William Zinsser approaches the creation of texts quite pragmatically. The author touches upon the painful topic of bureaucratic thought-explanation, describes techniques for increasing readability and improving perception. Zinsser conjures to refuse to belittle the reader and recommends giving explanations, and not pouring terminology.

6. "50 Writing Techniques" by Roy Clark

What will the book give you?. It will help to find a unique author's style, adequately perceive criticism and polish the craftsmanship to a copper sheen.

Description. Each section has a small volume, the maximum size does not exceed 850-900 words. Water and lyrical digressions are completely absent. At first, a specific problem is set, and as you read the text, you already understand how to solve it. Thanks to brevity, information is recorded on the subcortex instantly. After each chapter, there is a workshop designed to better assimilate the material covered.

7. "School of Literary Excellence", Jurgen Wolf

What will the book give you?. You will learn about all stages of creating a literary work, from the inception of an idea to publication and promotion. Learn how to build a story in an interesting and logical way, keep the reader's attention and overcome obstacles that arise on the way to worldwide recognition.

Description. Jurgen Wolf focuses on commercial success. From the height of the past years and accumulated experience, he gives the characteristics of the main categories of readers. It is important not only to write good books, but also to select topics that take into account the interests of the target audience. The writer must learn the skill of selling his talent at the best possible rates, not shunning television appearances and media advertising.

8. Internet news journalism, Alexander Amzin

What will the book give you?. You will learn how to write catchy headlines, structure Internet content, learn how to work with blogs and monitor press releases.

Description. Good news starts from the headline. The same statement is true for all content published on the web. The reader needs to be as interested as possible so that he clicks on the link. Under the disclosure of the issue of attracting the attention of the audience in the book, many pages are allotted. The latest trends that dominate the field of news journalism are also considered.

9. Zen in the Art of Book Writing by Ray Bradbury

What will the book give you?. You will understand how the plot is born, what is needed for the emergence of the idea and how to curb the wayward Muse.

Description. Ray Bradbury's discussion of the nature of creativity provides a lot of useful information. The author will share with the reader exactly how certain of his works were created. He will describe in detail his ways of dealing with the lack of inspiration. The highlight of Zen in the Art of Bookwriting is its simple style. Sometimes you get the impression that you are sitting in a cozy kitchenette and drinking tea in the company of a famous science fiction writer.

10. "Handbook of Spelling and Literary Editing" and "Universal Guide to the Russian Language. Spelling. Punctuation. Practical style, Dietmar Rosenthal

What will the book give you?. You will receive comprehensive answers to all questions related to punctuation, spelling, style. You will understand how to edit works of art and how to bring even the most disgusting text to mind.

Description. Dietmar Rosenthal's Handbooks should become desktop guides for every self-respecting writer. You are obliged to keep them at the head of the bed and reread before going to bed, like the Bible.

The books presented in the selection will be guiding stars, illuminating the thorny path to literary glory. I sincerely hope that they will help you get up a notch and make amazing progress in your chosen field of activity.

Perhaps everyone who had to write essays, summaries, abstracts and essays at school tried to engage in writing. But are you ready now to try to write an interesting article, a big letter with a business proposal, not to mention a whole book? If you have landed on this page, then you probably would like to improve your writing skills: the ability to easily create competent, beautiful texts.

For most people, writing even a small text is difficult. These difficulties can be of different nature. For example, one person lacks the banal desire and willpower to just sit down and start writing something. Another would like to, but it is difficult to decide on the topic or find the right words. The third one can write a lot, but then he notices that in his text a large number of errors.

All these problems are connected not so much with our innate abilities, but with the knowledge and skills that our parents, teachers and teachers instilled in us. Unfortunately, in schools and universities there are rarely any subjects or lessons that tell at least to some extent how to learn how to write correctly.

This course of online lessons has collected useful tips to help aspiring writers. In the lessons of this training, you will learn what the art of writing is, or as it is now fashionable to call it, copywriting, you will be able to master the basic skills of writing. This course is focused primarily on practical knowledge that will help you show exactly your talent and your creativity.

What is writing skill?

