Literary courses for aspiring writers. Course “Literary Mastery for Beginners”

How I studied three literature courses at the same time and what it led to

Text: Marina Bezuglova
Drawing by Charles D. Gibson from www.zazzle.com
Photo of Marina Bezuglova from her Facebook page

A new one is coming academic year, 2017/2018 . Which has a chance to go down in the history of Russian literature as the year of a breakthrough in the field of professional writing education - which, according to editors of publishing houses, sometimes our talents are sorely lacking. The Institute of Culture has opened admission to students in the specialty " children's writer». graduate School economics for the first time began admission to the master's program - and, according to those involved, the competition for budget places exceeded ten people per place.
And this, of course, does not count, which quietly and systematically continues its work. And the incalculable number of offline and online literary courses that have emerged over the past few years.
A direct participant in the process shares her vivid impressions of the latter.

...I rewind time and think: why did I need literature courses at all? I have no philological education. I am the manager of a small mirror production workshop. My interest in writing grew out of my love of reading. But I didn’t know how to approach my own work. I needed to test my strength and give myself permission to write.
I live in Rostov-on-Don, and literary education concentrated in the capital. Therefore, I could not study in person, only online. Then I organized an intensive course for myself with complete immersion in the topic: for four months I studied in parallel at three writing schools and eventually received a triple blessing from the masters of the world of literature.
I’ll say right away: all the courses do an excellent job of inspiring.
Now let's talk more about the educational process. This is not an advertisement, so I won’t name the courses themselves, but I’ll explain a little. In my school years there was such a wonderful concept as a class “with a bias”. In relation to courses, this word is also appropriate. So, I chose: courses with an emphasis on genre commercial literature (these are those books that are published in series by publishing houses), courses for beginners with an emphasis on the so-called great literature(works from the lists big bonuses) and courses with a slight focus on Western literature. In addition, there are courses in poetry, screenwriting, non-fiction courses, etc. Prices vary from several thousand to several tens of thousands of rubles. Many schools provide discounts, hold drawings for free places and competitions. (Thanks to this, I had the opportunity to try three options at once.)

But if you are not as extreme of literature as I am,

When choosing a direction, ask yourself the question: “What does it mean to me to be a writer? Be the author of a paper book? Publish posts on social networks and collect likes? Win competitions? An honest answer will greatly help you get your bearings.

In addition, before studying, it is very important to read special textbooks, as well as take advantage of free resources - there are a lot of articles and videos on the Internet. And if you realize that you are ripe for professional courses, here are the parameters by which I advise you to choose an online school.

1. First parameter- the same “bias”. However, in reality the “bias” was very conditional. All of my courses covered literary craftsmanship fairly broadly, with little or no duplication of information.
2. Number and duration of classes- calculate your strength. As a rule, these are weekly lectures lasting from 30 minutes to 1 hour. But there are courses that will require 3 hours 3 times a week.
3. Homework. Each lesson consists of a theoretical lecture and a creative assignment. Courses that involve peer review written works, that is, teacher reviews are many times more useful. Discussing your texts only with students like you is not particularly effective.
4. Number and volume of creative tasks performed during the course. The more text you write, the more responses you get, the better.
5. Teaching Staff. Perhaps the most important point. Of course, it’s nice when mentors are popular writers. But their level of fame should not be decisive. After all, writing and teaching it to others are two different things. Their teaching talent is more important to you. Read the works of your future teachers, search the Internet for videos of them, and finally look at their profiles on social networks. If these people captivate you, then the training will be interesting.
6.Feedback. How can you ask questions to teachers? In webinar format, in special group on social networks, by email, or is there no such option at all?
7. Further fate. What are the chances that students' work will be published? Albeit on a competitive basis, albeit not in the most popular publications, but the very existence of such an opportunity is a big plus.
8. Video. With online learning, you will receive recorded lectures. Most of us perceive information best visually, so having a video helps.
9. Full-time/correspondence form. If you have the opportunity to study in person, take advantage. This form, of course, is preferable to correspondence.

These points can be compared. Now I’ll briefly tell you what I personally learned from my training.

