Advice for beginning writers. How to write a book, or practical advice for aspiring writers. You won't always like what you write.

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 similar questions. The tips for an 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's never too late to get acquainted with the world classics, delve into literary process. Reading various literature, it will become clear which genres, trends, authors are more drawn to, and which ones are generally neutral.

The modern wave of mainstream reading should not be neglected either. What do people read on the subway? Which work is talked about more on social networks? It is important to understand what the modern public wants, what literary trends, but do not be tempted to borrow the style of a popular author.

Don't wait for inspiration

There is an opinion that you need to write books only when the muse comes. This is bad advice for aspiring writers. What if the muse doesn’t come at all, or comes but doesn’t wait for the author? Maybe it's worth putting in a little effort?

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

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

You need to remember that:

• 50 words is a paragraph.
• Another 350 is a page.
• 300 such pages are already a novel.
• Writing every day is a habit.
• Reworking weak points is improvement.
• Giving someone something to read is feedback.
• You shouldn't be upset when publishing houses refuse. This is writing.

Create a bank of ideas

Beginning authors are concerned about the question of what they can write about. All advice to an aspiring writer is related to him. To close it forever, you can create a bank of your own ideas. You need to replenish it every day by adding any 5 ideas to the archive. Write down everything that comes to mind or catches your eye: the scene you saw in the supermarket, funny incident, ridiculous story. Over time, the bank of topics will seem like a real treasure trove of unique ideas. It remains to logically connect the brightest ones with each other.

Create a mental map

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

There are many on the Internet free programs, with the help of which even a beginner can create mental maps.

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

Search for impressions

Much of the advice that seasoned authors give to aspiring writers boils down to the recommendation 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, young science fiction writer Max Kidruk sits down to write his techno-thrillers 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, writer's block is not a myth; it really happens. Sooner or later, everyone encounters them, but you shouldn’t be afraid of them, because, having survived crucial moment, we are reaching 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 managed to please everyone, then why try?

Take a writers' course

Courses, master classes, trainings are fashionable and useful ways improve your professional level. The most important thing is that they are effective. If, due to your busy schedule, it is not possible to attend a classroom or such classes are not yet open in the city, you can find an online course on the Internet.

Communication with like-minded people and the opportunity to get practical advice for aspiring writers are worth a lot.

Trust yourself

Schemes that helped others do not always work for us. Then do we need to obey them unconditionally? The answer is “No.” Advice for aspiring writers is just that, so that everyone can decide for themselves whether to follow them or not.

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

• Screenwriter Etgar Keret recommends starting writing text from the middle. In his opinion, the middle is the most compelling and interesting part of the story. From it you can develop the plot in both directions, and also avoid “extra paragraphs” that have to be deleted if you write from the beginning.
• Stephen King, the best-selling author advises imagining your ideal reader and writing for him. You can't please everyone, and the golden mean is never memorable. You can start with a new email - fill in the “To” column and write a few lines.
• American novelist William Faulkner, becoming the owner at the age of 52 Nobel Prize, revealed several of his secrets to success. He argued that you don't have to be a writer, you just need to write. This process revives and becomes life itself. Faulkner believed that anyone who could read could be a writer. He also warned against writing for money. After all, where business begins, creativity ends.
• A young but already famous writer Vyacheslav Stavetsky advises you to dream more. He believes that Dostoevsky, Marquez, Hemingway became famous throughout the world precisely because they dreamed of a new world. And today's pragmatism and prudence, which dominate the minds of writers, do not allow them into the world of art.
• Popular author Paulo Coelho cautions new writers against over-describing their own research or conclusions. If you overdo it with “smart” thoughts, you can bore both your readers and yourself. Coelho reminds that books are not created to demonstrate the level of education. And in order to reveal your inner world.

Tips for an aspiring writer that you just learned about are an effective pill for despondency or creative crisis. Having gained support famous authors and having gathered your will into a creative fist, soon you yourself will be able to give beginners your own, experience-tested advice.