(writing, writing, copywriting, literary activity) is a human activity to create verbal works intended for reading by other people.

All people who can write with a pen or type on a computer possess writing abilities to varying degrees. Naturally, each of these abilities are developed to varying degrees. However, not everyone is a writer. A real writer is a person who can write a good text that is interesting to readers.

If a person simply writes uninteresting and meaningless texts to anyone, this type of writing is called graphomania , and the authors themselves graphomaniacs. Today on the Internet you can find a lot of graphomaniacs. This is due to the fact that people are trying to make texts focused not on readers, but on search engine algorithms. In addition, the process of popularization of graphomania is provoked by the readers (users) themselves. Think back to when you read an article cover to cover. Most likely, in most cases, you simply view (scan) the texts on the pages of websites "diagonally", trying to quickly find the information you need. And if there is no demand for good texts, then there is no supply of those.

In our course we will talk about a different kind of writing, the fruits of which are interesting and useful to readers.

Applying the Writing Skill

The ability to write beautifully, logically and competently is a skill that is useful to almost every modern person. Every day we write letters, communicate with colleagues and friends through mail and social networks. In our messages, we express thoughts, address the addressee with a request, or describe some events. Competent written speech in this case can serve as an excellent assistant in career growth and business relationships.

And even if you do not plan to become famous through your works, the letter can be useful to you personally. For example, you can keep a diary and reflect your interesting thoughts in it, this will help put things in order in your head, structure important ideas, plans and upcoming tasks.

How to learn to write?

Writing skill is complex skill consisting of various knowledge and skills. Firstly, in order to become a real writer, it is important to be sufficiently educated and diversified person. At a minimum, you need to be clear about what you want to tell your readers and why it will be important and useful for them. Secondly, you cannot do without motivation and a strong desire to create a new work, because writing requires a lot of time and effort. Are you ready for this? Thirdly, you must know the rules of the language, or in other words, the rules of writing, which will allow you to convey your ideas to readers as intelligibly as possible.

Among the most necessary attributes that will help you become a good writer are the following:

1. Well-read and educated, good education.
2. Motivation, a strong desire to write, diligence and perseverance.
3. Extensive active vocabulary.
4. Literacy, knowledge of the rules of the Russian language.
5. Harmoniously developed logical and creative types of thinking.
6. Knowledge of genre, style and structural features of written speech.

In addition, writers often say that something elusive, related to morality, life ideals, creative inspiration, or perhaps a divine gift, helps a work to come into being.

For example, Richard Bach claims that his most famous story, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, was literally "dictated from above" to him. And those who have also read other works by Bach must have noticed the stark contrast between his traditional stories and the deeply metaphorical Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

In this regard, the question arises:

Is it possible to learn the art of writing at all?

How to take classes

In the lessons of our training you will find background information, as well as useful tips and exercises for mastering all the important writing skills that can be learned. The speed and effectiveness of the development of each of the presented skills is individual for different people. Therefore, it is impossible to say how much time each lesson or the entire course will take you.

1. In order not to miss anything, try to familiarize yourself with all the lessons.
2. Try to identify your main problems and solve them by understanding in more detail in the relevant lessons, performing exercises, following the necessary recommendations.
3. An important component of each lesson is practice, so be sure to try to apply what you learn in your writing.
4. Test your writing on experienced, objective readers who won't be shy about saying what they really think of your creations.
5. Try to write constantly and do not abandon this matter, otherwise both the muse and the good style will come to you as rarely and irregularly as you do to them.

Books and textbooks

Writing is not something that can be learned once and for all. The ability to write texts must be constantly improved, otherwise it will fade away. The writer needs to permanently maintain his shape: read a lot, write a lot, and also study specialized literature on writing. On this page we have listed a number of popular books and textbooks on writing and writing skills.

• Stephen King How to Write a Book
• Yuri Nikitin "How to become a writer"
• Umberto Eco "How to write a thesis", as well as a number of other works
• Dietmar Rosenthal "Collection of exercises in the Russian language"

Quotes from writers about authorship

In order to help you find creative inspiration, we have collected quotes from successful famous literary (and not only) figures containing advice on dealing with various writing problems:

Write freely and as fast as you can to get everything on paper. Never edit or rewrite until you put an end to it. Rewriting in progress is usually nothing more than an excuse not to move forward. It also prevents the free flow of thought and rhythm that comes only from unconscious work with the material.