Firstly, happened small miracle: For the first time I came up with a coherent, finished work - a story. Then another, and another... The first reviews of texts give an unforgettable experience.
Secondly, the courses gave a holistic understanding of how the plot and characters should be structured in order to hold the reader’s attention. Many aspiring authors would save their own and others’ time by learning these simple principles. In fact, works written based on these laws compare favorably with those written at random.
Third, my reading perception has sharpened. I see how the text is “made”. But that doesn't stop you from enjoying it. good work- against. Strong texts (the assessment is subjective, of course) give even more joy, weak ones - even more irritate.
The training required more time and dedication from me than I expected. (I didn’t even complete one of the courses because my situation changed and I didn’t have enough time.) I also should have better prepared my household for my new hobby. Wouldn't you be wary if a person mutters to himself while looking at one point? And he, by the way, selects words for his text. Or he sits at night at the computer, and in an hour he needs to submit his work. By the way, that's how I found out great power deadline, when inspiration just comes in waves as it approaches.
After completing the training, a certain “withdrawal syndrome” occurred. Now there are no deadlines, no one praises, criticizes, or asks tricky tasks. Then everything depends only on me. After all, literary courses are not a factory of literary stars. Of those who have completed the training, only a few will write anything, only some of it will be published, and only a few will become successful authors.
What about the rest? Well,

expressive and precise formulation of one’s thoughts has never stopped anyone, not just writers or bloggers.

It is unknown how mine will turn out creative destiny. In my understanding, being a writer means having at your disposal a certain amount of texts that you are not ashamed to show to professionals and ordinary readers. I can’t call myself a writer yet. Now I'm writing a novel, there are several short stories. Short creative distances turned out to be closer to me. My reviews of two quite famous novel. There was a victory in a small literary competition. I try to enjoy life, and literature is part of it.

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Probably everyone who had to write compositions, summaries, abstracts and essays at school has tried to become a writer. But are you now ready to try to write an interesting article, a long letter with a business proposal, not to mention an entire book? If you came to this page, then you would probably like to improve your writing skills: the ability to easily create literate beautiful texts.

Most people find it difficult to write even small text. These difficulties may 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’s difficult to decide on a topic or choose the right words. The third may write a lot, but then notices that in his text a large number of errors.

All these problems are associated not so much with our innate abilities, but with the knowledge and skills that our parents, teachers and lecturers instilled in us. Unfortunately, schools and universities rarely offer subjects or lessons that even to some extent teach how to learn to write correctly.

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

What is this writing skill?

(writing, writing, copywriting, literary activity ) is the human activity of creating verbal works intended for reading by other people.

Writing skills in varying degrees All people who can write with a pen or type on a computer can use it. Naturally, each person develops these abilities to varying degrees. But still, 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 you can meet many graphomaniacs on the Internet. This is due to the fact that people are trying to create texts that are focused not on readers, but on algorithms search engines. In addition, the process of popularizing graphomania is provoked by the readers (users) themselves. Remember when you read an article from cover to cover. Most likely, in most cases you simply view (scan) texts on website pages “diagonally”, trying to quickly find the information you need. And if there is no demand for good texts, then there is no supply of them.

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

Applying the Skill of Writing

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

And even if you don't plan to become famous through your works, writing can be useful to you personally. For example, you can keep a diary and reflect your interesting thoughts, 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 versatile developed 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 to them. Secondly, you cannot do without motivation and a strong desire to create a new work, because writing requires a lot of effort and time. Are you ready for this? Thirdly, you must know the norms of the language, or in other words, the rules writing, which will allow you to convey your ideas to readers as clearly as possible.

Among the most necessary attributes that will help you become good writer, the following can be distinguished:

1. Well-read and educated, good upbringing.
2. Motivation, desire writing, hard work and perseverance.
3. Extensive active lexicon.
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, connected with morality, life ideals, creative inspiration, or perhaps a divine gift, helps the work to come into being.

For example, Richard Bach claims that his most famous story“A Seagull named Jonathan Livingston” was literally “dictated from above” to him. And those who have also read Bach's other works will have noticed the striking contrast between his traditional stories and the deeply metaphorical Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

In this regard, the question arises:

Is it even possible to learn the art of writing?

How to take classes

In the lessons of our training you can find background information, and useful recommendations and exercises to master all the important writing skills you can learn. The speed and efficiency of development of each of the skills presented for different people individual. Therefore, it is impossible to say exactly how long each lesson or the entire course will take you.

1. To make sure you don't miss anything, try to read all the lessons.
2. Try to identify your main problems and solve them, understanding them in more detail in the relevant lessons, doing exercises, following the necessary recommendations.
3. Practice is an important element of each lesson, so be sure to try to apply the knowledge gained in your writing activities.
4. Test your work with experienced, objective readers who won't be shy about saying what they really think about the fruits of your creativity.
5. Try to write constantly and don’t give up on it, otherwise both the muse and a good style will come to you as rarely and irregularly as you do to them.

