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Alla Krasnova

Contents

Writer and Motivation

A writer can do just fine without external motivation, because he always has an inner motivation, he is born with it. Therefore, it is not necessary to motivate the writer specifically, he will write anyway. We don’t get paid — we write, we don’t win contests — we write anyway. We write even when it’s at a loss to us (expenses for proofreaders, editors, high-quality covers and art).

A writer feels that when he writes, he feels better. A writer feels that when he writes, he is involved in something important. Because «living and writing is easier than living and not writing.» These are the words of a participant in the literary contest «Debut», which took place many years ago, but I still remember these words, because you can’t be more precise.

Let’s add here that unrealized talent turns into a disease. Therefore, writing is often a vital necessity for a writer. In an interview, D. Dontsova said that either her grandfather or someone else just wrote everything by hand in a notebook. When asked, «Why are you doing this?» he replied, «Otherwise I’ll get sick.»

Of course, a writer has stops and breaks, and they should be, but anyway, all writers write because they want to write. It’s not for the sake of becoming famous or making money, we just want to live. To live is in such a full sense, which is understood as happiness (and happiness can also be a test).

But whether you need to expose yourself to external motivation is a big question. Let’s remember our Lev Nikolaevich with his «if you can’t write, don’t write.» That’s what it’s about here. The true meaning of this statement by Leo Tolstoy may escape the reader (read the writer), because this is an abbreviated version of his expression. Entry in Count Leo Tolstoy’s diary dated October 19, 1909: «If you really want to write, then only when you can’t help but write.» Let me decipher it again: you don’t need to additionally stimulate yourself with the buns of external motivation, because the future work that the author has inside must undergo several degrees of purification before it finds a way out to the reader.

External motivation often harms a writer because his inner intention does not have time to mature, and if the energy of the idea has already bubbled and is on the rise, then it does not have time to settle down. In one case, we get raw material, in the other — literature on neurosis. The writer does not need either option, because it is a lost work or a work of poor quality. So it’s better to do without external incentives. Let the writer write only when he is ready for it. He will understand it without prompting, he will feel it, and immediately there will be time for writing, and a place, and everything else. You’ll see.

Copying in writing

If a writer copies another writer, then it’s not a big deal for the other writer (as long as it’s not plagiarism, but an attempt to be similar). It’s not terrible for the writer who copies someone, if it’s a moment of apprenticeship. At the initial stage, the writer often copies someone, and then comes to himself. We can call this copying imitation, he’s just learning. If a writer is constantly copying someone, then this is a problem, but we’ll talk about this later.

A much more interesting and difficult case is when the author begins to copy himself, copy his past works. In most cases, this happens in the twilight of the author’s ignorance, but only for the reason that the author does not want to realize it.

Why it’s bad.

This is bad because the author, by copying himself, his past works, deprives himself of the chance to update, which should happen periodically.

The author’s works are based, among other things, on the energy of discovery, the author is always discovering something. Everyone discovers their own, it depends on the vector of internal development (we are all different).

The problem with copying oneself is that the author does not see this problem. How can the author understand that he has begun to copy himself?

The first thing that should alert the author is the agony of the process, the torture. Writing is hard. The work seems to be quite good, but for some reason it doesn’t work, it’s stalling, it doesn’t seem to want to be written. You have to face the truth and ask yourself questions: «Maybe this has already happened? Am I repeating myself?»

Vulnerability of the text

Any artistic text is vulnerable when it is not closed. How can you make the text less vulnerable? I think it’s air tightness. The tightness of a text is when it is self–contained, that is, it has a certain integrity that accommodates the whole world. And the worlds can be different: both more complicated and simpler.

The more the text seems to be on its own, in other words, it will be itself, the better. The originality and autonomy of the text governs. Well, you know, as psychologists usually tell their clients now, be yourself, that’s what we’ll apply to the text. Let him be himself, and this will protect him from destruction, both external and internal. The text may look light, clumsy, «stingy» on the outside, but if it is closed, if there is a feeling that it is «in the house», then you will not break into it. You may like him or dislike him, but he is, he exists, and that’s how he is.

Another word that can be the key to wholeness is harmonious. And what is harmonious? This is consistent, this is when each part of the test is negotiated with the next one in order to then obey the general idea (form). Yes, an idea is a formative factor.

So, the tightness of the text gives integrity. Even a lightweight text with integrity is practically not vulnerable.