Our enemies can be more useful to us than our friends, for friends often forgive us our weaknesses, while enemies usually mark them and draw our attention to them. Don't disregard the judgment of your enemies.

One must write poetry every day, just as a violinist or pianist must certainly play his instrument for several hours every day without gaps. Otherwise, your talent will inevitably become scarce, dry up, like a well from which no water is taken for a long time.

A real writer is like an ancient prophet: he sees more clearly than ordinary people.

People who can think can also write. And those who suffer from a low level of intelligence write the same memoirs, letters and speeches. The ability to write well is not a natural gift. This can be learned. Write the way you speak: naturally... Try to express your thoughts simply, without pretensions to being too intellectual... If you are working on something very important, then ask friends or colleagues to express their opinion about your work.

With the development of new media, the possession of a word has ceased to be the prerogative of professional writers, journalists and playwrights - it has become in demand by everyone who seeks to convey information clearly and captivatingly in text form, no matter whether it is preparing bright speeches, posts on social networks or personal records. blogs. This T&P selection includes books that will be equally useful for those who want to get more pleasure from reading and watching films, and for those who want to develop in the field of professional literary activity - to write their own film script, novel or short story.

A million dollar story. Master class for screenwriters, writers and not only

Robert McKee

Typically, Robert Mackey, Christopher Vogler, Sid Field and John Truby are referred to as the so-called "screenwriting gurus" - famous consultants whose books have acquired cult status. McKee's famous work is billed as a primer on screenwriting, but not just for screenwriters. The original title (“Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting”) is reminiscent of the title page of a doctoral dissertation and generally reflects a fundamental approach to the way a compelling story is written. McKee draws on the classics of philosophy, anthropology and folklore, using his own experience in Hollywood and fragments of famous films as illustrative examples. Thanks to "History ...", you can learn to highlight the key points in building and writing a script: distinguish between genres, build conflicts of different types, prescribe scenes and attract hidden ideas. The book is distinguished by a well-developed structure that can give young screenwriters and writers who are eager to convey their ideas to viewers and readers the necessary foundation.

How to make a good script great

Linda Seger

One of the most important writers' guides, developed by a script consultant and blogger at The Huffington Post. This is a rare book that seamlessly combines the necessary theory with concrete examples: Seger gives practical advice on creating the structure of a script, working with motivation, action and determining the purpose of the characters, analyzes the main types of conflicts and how to create them. She guides the reader and provides the necessary dramatic background and, at the right moments, offers to answer key questions about her own story.

The Art of Drama

Lajos Egri

It is no coincidence that Lajos Egri's book is included in the obligatory library of a screenwriter and writer and has the status of one of the classic works that have not lost their practical value. The fact is that the author's advice is extremely specific and relates to the entire writing process: from the search for the necessary premise that precedes the creation of the work, and outlining the characters of the characters (with the help of a series of questions that help create lively and convincing images), to attention to the harmony of tempo storytelling and idea generation in general. Since the book is addressed primarily to theatrical playwrights, it is obvious that almost all examples are taken from classical drama - from ancient tragedies to plays of the 20th century.

Cinema between hell and heaven

Alexander Mitta

The work of Alexander Mitta can be called the most famous textbook on screenwriting in Russian. The text is distinguished by a very simple, ironic language of presentation and is filled with numerous examples of details from cult Hollywood films and the director's own experience, while at the necessary moments Mitta refers to the centuries-old principles of dramaturgy, archetypal plots and draws on philosophical knowledge, anthropology and philosophy to explain certain methods of influence stories to the viewer. This book will be useful not only to the screenwriter or moviegoer, but also to the author of any works, as Mitta explores the very principle of creating fascinating stories that can form the basis of a bright and catchy plot.

