Write Like Leo

Maryana Selezneva and her btips to help future authors or people who want to improve writing skills.

Write Like Leo

There is a belief that there are people with congenital writing talent. Perhaps some humanitarians did better than people with a technical mindset. However, writing skills can be improved and honed and you do not have to be reborn for it.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind no matter what text you are going to write.

  • Do not use compound words unless you know their exact meaning

    Make sure you know the meaning of all complex words and terms that you use otherwise the risk of misusing the word will be very high.

  • Write easier

    We all understand that sometimes we want to feel like Leo Tolstoy. Even if you have a superpower to write very long sentences, think 10 times before doing it. If your text is not a future novel or saga, then, by all forces, keep yourself from complicating grammatical constructions. This may take some time but try it. Mastery is in simplicity.

  • Read out loud

    Use this tip when at home or with friends. Speaking the text out loud helps you notice imperfections in it. In addition, your friends may notice that you missed or did not pay attention to.

  • Fact-checking is your best friend

    Be sure to carefully check the information. If your information is outdated or even worse - fake, you can have big troubles.

  • Relax

    Text written in a nervous state will turn out to be weak. You should not count on high results if you are going to write text on the go or in a hurry. Also, you do not need to write in a state of chronic fatigue and lack of sleep. If you feel freshness and energy, you can fart these feelings to your text and charge your readers with them.

Apart from these tips, you should also pay attention to the very tips of Leo Tolstoy which he mentions in his diaries.

  • Well or badly you must continue to write

    If you write, you get used to the work and form a syllable, though without direct benefit.

  • Get up early and start writing

    After awake, you need to write, not dwelling on what seems weak. You can improve later, however, time lost will not return.

  • Use the drafts, then rewritten twice

    I need to write a draft, not thinking about the expression of the right thought. The second time you should rewrite, eliminating all unnecessary and giving the right place to every thought. The third time you should rewrite, processing the correctness of expressions used.

Many have heard of Leo Tolstoy's advice for those who want to learn how to write. But did you know that the famous writer once wanted to give up literature?

In the spring of 1859, Tolstoy took a sudden decision to stop writing. After leaving St. Petersburg, he settled in his residence "Yasnaya Polyana". This was the period of the writer's crisis in the life of the genius author. That is how he described his condition: a keen sense of religious and moral impasse.

Hard to believe, but such brilliant authors as Tolstoy can be critical of their works too.

As I came to the village and reread it, turned out to be such a shameful stuff that I can not recover from the shame and it seems I will never write again. But it ("Family Happiness") has already been published. 

It is interesting to know how the writer coped with the crisis. The best way for anyone who is faced with creative burnout is a switch on other activities. For example, Leo Tolstoy began to teach peasant children to read and write in school, which was created by himself in his estate.

In fact, Tolstoy renounced literature several times but found the motivation and the strength to return to it, resorting to a method of distraction – teaching and pedagogy.

In conclusion, it is necessary to note: to write well, first and foremost you need patience and practice. If you feel that you are too tired and lost inspiration, try to do something completely different. Tips and advice listed above will definitely help you write a really worth reading work.

Text by
Maryana Selezneva