The art of writing letters. Writing skills - how to learn to write texts correctly

The art of writing letters is very important place both classical and contemporary culture Japan.

Communication through letters is extremely characteristic of medieval Japan, as evidenced by numerous examples from the literature. For example, the autobiographical Diary of an Ephemeral Life (Kagero: Nikki), written by Mititsuna no haha ​​and dating from the 10th century, is replete with letters in poetic form, which are exchanged in many main characters. Each letter-poem necessarily contains a mention of the state of nature, and this compositional element is also characteristic of modern Japanese letters. The beginning of a polite letter is always a description of natural phenomena (flora, fauna, weather, etc.) corresponding to the time of writing. Even in short e-mails sent to friends via mobile phone, the first sentence, albeit a tiny one, is often about the weather, and this is no coincidence. However, in business letters about the weather, on the contrary, it is not worth spreading, since this can irritate the addressee who wants to get to the heart of the matter as soon as possible.

In the 12th century, Japan already had a special polite writing style - co:ro:boon, including "seasonal words" (kigo), in many gleaned from exquisite poetic messages exchanged by the aristocracy, and from already rich literature by that time.

In general, the Japanese corresponded with each other throughout the ages, which justified their commitment to electronic correspondence. Despite the fact that the etiquette of an electronic message is somewhat simplified compared to a handwritten letter, in some cases, especially when addressing an elder, the Japanese do not skip a single established rule for writing letters. And for this, there are a huge number of thick dictionaries with "seasonal words", collections with tables of polite language, quotes with favorite sayings from letters in classical literature, as well as just manuals for writing letters, from multi-volume to pocket ones.

So, what are the basic rules to remember when writing a letter to a Japanese? Start by describing the weather and immediately inquire about the health of the person you are addressing. For example: “Day and night it rains. How do you feel?”, “It is unbearable heat. How are you doing?”, “Sakura has blossomed. I'm glad to hear that you're all right." When writing in Japanese, if you are addressing an elder, you must use a polite style of speech. (keigo), that is, all appeals to the addressee, the described objects related to him, the mention of his family members must be put in a respectful form. In Japanese, this is achieved through the use of politeness prefixes, compound polite forms, and special polite vocabulary. There is also a layer of self-deprecating vocabulary used, for example, when a contractor addresses a customer in writing or when writing letters to especially important people - teachers, artists, people who have rendered you a great service. All kinds of polite expressions incredibly complicate the process of writing, as they resemble an additional language in the language. It is also necessary to end the letter with a few courteous phrases, depending on the content of the letter. For example: “Thank you for your constant concern for me”, “On this I ask permission to complete my message”, “I sincerely apologize for tearing you away from precious studies and daring to waste your time”, etc. This is followed by a good wish, which can also be used in conjunction with a mention of the weather: “It rains often at this time of the year, be kind, take care of your health”, “The heat is difficult to endure, but I pray for your well-being”, “I ask you be careful and take care of yourself”, etc.

If the letter is written by hand, then an additional set of rules is included here on where and how to sign the envelope correctly, where to enter both addresses, etc. etc. So, on the envelope next to the name of the addressee, you must sign the hieroglyph herself(approximately "Master" or "Madam").

Modern Japanese youth in their messages to each other, however, sometimes ignores the established rules, sometimes even omitting the greeting, which the older generation reasonably complains about, saying that a letter (or even an electronic message) without a greeting, beginning, ending and signature is a letter to anyone and going nowhere. It seems that the Russian youth should take note of this.

In short, if it takes a Russian about half an hour to write an extremely polite letter, the Japanese, by virtue of all of the above, need about two hours. But then it will be almost another masterpiece of the epistolary genre.

to develop in children the ability to withstand the text in the genre of writing;

to acquaint schoolchildren with the history of the postal service;

include each student in an independent creative activity.

Among the personal and meta-subject results that the lesson is aimed at,

Acceptance and development by students of the social role of the student, the development of their motives for learning activities and the formation of the personal meaning of learning;

Development in students of ethical feelings, goodwill and emotional and moral responsiveness, understanding and empathy with the feelings of other people;

Development of children's skills of cooperation with adults and peers;

Mastering the skills of semantic reading of texts of various styles and genres by students in accordance with the goals and objectives; the ability to consciously build a speech statement in accordance with the tasks of communication and compose texts in oral and written forms;

The development of students' readiness to listen to the interlocutor and conduct a dialogue.

Vocabulary words studied in the lesson: Ancient world, Cyrus, King Darius, messenger, relay race, Marathon, Athens, Ancient Rome, Emperor Augustus, courier, pit walking.

Equipment: presentation on the topic “The Art of Writing Letters”, computer, projector, additional material for a desk (cards).

During the classes

1) Organizational moment

E. Asadov

How little a person needs!
One letter. There is only one thing.
And there is no more rain over the wet garden,
And outside the window is no longer dark ...
Fun bonfires lit the ruins,
And everything around is cherry-gold...
And there are no more nerves, no blues,
And there is only a heart of joyful drunkenness!
And now I'm richer than a banker.
They gave me birds, dawn and a river,
Taigu and stars, sea and Pamir.
Your letter, in which the whole world.
How much does a person need.

Teacher: Hello guys. Today we will have a lesson on mail and, of course, writing. Why was this topic chosen?

( When you are waiting for news from loved ones, then receiving a letter cheers you up, you can communicate with interesting people, the horizons are expanding, a cultured person should be able to correctly express his thoughts not only orally, but also in writing, including being able to write letters)

When do we use these skills? (if the person we are addressing is far from us)

2) Update.

Let's now get acquainted with the plan of our today's lesson. (slide1)

Lesson plan

1. The art of writing letters.

2. Plan of the letter.

3. Types of letters.

4. Independent creative activity.

5. The history of the postal service.

3) Definition of the task and purpose of the lesson

Teacher: - What do you think we will learn at the lesson today? ( how letters are composed, what types of letters are, how the postal service arose)

-What are our goals? (Learn to write letters.)

Teacher: Writing has always been a very popular (and sometimes the only) means of communication. Not surprisingly, letter writing has been elevated to the rank of a full-fledged art. It was taken into account to write letters beautifully, starting from the lyceum. It was believed that an educated person simply must be able to write beautiful letters. Those who did not have a light syllable applied for
helping more gifted people, writing letters was not a free service. Now the situation has not changed at all, except that letters have also become electronic. With the help of letters, a modern person exchanges very large flows of information. The letter may describe last news, it may contain an appeal or an offer, the letter may be an invitation or informational. But in any case, it must be correctly composed.