• Ask an experienced person for advice. Good teacher native language– this is a great source of inspiration!
• If you travel, you can meet many people on the plane and gain inspiration from them. For example, a man with a beard can become the hero of your book.
• There must be a mystery in the book that the characters in the book will try to solve! It doesn't have to be mysterious story, but you can make it so that the characters in the book don't know what's going on, and so that even the readers don't know.
• 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 girls giggling or girls laughing at someone. You can also easily describe this in your book. You don't have 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 okay. All of us different opinions! But you should review your work and edit it to avoid repeating mistakes.
• Once you've finished your book, copy it onto your computer to simplify the editing and publishing process.
• Make a list of characters and ideas, and carry a NOTEBOOK with you at all times so you can write down new ideas!
• When drafting, try to use the "heart, star, dot" format if it is short story. The heart is yours main idea, the stars are important details, and the dots are examples from the text that support the details.
• If you ask friends for advice, be careful. Your friend will either say that you wrote an “excellent” book out of loyalty and fear of hurting your feelings, or he will say that it is terrible and will be merciless towards your feelings. If your friend says a book is good, ask him why he liked it, what he liked best and what he didn't like. If a friend says a book is terrible, ask him why he thinks so, and if he doesn't make a good argument, ignore his comment. If a friend gives a detailed answer, think about what they told you, because chances are other readers will think so too. Reader feedback is very important!
• If you're having trouble describing the characters, ask yourself if the characters have pets, secrets, or what favorite dish and occupation. Get to know them like your best friends!
• Don't worry if you make a mistake because no one is perfect. Try asking your parents or teachers to check your work.
• Drink more water and consume healthy food necessary for concentration. Try to consume sweets and chocolate for energy.
• Show your book to a professional editor, and if you want to add illustrations, show it to an illustrator.
• Always keep a pen or pencil and a notepad with you.
• You must be a good typist.
• Once you finish the book, dedicate it dear person. For example, “To my friend, Christina.”

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, if you can use active.
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. Use a complete stranger's time in a way that doesn't feel like it was 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 the introductions to the characters and their philosophizing with various activities. 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 of the 20th 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 and 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 the 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 fees are received by people who have gone through fire, water and copper pipes, while the lowest - by untouched and unspoiled natures.
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.

I constantly receive letters from aspiring writers and poets asking: “Read my work and tell me if I should write!”

What do we see here? The author is not yet serious about literature and himself in art. He wants someone to decide for him whether he needs to spend years on education and practice. If some unfamiliar aunt tells him “no,” will he stop writing? Such an author is worthless.

Whether the author is talented, one cannot say initial stage, when everyone writes poorly, and in five to ten years, when the mediocrities drop out, unable to “run a marathon.” Talent is a little bit of ability and long years training and practice. Mediocrity is not capable of this; they quit the race.

Tell me, auntie, can I get married?

Is it possible to imagine a young man passionately in love who will come to to a stranger and will ask: “Should I marry this girl or not?” If a young man is serious, if he really loves his chosen one, he will move mountains on the way to happiness - according to at least will try.

Moreover, it is easier for us, writers, there is not enough beautiful girl for everyone, and literature will accept into its arms anyone who sincerely loves her.

Inner emptiness

In 1923, Osip Mandelstam wrote an article entitled, where he complained that in Russia there was an incredible number of authors besieging editorial offices with requests “Publish me!”, “Look what I wrote here!”

As now, a hundred years ago, the reason for this phenomenon is that a person is dissatisfied with his life, does not know how to do anything, does not have knowledge, and in some foggy dream he dreamed that he would be able to exchange his stormy feelings, expressed as he it seems like “poetry”, for all sorts of “carrots”: recognition, connections, fame, money, etc.

Such people are not interested in literature - they are interested in themselves. They write exceptionally poorly precisely because they do not take their work seriously, do not see art in it, do not see in it something worthy of careful study.

Mandelstam writes:

Try to shift the conversation from so-called poetry to another topic - and you will hear pitiful and helpless answers, or simply: “I’m not interested in that.” Moreover, someone who is sick with the disease of poetry is not interested in poetry itself. […]

Poetry writers are, in most cases, very poor and inattentive readers of poetry; […] extremely fickle in their tastes, untrained, born non-readers - they invariably take offense at the advice to learn to read before starting to write.

Sincere answer

Another beginner writes me a letter

For some time I think about how to answer so that he would at least catch something in my words.

I’m answering him only because I was like that myself: in my youth, I also ran around with manuscripts to all sorts of “Writers’ Unions” and famous authors. And she, too, was a beginner who loved herself in art much more than art in itself.

