Be a writer

But what about the praise? Can it unsettle the author and prevent him from developing further?

I think – yes, it can. Yes, it can. Because we are battle-hardened, we are ready for criticism, but we are often not ready for praise. We often get blown away by it, and after that it’s hard to move on.

Which of the philosophers, in my opinion, has Nietzsche (I may be mistaken) I’ve read that when a person praises us (incorrectly), it’s as if he’s observing us from a bird’s-eye view, looking at us from above, meaning we’re clearly visible to him. Well, who would like such praise?

Often, in order to please the author, it is necessary to misunderstand him a little bit, that’s it, dear writers. Because when we are understood and seen through, we lose the sense of our own mysterious personality.

In general, Nietzsche turned out to be right, because the most striking conflict at our seminar (the seminar of criticism at the Literary Institute) arose precisely because of the wrong praise. When they scolded, it didn’t matter, but when they praised them incorrectly, there were insults right up to leaving the seminar.

A writer is a subtle being with heightened sensitivity, so you also need to choose the right words so that praise does not touch the delicate strings of the soul. In addition, we are scolded much more often than we are praised – this is a fact, so we do not have time to figure out how to behave properly when praise falls on our heads.

«Well, that’s it,» the author thinks, «if they praise you so much, then you can finish, I won’t write anything better.» Of course, I’m exaggerating here, but that’s exactly the case. Therefore, the praise (excessive praise) of the author can be «strangled» even faster than the harshest criticism. Excessive praise is a dangerous thing, and it often hinders the author and puts additional obstacles in his way. If the author has not yet managed to form himself as a person, understand what he needs and what he does not need.

So what should I do? Not to praise at all?

It is possible, necessary, and obligatory to praise, and it is better to do it sincerely, but you should not overdo it in this matter. Sometimes I even have to restrain myself (because in my nature there is a desire to admire, to see the merits of the work), so as not to harm the author.

I recently read an article by Nikolai Tsiskaridze, in which he bluntly says that praises, awards and titles made it very difficult for him to go on stage. Because when they announce that a people’s artist is coming out, then they list all your regalia, then there is a fear of making a mistake, fear of not matching, of doing something wrong.

And what about you, dear authors? Have you often been unsettled by praise? Do you feel awkward or nervous after a laudatory review, does it feel like you need to match it now?

P.S. You can praise me in every way, I always accept praise with joy and gratitude. I’m seasoned;)

About writing through I don’t want

to «An artist is an artist

only at certain hours due to an effort of will…».

Edgar Degas.

This is an interesting statement, but is it true? What do you think, dear authors?

I don’t think so. Because artists (writers, musicians, etc.) are already born, and then they just go to themselves, to their beacon, invisible to others. Roughly speaking, they «take the right shape.» Here’s an analogy: «How do I become a writer? You need to be born him.»

So, here I come to the idea that this «effort of will» is not necessary, there is no need for violence against oneself. I’ll explain why now.

I recently read an interesting article about shame from Labkovsky. The point of this article is that it is not necessary to shame a person to be good. A person initially wants to be good (if mentally healthy) because he does not want to be left alone. It’s kind of written in the cortex of his brain.

So, here we have the same thing: the motivation for development is already inside us, the instinct of the writer is already in us. Therefore, whether we want it or not (and of course we do), we will still develop. The only thing you can do is not to bother yourself.

When the author writes through I don’t want to, he begins to shame himself for laziness, he knocks down his fine settings. After all, dear authors, if you constantly force yourself to write when you don’t want to, or write what you don’t want to, then you won’t be able to tell later whether you like your text or not. You just won’t understand it. And that’s the most important criterion, right? That is, if you constantly break yourself, then sooner or later you will break yourself.

Yes, there’s only one piece of advice: listen to yourself, to your inner writing needs. And if, for example, you don’t want to write some text, and you don’t even understand why you don’t want to, then don’t write. Then you’ll understand.

Although, perhaps, Degas was talking about the maximum degree of manifestation of the artist only at certain hours. Then I agree. But willpower has nothing to do with it, that is, the author does not have to strain to lead the text, on the contrary, the text will lead him when the energy accumulates in sufficient quantity.

What do you think about this?

Three waves of ideas

As a rule, a good idea does not go to the author in its entirety and immediately, it comes to him as if in parts, which then overlap, transform, transform. In this process, I counted three waves.

The first wave. This is when the author has an idea, at first it seems interesting and fresh to him, he looks at it closely, «tastes it.» But very soon, literally the next day, the author realizes that it is «not very», too short or something. He feels that this is not enough.

And then comes the second wave. The second wave is so big and exciting, the author keenly feels involved in this process, it captures him. He gets euphoric. «Of course, and why didn’t I think of that before!» the author thinks. Most likely, during the second wave, the author will call his idea brilliant.

But the second wave is too unrealistic, and you can’t get far on euphoria. Therefore, the second wave is followed by the third wave, and it has a balancing character for the first and second.

Here I would recall Hegel with his triad (I love it). The triad is: thesis-antithesis-synthesis. And now the third wave carries synthesis.

As soon as the three waves have passed, there is already an idea that works. A working idea, not one that you can only admire, but you can’t do anything about it.

Have you, dear authors, noticed anything like this in your work? How do you come up with ideas? Can you track the main points of this process? Tell us about it.

Well, for the sake of fairness, we note that not all authors generally work with the idea as such and do not really understand what it is in general. However, this does not prevent them from creating and creating good works.

Choosing your own path in literature

What the author should develop and what not to develop is up to him to decide, but often (take a closer look, dear authors) it happens as if apart from him.

The author, for example, thought that he would write one thing, but in the end he writes something completely different. Moreover, he does not feel joy from this. «Well,» the author thinks, «I can’t follow my plan again.» Is this a familiar situation?

By the way, such situations arise all the time and very many writers. Let’s add to this the fact that correcting once, that is, pointing the pen in the right direction, is not enough, because this situation repeats anyway. So the author decided firmly: I’m writing a novel, but I find myself thinking that every day all he does is write short posts on the web.

What should I do?

Let’s look into this issue.

The point here is that all of us humans are inharmonious (and this is the key to our development and moving forward). We are all full of internal contradictions: the soul wants one thing, but a sober mind pulls in a completely different direction. They literally tear the author to pieces.

And of course, there is only one way out – to look for compromises, or, as they say, to look for a middle ground.

In general, this search for the golden mean, this middle path that can be followed, is for many the choice of their path.

What do you think?

A big writer and a small

Writer «14 years before the disaster, in 1898, a certain Morgan Robertson wrote a bad, penny-pinching fantasy novel in which a ship called the Titan, leaving Southampton for New York with 2,000 people on board, sinks on an April night, colliding with an iceberg, and all the passengers they are dying because of the lack of seats in lifeboats.»