4) Before starting work, I propose to get acquainted with the words consonant with our topic.

Vocabulary work (writing words in a notebook, explaining the meanings of words)SLIDE2

1 Post - Institution for forwarding letters, parcels, parcels; delivery by means of this institution; letters, parcels, parcels delivered to the addressee.

2 Correspondent - a person who conducts correspondence.

3 Epistle - from lat. literary work in the form of a letter, which sets out the judgments of the author.

4 Postscript - from lat. after writing. Usually denoted by the Latin letters PS, postscript to the written.

5 Destination - the person to whom the letter is addressed.

5) Let's remember what parts any essay is divided into, and a letter can be said to be an essay. ( Beginning, main informational part, ending .) You can also give the following list of parts of the letter:(slide 3)

List of letter parts

1 Address, initial phrase about the state of correspondence;

2 Main content of the letter, news report;

3 Questions to the addressee (thanks, requests, greetings);

4 Farewell, signature, date of writing.

What do you think the types of letters are?

(congratulations, letters to relatives, note, business letter, letter of gratitude) On the screen, you can display a slide with a list of types of letters : (slide4)

Types of letters

Letters of congratulations, greetings, wishes (congratulations on the occasion of public holidays, solemn dates);

- household letter (family, friend);

Letter-note (to family, neighbors, to work);

Business letter (letter on work issues);

Thank you letter.)

4. Doing creative work.

a) Well done. Indeed, letters are different, but today in the lesson we will get acquainted with everyday letters. And now let's get involved in independent creative activity. You have cards with additional material for the lesson on your desks. Let's start working with them.I suggest you work in pairs.

-Read Vanyusha's letter. Please tell me, did Vanyusha write a letter or a note? (Note)

Use this template to write a letter to a friend. You can choose your own theme:

ask a friend to come and bring his task book - together you will solve problems;

say that, having solved the problems, you will play; name the game;

ask a friend to invite another boy to make it more fun.

(Students complete the teacher's task, then self-check the completed task. Read several works aloud.

After that, the teacher conducts a physical education minute with the students.)

b) Read the following letter. Determine the type of this letter.

( This is a household letter.

In groups Write a letter to a friend using this pattern. To do this, allocate responsibilities (correspondents, compositor, editor). If the note is on behalf of a girl, then invite a friend to work (cottage, school site, planting flowers, embroidery, a circle, etc.), boys - a friend for fishing. Briefly explain where and how you intend to work or rest.(Students do the task of the teacher.)

So, in order to write a letter correctly, what do you need to know?

(To whom you are contacting, the rules of the Russian language, how to write a letter correctly)

Teacher: Everything is correct. Well done! Now tell me, after the letter is written, that wewe do with it, where do we put it? And in modern times, how else do they send letters?

( We put it in an envelope, seal it and sign it, and then take it to the post office, now letters are often sent by e-mail)

Teacher: Do you know the history of the postal service?

Some of you have prepared messages for today's lesson. Let's listen to them.

(Students make presentations.) SLIDES IN ORDER

Sample message texts

1. Post arose in the ancient world as an intermediary between people. Cyrus, the governor of the Persian king Darius, is considered to be the founder of the postal service. The ancient Persian post office was arranged very expediently. At postal stations located at a distance of 5 km, saddled horses and messengers were waiting, ready for the journey. Mail was relayed. There is evidence that she covered a distance of almost 1000 km in less than 6 days. slide5

2.B Ancient Greece there was no such regular postal service. There were used walking runners, which did not replace each other. One of them went down in history by running from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce the victory over the Persians. The world's first "marathon runner" ran 42 km in a short time and died, reporting the good news.slide6

3.B Ancient Rome mail was streamlined under Emperor Augustus. He organized stations with horse couriers who delivered his verbal orders and letters to all parts of the empire. There were up to 40 horses, bulls and donkeys at each station. 7

4. In Russia in the XII century. A special service was created - pit walking. On the roads branching off from Moscow, pit yards were built, where messengers changed horses. Since 1837, mail began to be transported along railway. Russia was one of the first countries to organize such transportation. eight

5.During the war, communication between military units, ships, various military educational institutions, enterprises, as well as with the population, carried out military field mail. At this most tragic stage in the history of our country, not only soldiers, but also postal workers became heroes. The field mail did not stop its work, despite hunger, cold and constant shelling. Correspondence was brought on sleds, carts, and even simply carried by hand. Very often it was necessary to deliver letters to addressees, crawling under a machine-gun fire, passing through minefields. The main goal was to deliver letters from relatives to soldiers in the trenches, and documents to commanders in dugouts. It was the news from their home that gave the fighters the strength to continue to defend their homeland. 9

Teacher: You all did a good job today. Now please answer my questions:

How did we work on creating the text of the letter? (Answer: we got acquainted with the topic, thought, spoke, remembered the plan for writing a letter, wrote it down.)

What did you learn new today?

Who wants to write a letter to a friend?

(Students answer the teacher's questions, as a result of which they develop the ability to adequately self-evaluate their activities. If desired, the guys read out their letters.)

Please write down homework: based on the knowledge gained, write a letter to your relatives who are far away from you.

Card 1

Dear Vanyusha!

Yesterday I was in the library and took an interesting book. If you're free, come see me today. We honor her together, and then we'll play chess.

Alyosha.

Exercise: Based on the sample of this letter, write a letter-memo to a friend.

In a note:

Ask him to come and bring his problem book - you will solve problems together;

Say that, having solved the problems, you will play; name the game;

Ask him to invite another boy to make it more fun.

Card 2

Alyosha!

You ask to lend you a book. Sorry, I can't, because I'm reading it myself right now. When I'm done, I'll gladly give it to you. I, Kolya, Sonya, Liza are going to go picking berries tomorrow. Perhaps you will come with us? Then come to us at ten o'clock in the morning.

Invite one of ours with you. Berries, they say, now there is an abyss in the forest. We will eat plenty of them and return home, probably not empty-handed.

Vasya.

Exercise: According to the sample of this letter, write a letter to a friend:

Girls invite a friend to work (dacha, schoolyard, planting flowers, embroidery, circle, etc.);

The boys are a friend on a fishing trip.