How to write a great novel

James N. Frey

The books in this series are distinguished by a clear craft approach to the very process of writing and are addressed rather than to artists and romantics who consider themselves freelance writers, but to those who want to create high-quality mass works for contemporaries. The books themselves are pocket-sized (which did not allow the author to overload them with unnecessary descriptions of mythical success stories), the examples are specific and taken mainly from their own experience. The book about creating a detective story is especially worth noting - in it, Frey not only gives advice on working with a draft, but also explains the specifics of the genre, expressed in creating characters and building an exciting plot. In most cases, the author talks specifically about genre literature, which partly removes the burden of torment about the artistic value of the first experiments from the shoulders of the novice author. Frey's works are written in simple language and contain references to fundamental classical works in the field of dramaturgy and literary criticism (mainly Lajos Egri's Dramaturgy).

School of literary skill. From concept to publication

Jurgen Wolf

Despite the fact that Wolff's book overlaps with Frey's ideas in many respects, it touches large quantity important aspects: we are talking about psychological characteristics - various fears that torment beginners, the problems of choosing a genre and method of narration that are adequate to their character and temperament. The author argues that a thorough analysis of individual skills and professional knowledge can give rise to a number of ideas for future work and become one of the sources of inspiration. In each chapter, Wolf offers interesting exercises to reinforce theory and demonstrates specific techniques for developing writing skills - from finding plots to writing a draft, creating memorable images and working with style.

The art of fiction. A guide for writers and readers

Ayn Rand

For the English word "fiction" (fiction in general), the translators have chosen the unequal Russian equivalent of "fiction", which evokes associations with cheap paperback detective stories. But in her book, the famous writer and philosopher Ayn Rand reflects on the creation of literary works (using the example of her own works and classic works such as the novel) and summarizes her own writing, teaching and reading experience: in order to become a good writer, you first need to develop reading skills. skill by making the reading process analytical. Rand gives advice on finding a theme and plot development, on building conflict and stylistic devices - metaphors, dialectisms and slang (perhaps because of this the book is best read in the original). It is worth making an adjustment for the author's pronounced position: this is not a systematically verified textbook, but a subjective, but bright and useful master class.

Psychology for Screenwriters: Building Conflict in a Story

William Indick

While this book is intended for screenwriters and film critics, it can help writers: through the lens of character interaction, William Indick looks at key ways to build conflict. The number of fans and critics of his approach is divided in half due to the obvious psychoanalytic orientation (which is stated in the title) - the book should not be opened to those to whom the concepts of "super-ego", "Id" and "Oedipus complex" seem to be worn out frames, only limiting the creative freedom. On the whole, Psychology for Screenwriters proves to be a useful collection of illustrative examples (with tables and graphs) of using psychoanalysis as a working model for building conflict in a story and creating strong characterizations.

How to write books. Memoirs of a craft

Stephen King

Stephen King's book is built on his personal memories and resembles a good friend and mentor for a young author: the writer talks about his own life (his childhood, his loved ones, experienced a car accident), his writing path and his professional everyday life. Although King does not offer ready-made recipes for creating bestsellers, and practical advice is rare and addressed mainly to an American audience, the very method of immersing yourself in the space of memory and memories, in the spirit of Marcel Proust, captivates with its frankness and can serve as a source of ideas and vivid images that the reader usually calls "live".

Genius to order

Mark Levy

Mark Levy argues that through literary work one can solve personal problems, learn to write texts faster, ignoring the lack of inspiration: he demonstrates the method of "freewriting" - the ubiquitous creativity needed in many areas of modern life. The main feature of this method is the acquisition of the habit of writing, as well as the therapeutic effect accompanying this process: Levy focuses on overcoming the blindness of consciousness and freeing thinking from blocks and clichés. Most likely, the book will be of the greatest benefit to novice authors and those who have developed a difficult relationship with words - those who want to overcome the fear of a blank sheet, lack of ideas and feelings of self-doubt.

There is a fixed expression: everything that has ever happened should become a book. From time immemorial, people have recorded history behind them - invented and real, speaking in literary language and describing only dry facts. And the more accessible the letter became, the more massively it was used, receiving more and more freedom and creative expression from century to century.

