Contents
Every day, new announcements about the opening of literary courses appear on social networks. There are so many of them that it is already obvious: the mass passion for writing is not accidental and deserves analysis. We talked to those who are learning to write texts.
I have written many articles in my time at Psychologies, but none have been as difficult for me as this one. Paradoxically, writing about writers turned out to be a difficult task!
This is understandable – usually I’m just an author who collects the statements of the characters and the opinions of experts. And this time I combine several roles, because I myself am conducting a one-day training “I write as I breathe” for those who already write, dream about it or strive to overcome a creative crisis.
I started four years ago and remember that at that time my project was, if not the only one, then one of the few. But now the situation has changed. I see more and more announcements about literary studios, courses, workshops, trainings. And among those who come there, not only writers. It sometimes seems like literally everyone wants to “master the pen” or learn how to write better. What is the clue?
healing effect
The word is one of the main tools of a psychologist: feelings, experiences are realized through their expression in words. In literature, the word has a different, aesthetic value. But although the goals of psychotherapy and literature are different, the word can heal both in the first and in the second case.
“Written self-disclosure and expression of meaningful experiences is good for mental and bodily health,” notes narrative psychologist Daria Kutuzova.
She talks about a study conducted by social psychologist James Penbaker: “If participants in the experiments were able to create a good, detailed, richly written and coherent story and describe a strong, deep experience, especially one that they had not previously told anyone about, then their performance improved. immune system, blood pressure stabilized, sleep improved, physical pain became more bearable, and even wounds began to heal faster.”
Interestingly, according to research, both autobiographical stories and fictional stories are beneficial for health; both a story about difficult situations and a story about joyful, happy, peak experiences. Penbaker’s experiments are scientific confirmation of the guess, which was expressed almost two hundred years ago by the poet Yevgeny Baratynsky: “The aching spirit heals the song.” Probably, many feel that prose is not useful in this matter.
“In four years after the course, I wrote four novels”
Anna Vetlugina, composer
“I am a composer and organist by profession. As a child, as a lonely child, I had fun writing different adventures. And so already in her youth she could from time to time publish stories and articles in magazines. But these magazines were not the most noticeable, besides, I wanted to publish my own book. And suddenly I came across an announcement: under the Union of Writers, commercial prose courses were opened. I came there and was shy – everyone seemed to me very advanced. I probably would have run away if it were not for the sensitivity of our teacher Dmitry Volodikhin. A well-known science fiction writer, doctor of historical sciences, professor… He understood everything. He even corrected me, the organist (!), on the issue of the size of the keys of a medieval organ. The courses not only opened a new door to literature for me, but also gave me unexpected outlets for my main profession. I got a monograph about Bach, which was highly appreciated by fellow musicians. In four years after the course, I wrote four novels and two monographs – more than in my entire life. And she won two literary awards.
expand opportunities
“Many come to writing courses with the hope that the experience will empower them,” continues Daria Kutuzova. – Helps to find a form for expressing strong feelings, memories or fantasies. Publication of works, fame and success are possible, but not required. Although it is certainly nice to fantasize about it, and attending classes is an important step towards a dream that promises a sense of power to come true.
However, not everyone will be able to survive it. If anyone can turn to a psychologist, then literary schools and workshops require selection, sometimes quite severe.
“We have set the bar as high as possible,” says writer and translator Maria Golovanivskaya, co-founder of the Good Text school. “We decided to invite those who already write well.” But this does not stop applicants, and perhaps even spurs them on. “Passing a test and being accepted into a certain circle is one of the ways to increase self-esteem,” explains Inna Khamitova, a systemic family therapist.
Among the participants in such projects are not only writers. “Employees of large and small companies, advertising agencies, journalists, teachers, IT specialists study with us,” lists the writer and literary critic Maya Kucherskaya, in whose workshop two full courses have already been completed, “operators, historians, political scientists, mathematicians, necessarily a couple of bored from sitting at home for a long time moms and one or two psychologists per group. What do they want?
Food for the soul
First of all, “to write better, more expressively, more deeply, more professionally,” Maya Kucherskaya answers. “Many of those who have withered their souls at work and crave other food, want to talk not about performance indicators, not about the inanimate, but about heroes, images, learn new names, read new books. In a word, he wants to dive and completely immerse himself in the literary environment.
This is the main goal, but on the way to it, participants receive other bonuses. “Once in a group there comes a moment when the participants stop being afraid of each other and themselves, that’s when you can start,” explains Maya Kucherskaya. “Then a miracle happens, and that’s it—everything!” -begin to write better. A lot is at work here – both the knowledge gained about how to and not to put words together, and being in an atmosphere of creativity, discussion, emotional openness. And just a keen desire to find the exact image, detail.
“When we create, our “I” becomes fuller, and we ourselves become more ourselves”
In literary courses, much attention is paid to the skill of the writer and the quality of the text. “We take the task of teaching very seriously,” notes Maria Golovanivskaya. — It is this seriousness that attracted people to us who are tired of commercial educational services. We do not choose teachers for students, but teachers for students.”
The training “I write as I breathe” focuses on the process of creating a text. This is a one-day psychological practice for creative people who learn to release the energy of inspiration, write improvisation essays according to the methodology of the philosopher Mikhail Epstein and analyze criticism, extracting the maximum benefit from it.