Briefly explain where and how you intend to work or rest.

Any leadership position is associated with a significant number of letters, and letters always reveal the identity of the author. Take, for example, the apostle Paul. Of his moral purity, reasonable sincerity, and spiritual life, we learn more from his letters than from any other source. When a difficult situation called for Paul's attention, he dipped his pen into tears rather than acid. “Out of great sorrow and afflicted heart I wrote to you with many tears” (2 Cor. 2:4a).

After his rebuking letter to the erring Corinthians, Paul's tender heart moved him to know if he had been too strict. “Therefore, if I grieved you with a message, I do not regret it, although I regretted it; for I see that the message saddened you, but for a time. Now I rejoice … that you are saddened to repentance” (2 Cor. 7:8,9). The purpose of his letter was not to win the argument, but to solve the spiritual problem that had arisen and help the Christians in Corinth to become more mature.

The letters of the apostle Paul abound in inspirational words, generous in praise, and full of sympathy. All who received his letters felt encouraged (Philippians 1:27-30). But this did not prevent him from being straightforward when it was necessary to correct someone's misconceptions. “So, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?<… >I would like now to be with you and change my voice, because I am at a loss about you” (Gal. 4:16,20).

In our letters, it is important to be clear, understandable language, but even more important is the appropriate spirit of the letters. Letters are not the best the best remedy communication. They cannot convey a smile when talking about something difficult, and therefore special care must be taken to ensure that their tone is soft enough.

The letters were important part Paul's programs further work with the churches he founded. George Whitefield did the same. It was said of him that after preaching to large audiences, he would always stay up late, writing letters to encourage new converts.

Notes

1. Quoted in C. W. Hall, Samuel Logan Brengle(New York: Salvation Army, 1933), 278.

Samuel Jones (1709–1784) was an English poet, essayist and lexicographer. His Dictionary of English language» (1747) was considered the standard for a century.

2. Helmut Thielecke, Encounter with Spurgeon(Philadelphia: Fortress, 1963), 26. Charles Hudson Spurgeon (1834–1892), one of the most famous preachers of the 19th century, pastored the Metropolitan Tabernacle Church for thirty-two years. ") in London.

3. A. E. Norrish, Christian leadership(New Delhi: Masihi Sabiyata Sanstha, 1963), 28.

4. Latin American Evangelist, May-June 1965.

5. Robert E. Speer, Christ and Life(New York: Revell, 1901), 103. Frederick William Robertson (1816–1853) was ordained in the English church in 1840, and then became outstanding preacher among the poor working population of Brighton. William Wilberforce (1759–1833), mentioned earlier, was a member of the British Parliament whose work, opposed by big businessmen, eventually led to laws abolishing slavery and the slave trade. In 1804 he helped organize the British and Foreign Bible Society.

6. Ibid., 104. The original text has been modified. Joseph Butler (1692–1752), Anglican bishop, best known for his book The Analogy of Religion (Analogy of Religion, 1736), which is perhaps the best defense of Christian faith written in the 18th century.

7. William Barclay, Letters of Peter and Jude (Edinburgh: St. Andrews, 1960), 258. John Chrysostom (347-407), mentioned above, became one of the early Church Fathers. For ten years he was a monk and a hermit; then served as deacon and priest in Antioch, after which he became patriarch in Constantinople. He was sent into exile for the reason that he preached against evil and intemperance among the high clergy and dignitaries.

8. J. C. Pollock, Hudson Taylor and Maria(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1962), 35.

9. Earnest Gordon, A. J. Gordon(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1897), 191.

10Phyllis Thompson, D.E. Hoste(London: China Inland Mission, n.d.), 158.

11. A. E. Thompson, The Life of A. B. Simpson(Harrisburg: Christian Publications, 1920), 204.

12. H. C. Lees, St. Paul's Friends(London: Religious Tract Society, 1917), 11.

13. A. W. Tozer, let my people Go (Harrisburg, Pa.: Christian Publications, 1957), 36.

14. S. P. Carey, William Carey (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1923), 256.

15. Lettie B. Cowman, Charles E. Cowman(Los Angeles: Oriental Missionary Society, 1928), 269.

16. Mrs. Hudson Taylor, Pastor Hsi(London: China Inland Mission, 1949), 164, 167.

17. Mark Clark (1896–1984) was a lieutenant general in the US military during World War II. Under his command during the Italian campaign was the Fifth Army, and during the armed conflict in Korea, he commanded all the combined forces of the UN.

18 George Adam Smith The Book of Isaiah(London: Hodder & Stoughton, n.d.), 229.

19 James Burns Revival, Their Laws and Leaders(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1909), 311.

20. world vision, February 1966, 5.

Chapter 10

Above all

So, brethren, choose from among yourselves seven people who are known, filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom ... and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit ...

In order to exercise spiritual leadership, people who are filled with the Holy Spirit are needed. Other qualities are important too, but being filled with the Spirit is essential. The book of Acts is the history of those who founded the church and led the missionary movement. It is no coincidence that the most important condition, even for those who did not hold leading positions in the early church, was that they be "filled with the Holy Spirit." These ministers were also to be distinguished by honesty and justice, but first of all by their spirituality. It is possible to have a clear mind or an outstanding art of managing people, but it is impossible to become a real spiritual leader without spirituality.

Behind all the busyness of the apostles was the work of the Holy Spirit doing His work. His work in running the church, His leading role in developing a plan for spreading the gospel, is hard to miss. The Spirit does not give authority to secular or carnal leaders: even if the work itself does not imply any spiritual teaching, it needs servants filled with and led by the Holy Spirit to carry it out. The selection of leaders for the Kingdom should not be based on worldly wisdom, financial condition or social position. The main condition is spirituality. When a church or missionary organization follows a certain list of leadership qualities, it removes the Holy Spirit from leadership. Such behavior offends and quenches the Holy Spirit, and the result can be spiritual hunger and spiritual death for those who do so.

Election of leaders without regard to the criterion of spirituality always leads to non-spiritual leadership. Pearson compared this situation to a large corporation that needs to get rid of its chief administrator. Gradually, key positions in the board and among the directors are occupied by those people who are not satisfied with the policy of their boss. They imperceptibly impede the execution of his orders, frustrate his plans and destroy his policies in every possible way. Where previously the chief administrator met with support and a desire to cooperate, now he is expected to be indifferent and inactive, until he finally leaves his post, completely unable to govern any longer. corporation 1 . Similarly, appointing leaders with a secular or materialistic outlook does not allow the Holy Spirit to care for the spiritual growth of the congregation.