Books and textbooks

The art of 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. A writer needs to constantly maintain his form: read a lot, write, and also study specialized literature about writing. On this page we have listed a number of popular books and textbooks about authorship and literary skills.

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

Quotes from writers about authorship

To help you find creative inspiration, we have collected quotes from successful famous literary (and other) figures, containing tips for combating various problems of writing:

Write freely and as quickly as you can to get everything out on paper. Never edit or rewrite until you are done. Rewriting as you go is usually nothing more than an excuse not to move forward. It also interferes with the free flow of thought and rhythm that only comes from unconsciously working with the material.

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

You need to write poetry every day, just as a violinist or pianist must play his instrument for several hours every day without skipping. Otherwise, your talent will inevitably become scarce, dry up, like a well, from where for a long time they don't take water.

A real writer it's the same as ancient prophet: He sees more clearly than ordinary people.

People who know how to think also know how to 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 same way you speak: naturally... Try to express your thoughts simply, without pretensions to excessive intellectuality... If you are working on something very important, then ask your friends or colleagues to express their opinions about your work.

The first courses in literary excellence in Russia and abroad by Andrei Vorontsov, which have been successfully running on the basis of the Moodle learning system for the seventh year, announce new set students for April - September 2019. The workshop is headed by the Secretary of the Board of the Union of Writers of Russia, a teacher of literary skills at Moscow State Regional University, who for many years led prose seminars at the Literary Institute. Gorky...

Forms of training - remote (passing through the Internet in on-line mode, with access 24 hours 7 days a week) and full-time(with classroom lessons on Saturdays).

Start of distance learning courses -April 3, 2019. Recruitment has been extended until April 12. Training period - 6 months. Short-term introductory classes on working in the Moodle training system for DO-Courses will be held from March 22.

Start of full-time courses - April 6, 2019 . Training period - 3 months .

Authors writing in Russian (from 18 years of age) are accepted for courses, regardless of their social status, place of residence and citizenship. There are no entrance exams. Candidates for admission pass creative competition, for which you need to send to email address, indicated in the questionnaire, his works in the genres of prose, poetry, drama, criticism, journalism in a volume of no more than 80 thousand printed characters with spaces, typed in 14 point, with an interval of 1.5. For persons who do not have experience in creating literary works, allowed after a written interview admission as volunteers. A volunteer listener, unlike other listeners, may not present his works for discussion, but performs theoretical and practical tasks and participates in discussions.

For admission to the Courses, the following documents are also provided:

1) application addressed to the manager (indicate the chosen form of training) ;
2) a copy (scan) of the education document (optional);
3) autobiography;
4) applicant application form(download) ;
5) photograph (any format).

Documents are sent by email to the address specified in the application form (download) .

After students are enrolled in distance courses, before classes start , free introductory classes on working in the Moodle training system are held.

The Literary Mastery Course program is aimed at improving the artistic, theoretical and practical level of aspiring writers. Specifics literary process requires constant creative improvement from the writer, which novice writers are not always able to cope with alone. Interactive classes are divided into theoretical (lectures, answers to questions from the master) and practical. Practical ones are creative seminars, which are a general discussion of the author’s work with a final analysis of the master. Thus, the creative volume, continuity and versatility of the process of improving literary skills is ensured. Students will also have to perform creative tasks masters, also submitted for interactive discussion. A week is allocated for each theoretical topic, practical discussion or creative task.

In ideological and spiritual terms, training is designed to promote an in-depth understanding of Russian literature as one of the main world literary schools, the very affiliation to which is a natural advantage of every aspiring Russian-speaking writer. At the same time, naturally, the heritage of other world literary schools will not be ignored.

You can study with us at the lowest prices among courses of this kind and at any convenient time time for you (at the PRE-Courses). Minimum size tuition fees (taking into account discounts provided for prepayment) for distance courses is 3500 rub. per month , on-site - 5400 rub. per month . We invite everyone! Details and payment details will be communicated additionally. Other aspects of interest in the conditions of admission and training can be clarified by correspondence to the address indicated in the application form.

The form of final control is certification. Upon completion of the Courses a corresponding certificate is issued. Best works listeners will be published in the almanac on the website and recommended by the master to central literary publications.

Graduates of pre-courses have the right to participate in the work of the literary association "Points" under the Prose Council of the Union of Writers of Russia.