“Two weeks to chat with outstanding people”
Dmitry Makarov, poet
“Actually, I don’t like to study for a long time and systematically. Therefore, I have been gaining knowledge as needed for a long time. Like a foreign language, for example, or sports. Or solfeggio, if you suddenly need it. Therefore, when I saw an ad for admission to Tatiana Tolstaya’s school, I decided to try. First, to find out whether I will pass or not, I passed. Frankly, it was a pleasant moment, because the competition was four people in place. And then I thought: well, it’s only two weeks to communicate with outstanding people – why not? Each writing person has pain points: the search for a topic, his own form, direction of development … Maybe experienced writers can help deal with this? Another argument is the desire to be among one’s own. Today, there are few places where young writers can, as they say in cookbooks, cook together. Classes began at the end of January, but much earlier we were inundated with assignments: write texts on certain topics, read articles and books. There were also storytelling competitions among the students of the school. Here, of course, there was some jealousy and excitement – not only because this is a competition, but also because vanity is very, very characteristic of the authors.
Strengthen the image of “I”
Throughout life, each of us creates an image of ourselves. And the more we like ourselves, the better we feel. “Creativity is one of the unconditionally positive characteristics of a person,” notes Inna Khamitova. “By opening them in ourselves, we get a resource for increasing self-esteem, presenting them to others, we grow in our own eyes.”
When we create, we feel that our “I” becomes more complete, we can say that we become ourselves to a greater extent than before. And getting acquainted with the texts of others, in addition to taste, we develop our attentiveness and ability to empathize.
“Creativity is impossible without a deep penetration into one’s own experience,” emphasizes Daria Kutuzova, “that’s why when discussing works, the personal experiences of their creators are touched upon. It requires special care, but if the rules of psychological safety are observed, the author receives an experience of acceptance, which is important for every person.
Feedback and comments exchanged between participants and teachers help writers to better understand their strengths and weaknesses, to determine the direction of personal and creative development. “The author cares not only for the reader’s opinion, which is not entirely clear how to find out, but also for the opinion of professional colleagues,” agrees Maria Golovanivskaya.
Circle of like-minded people
Participants in literary studios also satisfy one of the most important needs – communication. “This need is often not recognized and not formulated,” says Inna Khamitova, “but for each person it is important to receive signs of attention from others, starting with a simple “How are you?” to deep personal contact.
Communication, which in everyday life is usually superficial and formal, in the course of creative work acquires other characteristics: trust, openness, sincerity. “The opportunity to expand the circle of friends, find like-minded people and be among our own reinforces our self-confidence and gives us the feeling that we are not alone,” notes Inna Khamitova.
If disagreements arise in the literary circle, they are not personal, but aesthetic, and we are guaranteed agreement on the main thing – in striving for beauty. “Everyone is looking for their own kind,” emphasizes Maria Golovanivskaya, “and the opportunity to find their own kind in a situation of joint improvement is much more valuable than the accidental acquisition of loved ones. The thinking part of society has always been formed around the word, so it is also a yearning for such a community, an exchange of energies.”
“Overcome the fear of being misunderstood”
Lera Simonyan, not working, raising two daughters
Before the “I write as I breathe” training, I managed to write several fairy tales and three or four chapters of my main grandiose story. Then the fuse began to gradually fade away. But I still want to finish the job … And I thought that I need to go where I want to write more, I can overcome the fear of being misunderstood, the fear of criticism and self-criticism, and where, perhaps, I can even find my reader. In “I write as I breathe” I just sucked! There was no time to be bored, only annoying breaks were lowered to the ground. Without them, there would be a continuous inspirational flight! When you fly, all expectations are justified, fears are not so terrible, and laziness no longer brings pleasure. Sometimes I was surprised by the admiration with which the participants responded to those essays that for me were frankly a failure, and criticism of what, on the contrary, seemed to me very successful in others. The collective work was unexpectedly difficult. But, perhaps, it doesn’t even matter which of the tasks is more difficult, which is easier – here I am glad that both difficulties and ease are equally useful for creative growth. Here it is, the feeling of openness!”
Create worlds
The author of the text creates a world that is subject to him. Feeling your creative energy and using it is one of the greatest pleasures of creativity.
To experience the feeling of a person standing at the beginning of a new world, Maya Kucherskaya suggests: for this you need to “show what the clichés are, in which our consciousness is captured, destroy this hard shell of stamped expressions, return to a childish state when we looked at the world, not knowing what it’s called. To help everyone turn into Adam again and start giving names to animals, objects, and phenomena.
Life often pushes us to choose between passivity and aggression, to respond to external events according to the biological principle of “freeze, run or fight.” Creative space provides another opportunity – we can rethink events, change their direction at will.
So we get not only power even over those situations that did not really depend on us, but also the freedom to create new stories. Therefore, an artist cannot be a victim, at least not in the process of creation.
And teachers of literary courses are reaching a new level – they create not only in books, but also in life. “I felt incredible inspiration from the fact that we are creating a certain world with our own laws, content,” Maria Golovanivskaya admits. — Every writer, among whom I am, creates the world in his books. We create some world in reality. We are inspired by the hope that we will create a world that will breathe. We have planted a garden and are looking at what flowers will grow there.”