The Holy Spirit never controls anyone against his or her will. When leadership position occupies a person who lacks spiritual fitness to work with Him, the Holy Spirit simply steps aside, leaving him to carry out his own plans, according to his own standards, but without the help of the Spirit. The inevitable result of this is non-spiritual guidance.

The church in Jerusalem listened to the preaching of the apostles and chose seven ministers with this one necessary quality. Through their work, filled with the Holy Spirit, the church received a great blessing: those who were chosen to distribute food and take care of earthly things soon showed themselves as messengers of the Spirit, spreading heavenly blessings. Stephen became the first martyr for Christ, and his death played an important role in the conversion of the apostle Paul. Philip became an evangelist and his Spirit was used to start a great revival in Samaria. Leaders who are faithful in the use and development of their gifts prepare the way for greater accomplishment and greater effectiveness in ministry.

The book of Acts clearly shows that the leaders who had a significant impact on the Christian movement were filled with the Spirit. Of the One who commanded His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for power from on high, it is written that He Himself was anointed "with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts 10:38a). The one hundred and twenty disciples who were in the upper room were also "all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:4a). Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit as he addressed the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:8). Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, testified of Christ and died a martyr (Acts 6:3–5; 7:55). Paul began his extraordinary ministry and continued it filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17; 13:9). Barnabas, Paul's missionary companion, was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:24). We will show amazing blindness if we do not notice the obvious need for this quality for a spiritual leader.

These early church leaders were sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Because they surrendered their will to the Holy Spirit, they gladly obeyed His instructions and followed His promptings. Philip left Samaria, where a great revival was in full swing, and went into the wilderness, but what a wonderful convert he brought to Christ in this way (Acts 8:29-39)! The Holy Spirit helped Peter overcome his prejudice and go to Cornelius, which resulted in the blessing of the Gentile world (Acts 10:9-23; 11:1-18). The Spirit called Paul and Barnabas and sent them out as the church's first missionaries (Acts 13:1–4). Paul throughout his active life obeyed the Holy Spirit when He either prompted him to do something or kept him from certain actions (Acts 16:6-8; 19:21; 20:22). The leaders of the church in Jerusalem were subject to the Spirit. “It is pleasing to the Holy Spirit and to us,” was how the meeting of leaders voiced their decisions (Acts 15:28).

The Holy Spirit stepped in when it was necessary to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. The greatest purpose of the Holy Spirit is missionary work. Shouldn't we pursue the same goal?

As I write this, the Holy Spirit is at work in the churches of Asia, giving ministers a new vision and a burning desire to serve. For example, the churches in Japan have sent their missionaries to many parts of the world, from the island of Taiwan to Brazil. While the number of North American and European missions remains unchanged, the heavenly Strategist is awakening the Asian churches to help them carry out their missionary duties. In just over three thousand Third World Christians have followed God's call to missionary work.

Paul instructed the leaders of the church in Ephesus how to feel about their office: “Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers” (Acts 20:28a). These leaders held their positions not by apostolic election or popular vote, but by appointment from above. They reported not only to the church, but also to the Holy Spirit. What wonderful confidence, what a sense of responsibility, what spiritual authority such a teaching brought to them and continues to bring to us!

How could the apostles have been able to cope with the superhuman task before them without this infilling with the Holy Spirit at the feast of Pentecost? They needed superhuman strength to wage an uncompromising struggle against the devil and hell (Luke 24:49; Eph. 6:10-18).

Being filled with the Holy Spirit simply means that a Christian willingly gives his life and his will to the Holy Spirit. Through faith, the personality of the believer is filled with the Spirit, and then He begins to lead and control the Christian. The word "fulfill" does not mean "to fill an indifferent vessel" but "to take charge of the mind." We find this meaning of the word in the Gospel of Luke: the witnesses of the miracle performed by Jesus were "filled with fear" (Luke 5:26). When we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us, He takes over our lives with amazing power and enthusiasm.

To be filled with the Holy Spirit means to be controlled by the Spirit. The mind, emotions, will, and physical abilities of a Christian leader become available to the Holy Spirit, so that He uses them and directs them to the right path. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the natural talents of a leader develop to the highest degree are blessed to achieve a holy purpose. Through the work of the now unquenched and unoffended Holy Spirit, all the fruits of the Spirit in the leader's life begin to grow. His evangelism becomes more successful, his ministry more stable, his testimony more convincing. Any true Christian ministry is nothing but the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit through believers who obey Him (John 7:37-39).

If we pretend to be filled with the Spirit, or hold back our desire to fully submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we are putting ourselves in the predicament that E. W. Tozer warns against:

No person whose senses have been accustomed by skill to distinguishing between good and evil cannot but be grieved at the sight of zealous souls striving to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and at the same time continuing to live in a state of moral heedlessness bordering on sin. Anyone who is indwelled by the Holy Spirit must search his life for hidden iniquity. He must cleanse his heart of everything that is not in harmony with the character of God revealed in Holy Scripture… There can be no indulgence towards evil, one cannot simply laugh off what God hates 2 .

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is vital for a spiritual leader. And each of us is as filled with the Holy Spirit as we really want to be.

spiritual gifts

Christians around the world have spiritual gifts that have not yet been discovered or used. The leader is obliged to help in identifying these gifts for the service of the Kingdom, to develop them, to distribute their possibilities. Spirituality alone does not make a leader such, he must also have natural talents and gifts received from God.

Our war against evil requires the supernatural equipment that the Lord has given us in the form of the spiritual gifts of the church. For spiritual gifts to be used effectively, they must be enriched with spiritual grace.

Very often, though not always, the Holy Spirit gives the Christian leader precisely those gifts that are remarkably suited to his character and personality. Samuel Chadwick, the famous Methodist preacher, once said that when he himself was filled with the Holy Spirit, he received not a new mind, but a new mind; not a new language, but a new effect in what he said; not a new language, but a new Bible. Chadwick's natural abilities were developed, new life, new strength was invested in them.

The appearance of spiritual gifts in the life of a Christian does not exclude natural gifts, but improves and encourages them. The new birth in Jesus Christ does not change natural qualities, but when placed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, these qualities take on new efficacy. Often hidden opportunities are discovered.