Our literature courses are an opportunity to short time get the quintessence of all the secret information about literature from the best masters and teachers who have spent years acquiring this knowledge. In addition, during the training you will gain important first-hand knowledge about how things really are in literature, what you need to be prepared for when starting literary career, how to position yourself correctly, what you should hope for and what you should strive for. Unlike all other existing literature courses, the emphasis in working with students is not only on providing knowledge, but on integration into the profession and the organization of further writer's fate graduate.

For the first time training in a unique educational program for aspiring authors, the Alexander Gritsenko Production Center began in 2010 with the information support of the Moscow city organization of the Union of Writers of Russia, the Union of Writers-Translators and the League of Eurasian Writers. Today, literary courses are held under the patronage of the International Union of Writers, which is one of the oldest creative organizations in Europe, which significantly increases our ability to provide the works of our graduates with truly wide recognition.

The cost of training varies from 5,000 to 31,350 rubles, depending on the training option you choose.

Over the years of the existence of the courses and the production center at ISP, we have trained professional writers: novelists-fiction writers - authors of the publishing houses "Eksmo", "Veche", AST, poets and academic prose writers - members of professional creative unions, laureates of All-Russian and international awards and competitions. For example, Victoria Balashova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Margarita Sviderskaya, Valery Pecheykin, Sasha Krugosvetov and others. And they taught and conducted separate master classes famous writers and poets: Zakhar Prilepin, Eduard Gevorkyan, Olga Slavnikova, Sergei Shargunov, Dmitry Volodikhin, Dmitry Silkan, Vitaly Pukhanov, Alexander Snegirev, Andrey Shcherbak-Zhukov and others; literary agents - Andrey Sinitsin, Olga Eliseeva and others; as well as editors of large publishing houses - deputy editor-in-chief of the Veche publishing house Dmitry Fedotov, leading editor of the EKSMO publishing house Igor Minakov, editor-in-chief of the Snezhny kom publishing house Gleb Gusakov and others.

Teaching is carried out in three different programs, designed for various categories listeners:

“Elite” (duration of training 2 semesters of 3 months, 3 classes per week of 4 academic hours - in the evenings and on weekends)

– Commercial literature course (fiction/fantasy/detective)

– Novel course (realism, postmodernism)

This option is for those who want to gain recognition from a wide range of readers, have high circulations and make money from literature.

“Economy” (duration of training: 2 semesters of 3 months, 1 lesson per week of 4 academic hours - on Sundays)

– Sunday literary studio ( classical prose– light prose/classical poetry)

More information about the Elite training option:

Training program:

* literary seminars;
* lectures on creation theory literary work;
* introduction to the history of mass literature;
* the basics of producing a writer (negotiations with the publisher, subtleties and pitfalls when concluding a contract);
* Copyright;
* meetings and master classes with invited writers, journalists, representatives of publishing houses, literary critics reviewing prose in major media

Cost of education:

If you pay monthly, 31,350 rubles per month.

When paying for a semester (3 months) – 71,100 per semester (i.e. cost per month – 23,700 rubles)

ATTENTION! WHEN CONCLUSING AN AGREEMENT AND PAYMENT BEFORE FEBRUARY 28, WHEN PAYING MONTHLY, 25,100 RUBLES per month, WHEN PAYING FOR SEMESTER, 51,200 RUBLES for 3 months.

Teachers: writers, masters of fiction and detective fiction, members of the Russian Writers' Union, the Union of Writers-Translators, and the International Writers' Union.

Without exception, all literary skills courses existing today, including in academic universities, do not provide the graduate with absolutely no guarantee of further employment. Listeners pay money for knowledge that they will not be able to use. The profession of a writer is not only the ability to write, but also the ability to navigate the literary and publishing world, the presence of professional connections and experience communicating with colleagues. Everything is like in any other highly qualified profession.

As a rule, students of standard courses graduate with a certificate, and students of literary universities with a diploma educational institution, but do not have a single publication, do not have professional connections in the world of literature and journalism, and therefore do not have the slightest chance of gaining a foothold there.

The goal of our courses is to turn a beginner into a sought-after professional writer in six months, collaborating with the largest publishing houses in Russia.

Behind full period training, each student, under the guidance of a famous master of high-circulation prose, will write a novel. Genres: science fiction, fantasy, detective. The best authors will sign deals with major publishing partners, have their novels published, and begin a career as a professional writer.

In the future, literary agents will work with course graduates: they will represent their interests in the book business, nominate them for awards and literary prizes, deal with them literary destiny(we maintain strong and long-term connections with the organizing committees of the Debut awards, the A.P. Chekhov SP of Russia award, the RosCon award and many others, best authors will also receive personal scholarships from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation).