And these are the thoughts running through my head:

Guy, you came to me and demanded from the door that I give you my time, my experience and my knowledge. That is, you demand a piece of my life. What are you willing to give? Your stories? Thank you, but I know that newcomers who need “constructive criticism” write worse than Bunin. I’d better go and read Bunin.

It took me several significant blows to my pride before I woke up and realized that literature requires SERVICE, not consumption. You need to sincerely love it (that is, read other authors, study theory, write mountains of drafts), and not pour your complexes and problems into it, like into a sewer pipe.

And only after that things started to work out for me.

But this young man does not take himself and me seriously. In fact, in his eyes, my time and effort are worthless, and that is why he - completely without a second thought - comes and demands attention. And when he doesn’t receive it, he gets terribly offended.

How to make yourself interested?

But somehow you need to establish connections and communicate with colleagues? How to be?

Beta reading

You can exchange services with those who are at the same career stage as you: you need it, and so do they. Serious beginners are interested in how their colleagues write - this gives invaluable skills in editing and trains literary taste.

Consultations

With those who give paid consultations, you can meet, . This is a fair exchange: we exchange time for money.

Small but useful services

No money? You can provide services: learn to do something and help someone whose attention you need.

But quality is important here: recently one lady declared herself a marketer and began to force herself on me as a friend. But it soon became clear that she had no qualifications at all, she only knew how to throw around clever words.

Friendship on the same level

And if you want someone big and accomplished to be your friend and provide you with services in exchange for the joy of communication, then you need knowledge, skills, a broad outlook and sincerity.

Which end should I approach from?

If you feel that literature is the love of your life, but don’t know which end to approach it, take my lecture. In it I will talk about how to lay the emotional foundation for your creativity.

Whether you succeed or not is determined not by higher powers or genes, but by your emotional background. If you can move forward with confidence, you will do something useful for your career every day and eventually achieve results. If you can’t, it means that you will either do nothing at all, or you will walk in circles - among your acquaintances and strangers: “Look... And evaluate...”

People read books, sometimes experiencing interest, and sometimes delight. Other literary works are quickly forgotten. Sometimes stories and novels remain unread. But in any case, the author, whose name is printed on the cover, seems to be a romantic person. To an ordinary person who goes to work at nine o'clock, it often seems that this is an enviable lot - to work whenever you want, not to listen to the boring comments of your boss, to receive large fees and to live in a special world where fantasies reign and conflict fictional characters and mysterious events occur. In order to get there, you need to know how writers become. But the writers themselves are in no hurry to share this secret of theirs, although in words they seem to be hiding nothing.

If you can, don't write

When sitting down at a desk, everyone who has chosen literature as a profession must remember this responsibility. But it is not enough to make this choice yourself; the love for art must be mutual.

The writer is also the reader

It is very difficult to pick up a fountain pen or sit down at a computer keyboard one day and try to express in letter format the totality of surging feelings. Everything interferes and distracts, words are difficult to fit next to each other, thoughts seem hackneyed and all the time there is a feeling that someone has already written it. There is nothing wrong with this, especially if the new author has read a lot himself. Beginning writers often immediately want to become Dostoevsky or Chekhov, but not everyone succeeds. In this sense, it is interesting to observe the metamorphosis of Anton Pavlovich’s consciousness, which can be traced in his writings from the first volume to the last. From “Letter to a Learned Neighbor” to “The Bishop” there is “a distance of enormous size” (in the words of another classic). A more encouraging effect comes from reading contemporary writers, but not everyone can stand them for long.

Hateful commercial issue

The great Russian poet spoke about inspiration and a manuscript that can be sold, and it’s hard to disagree with Alexander Sergeevich on this. But in our age of continuous marketing and management, supply significantly exceeds demand. Not all aspiring writers listen to the aforementioned advice about not taking up the pen unless absolutely necessary, which is why all editorial offices, without exception, are overwhelmed with manuscripts most of which are doomed to oblivion. A talented author will need the main personal quality for any person - patience. At the same time, you need to remember that the book should be interesting. Publishing houses are commercial enterprises, their goal is to make a profit, their products must be sold. Before sitting down to the table, you should soberly assess the reading potential of your future work and draw up a psychological portrait of a possible reader. Managed? Happened? Then let's get to work!