Anyone called by God to spiritual leadership can be sure that the Holy Spirit has endowed him or her with all the gifts necessary for the ministry that needs to be done at this time.

Notes

1. A. T. Pierson, The Ads of the Holy Spirit (London: Morgan & Scott, n.d.), 63. Arthur Tappan Pearson (1837–1911) was a preacher, writer, and missionary speaker who contributed to the preparation of the Scofield Commentary Bible. (Scofield Reference Bible) as a consultant.

2. D. J. Fant, A. W. Tozer(Harrisburg: Christian Publications, 1964), 73, 83.

Chapter 11

Prayer and guidance

So, first of all, I ask you to make prayers, petitions, intercessions, thanksgiving for all people.

The spiritual leader, in regard to prayer, must go ahead of the rest of the church. And yet, even the most experienced leader realizes that there is endless progress in the prayer life. And he will never feel that he has "already achieved." DeanS. J. Vaughan once stated: “If I wanted to put someone in their place, I would ask him how he is doing with prayer. I don’t know of any topic that can compare with this one in terms of the number of woeful confessions.”

Prayer is the oldest, most universal and most intense way of expressing religious feelings. These are both simple words coming from the mouth of a child, and the sublime prayers of the elderly. Both those and others reach the heavenly throne. Prayer is truly the breath and native atmosphere of a Christian.

But, ironically, many of us find it rather difficult to pray. We do not experience a natural delight in drawing near to God. Often we only verbally acknowledge the power of prayer and the pleasure of it. We call prayer a necessary attribute of the believer's life, we know that Scripture calls for prayer. However, very often we simply do not pray ourselves.

Let us try to find encouragement for ourselves from those holy leaders who have overcome their innate reluctance to pray and have become exceedingly powerful in prayer. About Samuel Chadwick wrote:

He was eminently a man of prayer. Every morning shortly after six he was up and had a small room, which he turned into a secluded sanctuary where he spent time with the Lord before eating breakfast. In the presence of people, he prayed with such force precisely because he was constant in solitary prayer to God ... When he prayed, he expected God to act. “I regret that I did not pray enough,” he wrote at the end of his life, “I would rather have worked less, but prayed more; and in my heart I regret that I did not pray as well as I would have liked” 1 .

“When I start to pray,” one well-known Christian confessed, “my heart goes very reluctantly to God, and then with great reluctance remains with Him.” This is where self-discipline comes into play.

“When you feel the uttermost reluctance to pray, do not give in to it,” he advises, “but do your best and still pray, even if it seems that you are unable to pray.”

Perfecting the art of prayer, like everything else, takes time. The amount of time we devote to this will determine how much importance we place on prayer. For what is important to us, we always find time. The most common excuse for those who spend little time in prayer is a list of what needs to be done - all our tasks and duties that fill the whole day. For Martin Luther, each additional load of responsibilities was reason enough to pray more, not less. Just look at how he describes his plans for the next day: “Work, continuous work from early morning until late at night. In general, I have so much to do tomorrow that I will devote the first three hours to prayer.”

If Martin Luther prayed when he was so busy, then so can we.

Try to describe exactly how prayer works, and you will immediately run into a number of very difficult riddles. But people who are skeptical about the effectiveness of prayer are usually the ones who are not serious about the practice of prayer or are not inclined to obey God when He reveals His will. We cannot understand what prayer is unless we pray. No philosophy has ever taught prayer. Intellectual questions about the nature of prayer are resolved as a result of the joy of answered prayer and a closer relationship with God.

The Christian leader who seeks to find a role model will do the right thing by looking to the example of Jesus Himself. Our faith in the need for prayer comes from observing His life. Surely, if anyone could lead a life on their own, without prayer, it would be the Son of God Himself. If praying was foolish, Jesus would not waste time praying. But wait! Prayer was the most important characteristic of His life and permanent part His teachings. Through prayer, His moral vision remained clear and unclouded. Prayer gave Him the courage to do the perfect but difficult will of His Father. Prayer paved the way for the Transfiguration. For Jesus, prayer was not just an addition to life that could be quickly let go, but a duty that brought joy.

In the Gospel of Luke we find a general remark that sheds light on the daily life of the Lord: "But he went into desert places and prayed" (Luke 5:16). This is not about a single event, but about many cases that the evangelist describes in one phrase. Seeking solitude for prayer was the custom of our Lord. When He left people, as a rule, He climbed far enough into uninhabited places - He went into the wilderness. It was rather strange to the observers of that time that He Who had so much power, so much spiritual strength, considered it necessary for Himself to constantly resort to the source of strength in order to renew His weary spirit. For us, it is even more amazing that He, the Prince of Life, the Eternal Word, the Only Begotten Son of God, in humility fell on his face before the throne of God, in prayer asking for grace to help in time of need 2.

Christ spent whole nights in prayer (Luke 6:12). Often He got up before dawn, so that nothing would prevent Him from communicating with the Father (Mark 1:35). The greatest turning point in His life and ministry began when He prayed for long periods of especially fervent prayer, as recorded in the Gospel of Luke: “He went into desert places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). These words indicate that for Jesus this was the norm of behavior, routine. By the word and by His own example, He instructed His disciples, showing them the importance of solitude in prayer (Mark 6:46 - immediately after the feeding of five thousand people; Luke 9:28 - before the Transfiguration). For those who have the responsibility of choosing a group to carry out a certain spiritual ministry, the Lord Himself will be a shining example, Who spent the whole night in prayer before choosing apostles for Himself (Luke 6:12).

Both our Lord and His servant, the Apostle Paul, pointed out quite clearly that true prayer is not thoughtful daydreaming. “Any sincere prayer drains the vitality of a person. True intercession is a bleeding sacrifice,” wrote J. G. Jowett. Jesus performed miracles without visible signs of exertion, but "with loud cries and tears" offered "prayers and supplications" (Heb. 5:7).

Sometimes our prayers are weak and unattractive compared to the prayers of Paul or Epaphras. “Epaphras greets you…he who always strives for you in prayer,” writes Paul (Col. 4:12a). And in the same epistle he declares: “I desire that you know what a struggle I have for your sake” (Col. 2:1a). From the Greek word translated in this passage as “feat”, such words as “agony”, “agonize” come. The word is used to refer to someone who works hard to exhaustion (Col. 1:29) or someone who competes in athletics to win a prize (1 Cor. 9:25). It is also used to describe a soldier fighting for his life (1 Tim. 6:12) or a man doing everything to save his friends from danger (John 18:36). True prayer is a diligent spiritual exercise requiring the greatest mental discipline and concentration.