Summary:

Each graduate will write a commercial novel during their studies. Genres: science fiction, fantasy, detective (a modern mainstream novel for students of a romance course).

Each course graduate will acquire not only knowledge, but also professional connections. In addition, he will have the manuscript of his novel, written under the guidance of an experienced master. The further promotion of the author will be carried out by professional literary agents.

Distance learning in commercial literature courses

Cost of education:

If you pay monthly, 25,000 rubles per month.

When paying for a semester (3 months) – 60,000 rubles. per semester (i.e. cost per month – 20,000 rubles)

ATTENTION! WHEN CONCLUSING AN AGREEMENT AND PAYMENT BEFORE FEBRUARY 28, WHEN PAYING MONTHLY 15,100 RUBLES per month, WHEN PAYING FOR SEMESTER 30,200 RUBLES for 3 months.

AND ALSO, BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE CREATIVE COMPETITION, THE ADMINISTRATION MAY DECIDE ON A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION OF TUITION FEE.

Listeners regularly receive audio recordings (optional video recordings) of all training seminars, audio recordings of master classes, meetings with stars, publishers, critics, recordings of special courses on copyright, film drama and others. Listeners distance courses Along with students of the full-time program, they receive and complete all the same creative tasks, the results of which are sent to a common mailbox Email(where the work of all course participants will be available), take equal part in the discussion of the work of all students.

Students undergoing training in the distance learning program, like everyone else, work on their novel, which will receive the full scope of legal and information support (literary agents will handle the finished work: promote it in publishing houses, the media, look for opportunities to be nominated for literary awards).

Upon completion of training, students of both forms of courses receive a single Certificate of completion of the courses and receive recommendations for joining the Union of Writers of Russia, the Union of Writers-Translators and the International Union of Writers.

Those who will have the opportunity to come to Moscow during the training will take part in PR events for seminar participants (they will be interviewed in the press, they will be invited to thematic programs on radio and television).

More information about the Economy training option:

Cost of education:

Classic prose, light prose, classical poetry – 6,500 rubles. in rubles per month. When concluding a contract, payment is made for the first and last month

The Sunday literary studio conducts classes in the following areas: classical prose, light prose, and classical poetry.

This is an effective forge of talent and a showcase of new literary personnel, an opportunity to improve the professional level of listeners, help them master new secrets writing skills. Classes are taught by experienced authors and teachers, generally recognized poets and prose writers.

Long-term creative and business connections of PCAG with the capital's largest publishing houses, agencies, theaters, film studios, and media will provide course participants with an effective platform for professional development. Many authors will be given the opportunity to join the Union of Writers of Russia and the INTERNATIONAL UNION OF WRITERS. The students’ works will be published in the periodicals “Russian Bell”, “Moscow Literary”, “Literary Newspaper”, etc. The project management will supervise the best authors in the future, provide space in sponsored publications, and negotiate with other publications.

Distance learning courses "Economy"

(Not for Moscow and Moscow region)

Cost of education:

Classic prose, light prose, classical poetry – 5,000 rubles. in rubles per month. When concluding a contract, payment is made for the first and last month.

Listeners regularly receive audio recordings of all training seminars and master classes. Students of distance courses, along with students of the full-time program, receive and complete all the same creative tasks, the results of which are sent to a common e-mail box (where the work of all course students will be available), and take equal part in the discussion of the work of all students.

Students undergoing distance learning programs write stories, sketches, short stories, and poems just like everyone else. Based on the results of the training, a book can be published from the accumulated material.

Upon completion of training, students of both forms of courses receive a single Certificate of Course Completion.

In the future, literary agents will work with course graduates: they will represent their interests in the book business, nominate them for awards and literary prizes, and take care of their literary destiny (we maintain strong and long-term connections with the organizing committees of the Debut awards, the SP of Russia award named after A. .P. Chekhov, the RosKon Prize and many others), the best authors will also have the opportunity to publish their book and will be recommended to the Union of Writers of Russia and the International Union of Writers.

Those who have the opportunity to come to Moscow during their studies will be able to attend face-to-face classes once a month.

Information and registration for an interview by phone: 8 903 228 89 03 - Alexander, 8 903 618 97 85 - Elena, texts for the creative competition can be sent to the following email addresses: [email protected] And [email protected](please indicate “Literary courses” in the subject line of the letter).