What to write about?

Which fiction are you reading today? It is believed that in every publishing house There is a specialist who knows the answer to this question. His job title is publisher. Theoretically, he can predict the speed of sale of the circulation, its volume, in other words, what determines the “commercial potential of the product.” Probably, publishers often make mistakes, but it is very difficult to verify this.

Children's writers are rare in our time; it is not for nothing that books by Suteev, Nosov, Prishvin and many other classics of the genre endure numerous editions, and the demand for them does not fall. The most popular genres are melodrama, detective, mysticism, fantasy and some others that fall under the definition youth culture. Today they are read by housewives (not all of them, of course), students and Soviet-era intellectuals who have not been killed by the perestroika-shootouts of the last two decades. Modern writers, if they want to become famous, simply must take this fact into account when choosing the stylistic direction of their works. They must create for their readers. There will be no others, and even these are becoming fewer and fewer...

How to write

All our fellow citizens went to school. This means that everyone can read. And write too. But this does not mean that the profession of a writer is publicly accessible. This needs to be learned, it is an art. And like any art, it consists of two main parts - talent and craft. There is also a third ingredient - labor, but more on that later. You can dream of being creative since childhood, especially if you have the ability. But where to study to be a writer? The answer to this question seems obvious: of course, at the philology department! The teachers there certainly know how to express thoughts! Yes, they do, but most often about how not to. Graduates of literary departments have an excellent command of theory, know how to correctly compose phrases, and are familiar with the rules of linguistics, punctuation and, of course, spelling. That is why, apparently, they themselves most often do not write anything.

Non-professionals

And the writers of the past, and modern writers, as a rule, come to art from completely different professions. Detectives are composing former employees law enforcement agencies, melodramas are created by teachers or engineers. Chekhov was a zemstvo doctor, and Tolstoy was an officer. Does this mean that they did not learn a trade? Not at all. They simply comprehended its subtleties, not sitting at a student desk, but in completely different places. Self-education - best view education. There is a special conversation about how writers become today. Literature has become a business, not everyone is allowed into it, and the criteria are not always artistic merit works. But about old times Ivan Shmelev said. “How I Became a Writer” is a story filled with humor, but it also has very serious moments. It truthfully describes the first semi-children's “creepy” story, the fee received of 80 rubles (quite a decent amount for those times) and his own name on the treasured page of the Russian Review, which seems alien. It is clear to the reader that since the events described, much water has passed under the bridge, and many changes have occurred in the author’s worldview.

About words, living and dead

Typically, work on literary work starts with an idea. There are moments in every person's life that deserve to be talked about. Not everyone has a need for such a presentation, but if there is a need, it is worth thinking about the technical side of its implementation. How writers become can be judged by what they are required to be able to do. Firstly, there is such a thing as a good syllable. It involves compliance certain rules, among which we can mention various rather formal points and the most common mistakes, allowed by novice authors (for example, in the case of the hat that fell off while “driving past station N”). Can be used as a textbook good book“The Living and the Dead Word,” written by Nora Gal.

There is also such a thing as originality. It manifests itself in the peculiarities of the characters’ speech and their recognition. A woman speaks differently in life than a man; the dialect of a villager differs from the speech of a city dweller. However, there must be a measure in this, otherwise it will be difficult for the reader to understand the text. Good taste and the fascination of the narrative will give the book undoubted merits, and in this case it will become loved by many.

Descriptions of some professional moments sometimes require deep knowledge. For example, the actions of a pilot at the controls cannot be described by the author if he himself has never flown an airplane. Lack of professionalism is immediately visible, so it is advisable to avoid such moments so as not to become a target for fair criticism. However, distracting the reader by acutely special questions It’s also not worth it, unless, of course, you are writing a work of art and not a textbook.