We can be inspired by the fact that Paul, who is probably the most unparalleled man in the world of prayer, confessed, “We don’t know what to pray for as we should.” And after that he hastened to add: “The Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings inexpressible. He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:26,27). The Spirit joins us in prayer and puts its requests into our requests.

All Christians need to learn more about the art of prayer, and the Holy Spirit is the best teacher. The help of the Spirit in prayer is mentioned in the Bible more often than His help in any other situation. All true prayer comes through the work of the Spirit in our soul. Both Paul and Jude point out that the most effective prayer is "prayer in the Spirit." This means that we are praying in the same direction, for the same things, in the same name as the Holy Spirit. True prayer ascends in the spirit of the Christian through the indwelling Spirit.

Praying in the Spirit is important for two reasons. First, we must pray in the realm of the Holy Spirit, for He is the environment and atmosphere of the Christian life. We often fail to do this. Many prayers are psychic rather than spiritual, they only take place in the realm of the mind, the result of our own thoughts and not what the Spirit teaches us. But real prayer goes much deeper than that. It uses the physical capabilities of the body, requires the obligatory cooperation of the mind, and takes place in the supernatural realm of the Holy Spirit. Such a prayer really has weight in the spiritual realm, in heaven.

Second, we should pray with the power and energy of the Holy Spirit. “Pray with every prayer and supplication at all times in the Spirit, and be diligent about this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18). Since the task of prayer is superhuman, and forces for it are needed such that they exceed human capabilities. We have the Spirit of power, as well as the Spirit of prayer. All the energy of people's hearts, minds, and human wills can produce miraculous human results, but prayer in the Holy Spirit releases superhuman possibilities.

The Holy Spirit is happy to help us in prayer. We can count on His help to overcome each of our three major obstacles to prayer. Sometimes sin in our heart keeps us from praying. When we are strengthened in trust in God and humility, the Holy Spirit leads us to the blood of Christ, which cleanses all sin.

Sometimes, due to the weakness of the body, we are too attached to earthly, worldly concepts. We may get sick or feel unwell, we are weak. The Spirit gives life to our bodies and enables us to overcome weakness, even when it is caused by a hot tropical climate.

In addition, as if these three obstacles in prayer are not enough, the spiritual leader still has to resist Satan in prayer. Satan will seek to make him doubt or disappointment, depression, to interfere with his communion with God. In the Holy Spirit, we have a heavenly ally in the fight against this supernatural enemy.

For a spiritual leader, praying in the Spirit should be part of his daily life. Do we sometimes strive to live independently of the Spirit? Does it happen that we do not see the full answer to prayer? We can read about prayer all day long, but experience only a small part of its power, thereby hindering the development of our ministry.

In the Bible, prayer is often identified with spiritual warfare. “Because our wrestling is ... against principalities, against authorities, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spirits of wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). There are three personalities involved in the battle during prayer. A Christian, when he prays, is between God and Satan. Although Christians themselves may be weak, they play an important role in the struggle between the dragon and the Lamb. The praying Christian does not have any personal power or power - he has only the power given to him by the victorious Christ, with whom the faithful Christian is united by faith. Faith is like a link by which the victory won at Calvary reaches the prisoners of the devil and brings them out of darkness into light.

Jesus was not so much concerned about evil people and their transgressions as he was about the forces of evil causing these people to sin. Behind the denial of Peter and the betrayal of Judas was the sinister figure of Satan. “Get away from Me, Satan,” the Lord replied to Peter's unceremonious rebuke. There are many people around us, bound by sin, captives of the devil. Our prayers must be offered not only for them, but also against Satan, who keeps them as his prey. Satan must be made to loosen his grip, and this can only be done through the victory of Christ on the cross.

Since Jesus focused more on the cause of sin than on its consequences, a spiritual leader should adopt the same prayer tactics. In addition, the leader must know how to help those who are close to him also participate in this spiritual battle.

In one wonderful illustration, Jesus compared Satan to a strong man fully armed. Before anyone can enter such a person's house and free the captives, the owner of the house must first be bound. Only then can the successful rescue of the prisoners be accomplished (Matt. 12:29). What can the words “bind the strong man” mean, except how to depower him with the help of the all-conquering power of Christ, who came “to destroy [annul, put into disrepair] the works of the devil”? And how can this happen if not through the prayer of faith that comes from the victory at Calvary and with it solves any given problem? We should not hope that we can free anyone from Satan's prison if we do not first disarm the enemy. God reveals His holy authority through prayer, and we can confidently claim it. “Behold, I give you authority to attack… against all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19a).

The spiritual leader will not disregard the most effective way of influencing people. Hudson Taylor's statement is widely known: "A person can be influenced by prayer alone, through God." During his missionary work, he proved hundreds of times how true this statement is.

It is one thing to believe in the availability of such power, and another thing to use it. People are not easily moved, it is much easier to pray for material things and needs than to deal with the stubbornness of the human heart. But it is precisely in such difficult situations that the leader must use God's power to influence the hearts of people in the direction that he considers God's will. Prayer plays the role of a key to this complex lock that he has to open.

The greatest honor and privilege human being is the right to say yes or no to God. People are given free will. However, therein lies the complication. If we can influence the behavior of others through prayer, isn't that an attack on free will? Does this mean that God, in response to someone's prayer, limits the other person's freedom of choice? This is hard to imagine. But, on the other hand, if prayer does not influence the course of events, then why pray at all?

The first thing to note is the fact that God is always consistent in His actions and does not contradict Himself. If God promises to answer a prayer, there will always be an answer - always in the form that corresponds to His divine nature, since God “cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). No word or action of God contradicts any other word or action of God.

Second, to answer these questions, it is important to know that intercessory prayer is God's command. God commanded us to pray, and we can be sure that if our prayers meet certain requirements, we will definitely receive answers. God sees no contradiction between free will and the divine answer to prayer. When God commands us to pray "for kings and for all those in authority," this implies a latent ability to influence the direction in which a person moves and how events occur. If not, then why pray? Our obligation to pray transcends any dilemma regarding the results of prayer.