The word "blog" is no longer surprising. It seems that everyone is leading them. Someone writes often, someone writes less often, but social networks somehow organize the posts, arrange them and structure them into one whole, whether it's your personal page or thematic posts in the community. Simply put, if you have a barely active page on the social network, then you can rightfully be considered a writer. But what?

This is where the most interesting lies. Given the fact that many, if not all, write, few really know how to write. A staggeringly small number of frequent writers think about perfecting their craft. Not just to write more competently or more interestingly, but to create texts like a professional writer, with full awareness of the meaning of using a great and powerful word. Therefore, for those who write regularly, we strongly advise you to become a real pro. This will not only expand and improve the presentation of the author himself, but also, little by little, raise the general level of the culture of writing. And this will already be an impressive milestone in the new history.

Creative Writing School

Briefly "about": Literary workshops of the Creative Writing School were founded by the writer Maya Kucherskaya and the philologist Natalya Osipova. The concept of the school is based on creative writing programs used in American and European universities. All workshop developments are unique and created specifically for the Creative Writing School.

Courses:“Gloss like a human: how to write columns for women's magazines”, “Storytelling: how to write entertainingly?”, “How to write witty? The search for wit: from poetic epigrams to book reviews, etc.

Duration: from 10 weeks to a one-day intensive.

Price: from 4000 rub.

School of editors in Artyom Gorbunov's design bureau

Briefly "about": w cola puts training on stream and gives a ticket to the profession to domestic editors with clear life guidelines. School partners allocate jobs for the best students. Review and selection of interns takes place on the defense of the final work.

Program: text and editing, typography and layout, interface and information, negotiations and relationships, design and law, management and results.

Duration: y The curriculum consists of three levels and lasts one academic year.

Price: 40,000 rubles / step.

Courses “Punctum”

Briefly "about":"P unctum” is a small free cultural center where various events are held daily: lectures, shows, seminars, concerts, exhibitions. The main direction is humanitarian knowledge: philosophy, art, culture, languages, music, cinema, as well as workshops where you can learn specific skills: draw, create beautiful texts, speak dead languages, play the guitar and so on.

Courses:"Workshop of the Artistic Word: Create a Hero", express course by Olga Gavrilina "Workshop of the Text: from Conception to Realization", "Landscape with an Iron or Creative Screenwriting as It Is".

Duration: from 1 lesson.

Price: from 2500 rub. class.

Writing-school

Briefly "about": " The Writing-School.ru School of Writing is aimed at both beginners and established authors - prose writers, poets, screenwriters, playwrights, etc. The school is currently under development, but educational materials are already available for study. It is planned to publish both the author's courses of the school and courses of other specialists.

Courses: James Patterson: "Lessons in Writing", "I Want to Become a Writer: The Beginning of Beginnings", "Conscious Writing".

Duration: Courses are conducted online, materials are available on the website.

Price: from 1250 rub. well.

Online courses at Free Publicity School

Briefly "about": Free Publicity School conducts online courses and trainings that help to realize the inner need of a person - the need to express oneself in the world. Since 2014, more than 20 courses have been held, graduates of which are published in such publications as Forbes, Psychologies, Lifehacker, Life is Interesting!, Happy Parents and many others.

Courses:“Conscious Writing Course”, “Strong Text”, “I Write a Book Every Day”, “Personal Brand”, etc.

Duration: 10 days.

Price: from 10 000 rub.

Courses at the International Union of Writers

Briefly "about": The International Union of Writers (International Union of Writers, Poets, Authors, Playwrights and Journalists) is the world's largest organization of professional writers. The union was founded in 1954. Until recently, the headquarters of the organization was in Paris, in this moment the main division is located in Moscow.

Program: literary seminars; lectures on the theory of creation of a literary work;
an introduction to the history of popular literature; the basics of producing a writer (negotiating with a publisher, subtleties and pitfalls when concluding a contract); Copyright; meetings and master classes with invited writers, journalists, representatives of publishing houses, literary critics who review prose in major media.

Duration: 3 months.

Price: full-time - 71,100 rubles, distance learning - 60,000 rubles. per semester.