Preliminary criticism

Every author thinks that with his work he has made humanity happy, and this is completely normal. After all, it would not have been worth taking up the pen otherwise. Another question is to what extent the opinion of a young (not necessarily in terms of age) writer corresponds to objective reality. Not everyone has the talent of a writer, but you can determine its presence by letting you read your own opus different people. It should be borne in mind that good acquaintances, friends and trusted buddies are rarely able to say cruel words, like “you, brother, are mediocre,” or “old man, you wrote a story that is boring to the point of yawning.” Therefore, it is best to choose those readers who are more free to express their opinions. An excellent option is a school literature teacher (and an excellent reason to visit the teacher, especially on Teacher’s Day or another holiday). The problem is that she doesn’t always have time, but if the author showed success in her subject at one time, she will certainly read it, and even with a red pencil in her hand, and this is invaluable help. There are also work colleagues (if they are not subordinates, of course). In general, the author holds the cards here; he knows better who can be a preliminary censor and who cannot. And you also need to be a psychologist to understand whether the reader liked the work or not. Our people are cultured, even too...

About volumes

Writing a couple of stories is not all. We can say that this is nothing at all. Before you become famous writer, you'll have to work hard. This means that only the writer who can offer the publishing house a full-fledged book, or preferably several, has a chance of publication. And this is a dozen and a half printed sheets(each approximately 40 thousand characters with spaces), up to half a million characters in total (different publishers have different requirements). Two or three short stories can be published in an almanac, but publishing an independent book in this case is out of the question. Therefore, you need to be patient and work, and without a 100% guarantee of success. Another reason to think about whether it is necessary to make such sacrifices...

How to achieve mastery

Any skill is achieved through exercise. Pop performers believe that singing in restaurants is an excellent vocal school. For an aspiring writer, journalism or copywriting can become such a crucible of skill and professionalism. The ability to coherently express one’s thoughts in the form of text becomes a habit bordering on automatism. An experienced article writer will never use identical words in neighboring sentences (except as special welcome), will pay attention to stylistics, maintain the rhythm of the narrative and at the same time develop his own style, characteristic of every original writer. These skills are very important, they will come in handy when creating works of art, regardless of genre.

How to publish a book?

And so the book was written. Last doubts passed, I want to publish it. The author is already in general outline he knows how others become writers, and he wants to try it himself. It seems quite natural to want to send a manuscript to some publishing house, and the hope for a positive decision from the editors regarding publication is just as justified. Novikov-Priboy, Jack London and many other Russians and foreign writers did just that. They received fees, at first very modest, and then quite serious. O. Henry, for example, published his first stories while in prison.

But the experience of past centuries is not yet a reason for excessive optimism. The manuscript is considered for a long time, and very often the answer contains a standard text stating that it is “not of commercial interest.” Should I be upset about this? Of course, it’s a shame, but you shouldn’t fall into despair. In the end, the publishing house is understandable. Book printing is a business, that's all business people do not want to invest money in projects that have dubious financial prospects. And printing these days is not a cheap business.

The path to fame is tortuous and difficult, but chances to overcome it still exist. Firstly, there is more than one publishing house in our country. And secondly, you can achieve success in another way (if you are confident that the book will be a success among readers). The advantage of our time is that, having spent your money, you can print everything, choosing the cover, format, and illustrations yourself. If you need the services of an editor, you will also have to pay for them. By the way, many Russian writers in the past published for the first time at their own expense. There is nothing wrong with this approach. In addition, if you are lucky, you can find a sponsor who will pay for the printing services. In case of success, it would be useful to return the money spent to him, and even with interest, because by laying out “hard-earned money”, a person (or organization) is taking a risk. At the very least, it is worth stipulating the terms of sponsorship in advance.

It is best to choose a publishing house that has its own network bookstores, otherwise a situation may arise that leaves many aspiring authors in awe. The writer gets big mountain packaging of his own works and does not know what to do with them. In this case, you have to independently engage in the sale of literature, negotiating with trading organizations on sales. There may be a lack of experience; in addition, many stores are accustomed to working with their own suppliers and sometimes refuse cooperation simply so as not to confuse the accounting department. In general, there are many difficulties, and most importantly, you have to overcome them on your own.

New opportunities

Modern writers have access to means of achieving fame that the great writers of the past did not have. Every day, in any weather and almost around the clock, hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions, of people sit in their houses and apartments and search the Internet for something interesting to read. On specialized sites, any person who considers his work talented can present it to the general public. A novice writer should not immediately think about a high (or any) fee, so there is an easy way to evaluate success own creativity, publishing your opuses on some popular page completely free of charge, counting on reviews. Once you are convinced that the reader is interested in the work, you can try to sell the manuscript on paid sites.