Thirdly, we can know the will of God regarding the prayer we bring to Him. Our ability to know the will of God is the basis for all praying in faith. God can speak clearly to us through our minds and hearts. The Bible gives us clear instructions about what the will of God is in all areas of our life. The Holy Spirit lives and works in our heart, instructing us in the will of God (Rom. 8:26,27). When we earnestly seek the will of God regarding our request, the Holy Spirit enlightens our minds and convinces our hearts. Such confidence given by God, takes us from praying with hope to praying in faith.

When God burdens our hearts with something, thereby prompting us to constantly pray, He is clearly going to answer our prayers. George Mueller was once asked if he really believed that the two men for whom he had been praying for more than fifty years could still repent. Muller replied, "Do you think God would have been urging me to pray for them all this time if He wasn't going to save them?" In fact, both men came to God, one of them shortly after Muller's death 3 .

In prayer, we directly deal with God, and only in the background - with other people. The purpose of prayer is to reach the ears of God. Prayer moves people because of God's influence on them. It is not prayer itself that influences people, but the God to whom we pray.

Prayer moves that hand

What drives the world

To move people, a leader must be able to speak to God in a way that touches Him, for God has clearly shown that He moves people in answer to prayer. If the cunning Jacob received from God the power to "strengthen men," then no doubt any leader, if he follows God's principles of prayer, can receive the same power (Gen. 32:28).

Effective Prayer that influences people is the result of a right relationship with God. The Bible is quite direct on the reasons why prayers go unanswered, and each of the reasons has to do with the relationship of the believer and God. God will not answer prayers that come from personal selfish purposes, or prayers that come from impure motives. If a Christian clings to sin, he thereby prevents God from hearing it. God is least inclined to tolerate unbelief, the chief of sins, because "he who comes to God must believe" (Heb. 11:6). In all our prayers, the most important motive is the glory of God.

The great leaders of whom the Bible speaks were also great in prayer. “They were leaders not because they were sharp-witted, endowed with inexhaustible abilities, innate talents, or well educated, but only because they had the power of God at their disposal through prayer” 4 .

Notes

1. N. G. Dunning, Samuel Chadwick(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1934), 19.

2. D. M. McIntyre, The Prayer Life of Our Lord(London: Morgan & Scott, n.d.), 30–31.

3. George Muller (1805-1898) was one of the leaders of the Plymouth fraternity who refused a salary, believing that God, through prayer alone, would supply all his needs. Through the power of prayer, he established a home for 2,000 teenagers in Bristol, and preached the importance of prayer during a seventeen-year world tour.

I am to v a m p and sh u - what is it?

BUT . FROM . P u w k i n
Everyone wrote letters - tsars, merchants, county ladies, hussars in love, Vanka Zhukov and even Zaporozhye Cossacks. What was in them? Village and trade news, business state secrets and love letters, requests for financial assistance and girlish secrets, the scent of perfume and sealing wax - all of life. All these works of the genre called epistolary were delivered by the Post Office! The same Russian Post, which is now 180 years old!

The need for communication through writing arose so long ago that not a single birch-bark letter will tell us for sure about this, because the first of them has not yet been found! But the first guard network appeared in St. Petersburg in January 1833. The capital was divided into 17 postal districts, and then letters were not thrown into the mailbox (it appeared later - in 1848), but taken to the shopkeeper! Letters were collected by the postman three times a day and delivered to the post office. And from there - oh, a trio of birds ... through post stations. I wonder how often the letters disappeared then?

An old letter-book or how to write letters

For centuries, writing has been not only popular, but sometimes the only means of communication. Writing letters was even elevated to the rank of art and taught the correct and even beautiful writing of letters. An educated person simply had to be able to express his thoughts in a letter competently, beautifully, correctly. Those who did not know how to write at all applied for this service for a fee - in any tavern there was such a "writer", in any village there was a literate ....


In 1822, the Printing House of the Imperial Theaters published "The latest most complete and detailed letter book or general secretary in 4 parts, containing

Letters of all kinds, used in the hostel and adapted to all cases and circumstances, with preliminary rules and instructions to compose and write all sorts of letters to different persons and about different subjects.

The scribe talked about letters and attitudes towards them in general, about the style of writing, decency, clarity and purity, about the form of writing and how one should work on writing it.

Everything that can be said personally to a friend can also be written to him during separation, with the only caution that you do not always have to entrust the secret to your paper: it can get lost or fall into unauthorized hands.
The written style should not be too high, not forced and not clownish. It should be simple, and similar to an ordinary conversation depicted on paper. The simpler, the more pleasant it is, the closer to the heart.
What is decent to write to an equal to oneself will be insulting in a letter to a nobleman. What is beautiful in the letter of an old man and an important person, is the most ridiculous in the letter of a young man and of low birth and rank. One cannot speak of a warrior in the same way as one speaks of the female sex.
One must test oneself, i.e. write suddenly and soon, then show what has been written to people with refined taste. If the letter is called good, that should continue to be written in exactly the same way.
First consider whether this expression is good, whether there is no better, more precise; think about whether your thought is true, decent, consistent with the character and state of the person to whom you are writing, does it suit your business? think - and then put it on paper.

Novels, painting, interesting facts

Your letter has greatly comforted me. It so vividly reminded me of Petersburg, I thought I could hear you. How ridiculous are your eternal assumptions! You suspect some deep, secret feelings in me, some unhappy love, don't you? calm down, dear; you are mistaken: I resemble the heroine only in that I live in a remote village and pour tea like Clarissa Harlov. (A. S. Pushkin. A novel in letters)

Letters were not only a purely personal matter - they penetrated into literature! They can be found in detective stories and adventures, they have become the basis of many love stories - whole novels in letters! Portuguese Letters (1669) by Gabriel Joseph Guilleraga - a collection of love letters from the nun Mariana Alcoforado, a novel in letters from the 17th century Love Correspondence nobleman and his sister (1684) Aphra Behn were among the first. The genre grew - writers wrote letters for their heroes, making readers worry and worry even more, because reading other people's letters captures much more! Pamela, or Samuel Richardson's Rewarded Virtue, Julie, or Jean-Jacques Rousseau's New Eloise, The Dangerous Liaisons of Choderlos de Laclos, The Sufferings of the Young Werther Johann Wolfgang Goethe - all this could be found in almost any bookcase.


