Learning to write: writing lessons

THESabel Allende said: «Two things have always saved my life: cooking and writing». While it is obvious that a cooking class helps to eat well and make a good impression with friends, without wanting to become a chef, there are many misunderstandings about writing. That it is natural, inspired by inspiration, and sometimes it is, that it is not necessary to learn. But have you ever heard of a pianist who hasn’t studied? Of a singer who doesn’t do voice exercises?

Writing, hobby or craft

Writing is a multitasking tool. It can be therapeutic, recreational and can become a profession. How do you observe it psychologist Claudio Riséin this time flattened on the binomial sight-hearing (music, TV series, fast images, social networks) there is a need for a “re-education”.

Nothing strange that fiction has entered coaching programs, psychoanalytic sessions, couples therapy. Social networks continually invite you to post ideas, opinions, memories. Not to let experiences «get lost» says the Blade Runner replicant, «like tears in the rain». In short, you need to know how to write. But sometimes words just fail. For those looking for them, for those who want to become the author of their own personal novel, there are fun and useful exercises to change your point of view, like putting yourself from the perspective of an insect or exploring an unfamiliar neighborhood…

Writing tips

There Holden School of Turin (320 resident students and five thousand attending short or online courses) is one of the most interesting creative laboratories. Founded thirty years ago by Alessandro Baricco, it has offered tools to hone the talent of translators, screenwriters, essayists and of course storytellers, from Cristiano Cavina to Andrea Marcolongo, up to the very recent success of Beatrice Salvioni with the novel The Malnata.

And here is one of the advice made in Holden (you will find many more in the booklet series Writing lessons offered with Corriere della Sera starting from 31 Augustall releases below): «The number one enemy of your creative gaze is habit. Here is one funny way to deceive her: switch senses. Come on, smell a picture, look at half of a zucchini for a long time, suck a pencil, listen to the water in the sink, caress a packet of crackers. And don’t forget to take notes.”

And again: «Choose a friend of yours, make a list of their characteristics and write their biography for a dating site. Then use the same list to write their letter of application for the position of CEO of a company that manufactures printers. Even if the person remains the same, a lot can change depending on the elements we decide to highlight. Thus, what we see is always what we decide to see». There are also some small challenges, such as this: «Describe your favorite dish without using taste or smell».

Writing changes lives

For Agnes Ledig, midwife, casual newcomer and bestselling author in France (in Italy she published The sound of falling leavesMondadori) writing can change your life, even if you don’t become famous: «Storytelling is the ladder that allows you to climb to a higher level. It does many things. To meet again. To rediscover the senses. Looking for a happy ending.”

Alice Munro, 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature, rewrote the ending of the Little Mermaid, which she considered “unfair”, long before the Disney film. Says Martino Gozzi, writer, managing director of Holden, after having taught for many years: «Everything that surrounds us can be narrative material. Writing is a powerful tool for getting to know each other or for learning how to express your feelings, even without thinking of an audience. Fears, wounds, dreams that would remain under lock and key, never seen by anyone, not even by ourselves, come out, are transferred to the page. So we do something very important: we get out of the flow, we stop, we try to make sense of our experience. It’s an attitude, and a need that affects everyone. Barack Obama at 30 was a promising rookie with the memoir My father’s dreamsand always considered himself a writer».

speed antibodies

The need for reflection also resurfaces in digital natives who start with a post and end up producing novels. Some express themselves with long stories about self-publishing platforms: the best-known bestsellers for young adults, from the After saga to the Tearmaker, come from there. Perhaps it was the speed that produced antibodies.

“One of these,” he assures with satisfaction Alicia Giménez-Bartlett, beloved for the stories of investigator Petra Delicado “It’s just the writing. You can do some introspection, of course, but nothing prevents you from writing a masterpiece».

A Writing lessons with iO Donna and il Corriere

“Writing lessons” is an initiative by Corriere della Sera in collaboration with iO Donna. Each issue is on sale for 6.90 euros + the price of the newspaper.

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