Expiration date of the book

Not only does food have an expiration date, but books also have one. For example, we buy cottage cheese in a store, and the expiration date is written on the package in small print (sometimes very small). The books we buy don’t have an expiration date written on them, but it’s there too, and sometimes I think it should be written. It would be fun, at least, and, at most, would save many readers from disappointment. It’s easy to get poisoned by a book, so don’t read something that doesn’t suit you. Have you ever noticed that what you read sometimes makes you feel sick? This happens not only because of the indigestible content. It often happens that the book is not bad, but the expiration date is out. Some works will last more than a hundred years (or even two hundred), and some will not last even two years, will deteriorate, and will become irrelevant. But it’s not bad, it’s the way it is, all kinds of works are needed.

I recently found my old USB flash drive and decided to see what was in there. My early works were there. I was most interested in the book of fairy tales, with a volume of almost 12 author’s sheets (this is a lot for fairy tales, the writers will understand).

The fairy tales were divided into blocks, they had a table of contents with page numbers, and the most amazing thing was that they were proofread in such a way that even when reading slowly, I found almost no errors (!). It’s not typical for me, but then I tried very hard. Ten years ago, I sent them to publishers, but, of course, there was no result.

So I started thinking about what to do with them now. To publish as one book or to publish individually only those that I like the most. Anyway, I walked around them in circles for about a week, and then I made a verdict: they are morally outdated. Yes, my fairy tales couldn’t stand ten years of storage. This does not negate their value for me as an author, but I no longer want to publish them.

How do you feel about your early works? Can you specify their expiration date? And is there an eternal literature at all, for all time?

A question about time

«How long have you been writing this book (work)?» — this question is capable of baffling any writer, because it is not clear how to count. If we count the purely technical part, then we get one figure, and if we add to this the time for «thinking» that was before, then this figure is completely different. And if you understand that the work begins long before the author begins to think specifically about it, then you can completely lose the answer.

In addition, the authors of large works also like to start with short works, outline something in one story, then in another, and then write a full-fledged novel where all these ideas will be developed. Are we going to take into account these stories that were before the novel or not?

Or, let’s say the author wrote a novel, but was not ready to show it to the world, he had this novel on his shelf for five years, then the author matured to expand it to a new level. Are we going to include these five years of downtime in the time frame of writing a novel? For example, everything counts with me. Even if the author did not deal with this novel specifically, the work was going on anyway, he was secretly thinking about it, and at some point the energy accumulated, the author matured.

In general, it is very difficult to count the time spent working on a work, because the work of a writer is not limited to a purely technical part. What is the technical part? It’s just a whoosh, and that’s it, I wrote it. If there is something to write, it will be easy to write. The main work does not take place on paper, but in the writer’s soul, and only then is it fixed by consciousness and transferred to paper.

Many authors gracefully evade the issue of time and are doing the right thing. I’ve often heard writers respond like this: «You could say I’ve been writing this book all my life.»

What do you think, dear writers?

The key to the work

Entry into the work is carried out through the author’s strong side. If the entry into the work does not occur, then the author slides along the top edge, but does not sink inside.

This problem has become very relevant due to technological progress: artists with ready-made covers have entered the market. Previously, this problem was not so relevant, because most authors first came up with a story, then the story unfolded, and only then the cover was applied to this story. That is, the cover went to the finished text.

There are a lot of ready–made covers now, so more and more writers will follow the path of not «text — cover», but «cover — text». And let’s see what happens: the author sees the cover, he likes it, he begins to fantasize (or puts it on his spontaneously conceived idea), gives a name, the artist writes the name on the cover in a beautiful font, the work is paid for. That’s it, the author is happy. And then the author tries to tell this story, which until recently shone so brightly in his brain, but somehow it’s not the same, it comes out dimly. This is all because the author is sliding on the edge, well, like on an eggshell, but you need to get inside in order to live this story from the inside. I called the article «The Key to the Work,» although it would be more accurate to say «The Door to the Work.»

Entry into the work is carried out through the author’s strong side. The author’s strong side forms the door through which one can enter the work, like a house.

The author’s strong point can be anything. I believe that it is not necessary now to write platitudes and give examples of the strengths of the authors, so that the authors do not get caught up in this. After all, sometimes the author’s strong point turns out to be in the most unexpected things. The only problem is to figure it out, because the authors prefer not to notice their strengths. Usually the authors notice that? What they do the worst is because there are problems and stops associated with it. And the strengths escape the author’s attention, because everything turns out easily and naturally.

And yet: the author must have a strong side.