An interesting letter (Julius Leblanc Stewart)

The Letter (William Maw Egley)

Love Letter (Jean-Honore Fragonard)

The methods and rules for delivering letters were also very diverse: from officially approved to the most original ways that have become legend.

In 18 **, a romantic story happened: a young couple, due to the prohibition of a strict father, exchanged notes through the hollow of an oak tree. In the end, the father's heart melted and he allowed them to marry. The wedding was celebrated under the same oak tree. The story became a legend, and the oak was credited with the ability to connect the halves of hearts. Now those who want to find their destiny send letters here. Yes, yes, they send it, because the oak has a real mailing address and if you are still looking for your soul mate, write here: Bräutigamseiche, Dodauer Forst, 23701 Eutin.

In the 19th century in England, letters were written in a special way - crosswise, perhaps from here the expression "read along and across" came from. The thing is that the postage rate was calculated from the number of sheets of paper. Thrifty Englishmen wrote a letter on one side of the sheet, folded it into an envelope and inscribed the address. If the letter was long, the sheet was turned 90 degrees and a reproach was written, if this was not enough, then diagonally! And two centuries earlier in England there was a position of the royal opener of ocean bottles with letters. Ordinary citizens who opened such a bottle were threatened with the death penalty!
It's in the hat - an expression that was also born thanks to letters! In the old days, messengers sewed important letters under the lining of their hats so that they would not fall into the hands of robbers if something happened.

How long have you been writing or receiving letters? No, not business workers - about the timing of delivery or the provision of contractual documents, not explanatory to superiors or electronic - hello - yet, not letters to various authorities with requirements and requests, not SMS messages. I'm talking about those lively letters to your best friend or mother, holiday cards to friends and relatives that are so joyfully full of our mailboxes, where only receipts, notices, and letters of happiness from tax office. Letters written with your own hand on beautiful stationery or on a piece of student notebook, triangle letters, postcards from travels or special dates - the story of your life. Has writing letters become a forgotten art that has sunk into oblivion?

Galina Zamyslova, etoya.ru

Perhaps everyone who had to write essays, summaries, abstracts and essays at school tried to engage in writing. But are you ready now to try to write an interesting article, a big letter with a business proposal, not to mention a whole book? If you have landed on this page, then you probably would like to improve your writing skills: the ability to easily create competent, beautiful texts.

For most people, writing even a small text is difficult. These difficulties can 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 hard to decide on a topic or choose the right words. The third can write a lot, but then notices that there are a large number of errors in his text.

All these problems are connected not so much with our innate abilities, but with the knowledge and skills that our parents, teachers and teachers instilled in us. Unfortunately, in schools and universities there are rarely any subjects or lessons that tell at least to some extent how to learn how to write correctly.

This course online lessons collected helpful tips to help budding writers. In the lessons of this training, you will learn what the art of writing is, or as it is now fashionable to call it, copywriting, you will be able to master the basic skills of writing. This course is focused primarily on practical knowledge that will help you show exactly your talent and your creativity.

What is writing skill?

(writing, writing, copywriting, literary activity) is a human activity to create verbal works intended for reading by other people.

All people who can write with a pen or type on a computer possess writing abilities to varying degrees. Naturally, each of these abilities are developed to varying degrees. However, 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 on the Internet you can find a lot of graphomaniacs. This is due to the fact that people are trying to make texts focused not on readers, but on search engine algorithms. In addition, the process of popularization of graphomania is provoked by the readers (users) themselves. Think back to when you read an article cover to cover. Most likely, in most cases, you simply view (scan) the texts on the pages of websites "diagonally", trying to quickly find the information you need. And if there is no demand for good texts, then there is no supply of those.

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

Applying the Writing Skill

The ability to write beautifully, logically and competently is a skill that is useful to almost every modern person. 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. Competent written speech in this case can serve as an excellent assistant in career growth and business relationships.

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

Among the most necessary attributes that will help you become a good writer are the following:

1. Well-read and educated, good education.
2. Motivation, a strong desire to write, diligence and perseverance.
3. Extensive active vocabulary.
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, related to morality, life ideals, creative inspiration, or perhaps a divine gift, helps a work to come into being.

For example, Richard Bach claims that his most famous story, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, was literally "dictated from above" to him. And those who have also read other works by Bach must have noticed the stark contrast between his traditional stories and the deeply metaphorical Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

In this regard, the question arises:

Is it possible to learn the art of writing at all?

How to take classes

In the lessons of our training you can find background information, as well as helpful tips and exercises for all the important writing skills you can learn. The speed and effectiveness of the development of each of the presented skills for different people are individual. Therefore, it is impossible to say how much time each lesson or the entire course will take you.

1. In order not to miss anything, try to familiarize yourself with all the lessons.
2. Try to identify your main problems and solve them by understanding in more detail in the relevant lessons, performing exercises, following the necessary recommendations.
3. An important component of each lesson is practice, so be sure to try to apply what you learn in your writing.
4. Test your writing on experienced, objective readers who won't be shy about saying what they really think of your creations.
5. Try to write constantly and do not abandon this matter, otherwise both the muse and the good style will come to you as rarely and irregularly as you do to them.

Books and textbooks

writing art It's not something that can be learned once and for all. The ability to write texts must be constantly improved, otherwise it will fade away. The writer needs to permanently maintain his shape: read a lot, write a lot, and also study specialized literature on writing. On this page we have listed a number of popular books and textbooks on writing and writing skills.

• Stephen King How to Write a Book
• 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

In order to help you find creative inspiration, we have collected quotes from successful famous literary (and not only) figures containing advice on dealing with various problems of writing:

Write freely and as fast as you can to get everything on paper. Never edit or rewrite until you put an end to it. Rewriting in progress is usually nothing more than an excuse not to move forward. It also prevents the free flow of thought and rhythm that comes only from unconscious work with the material.

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

One must write poetry every day, just as a violinist or pianist must certainly play his instrument for several hours every day without gaps. Otherwise, your talent will inevitably become scarce, dry up, like a well, from where for a long time do not take water.

A real writer is like an ancient prophet: he sees more clearly than ordinary people.

People who can think can also write. And those who suffer low level intelligence, write the same memoirs, letters and speeches. The ability to write well is not a natural gift. This can be learned. Write the way you speak: naturally... Try to express your thoughts simply, without pretensions to being too intellectual... If you are working on something very important, then ask friends or colleagues to express their opinion about your work.