On September 19th, a seminar for young writers was held at the Department of the Russian Language and Literature of the Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities.
Young authors, participants of the Miass Literature Residence of the Association of the Unions of Writers and Publishers of Russia, have met with students and teaching members of the Department of the Russian Language and Literature.
The discussion topic was “The World of Fantasy Fiction: From an Idea to Its Implementation”. The participants spoke about the peculiarities of the profession of a writer, of the working process, various methods and approaches. The young authors talked about themselves and about the fantasy fiction books, which they work on within the Association’s Residence.
Darina Strelchenko, an author of five published novels, in detail spoke about not only the expectations from the first publication, but also about what happens next: the realization of mistakes in promotion and self-positioning.
Tatiana Laskina, a playwright and director from Tyumen, shared on the discovery she had made while working on her debut novel. Among the key questions was whom a writer shall address in the process of his work: him-/herself of readers.
Mariia Fadeeva talked to students on how the educational works and tasks lay the groundwork for the emerging of ideas and creation of a book.
An artist and writer from Ekaterinburg Anastasiia Rodzevich shared on the importance of the skill to see and note things, what you like and what you want, confess this to yourself and then follow the path you have chosen.
Anna Shikova answered the question on the popularity of the fantasy fiction genre among readers and writers. She believes that fantasy fiction helps understand the modern reality. Stories based on myths, no matter how fantastic the plot is, do not come into conflict with reality.
Dariia Semenova confessed that after her 13 years of working in corporate sector she decided to turn to her childhood dream to become a writer. The idea for her book she took from her observations during her vacations: how differently people with common cultural code can behave, and how chaos can get along with order.
Answering the questions from the audience, the writers spoke on the phenomenon of readers’ and writers’ interest in the fantasy fiction genre, on the role of social media in the lives of modern writers, on the need to have faith in yourself and love your creative works, and proper attitude to situations when publishing houses reject or criticize your works. They shared in detail on how to become member of a Residence and what happens there, they explained the meanings of such specific terms as synopsis, author's sheet, and others.
One of the meeting’s organizers, Associate Professor Evgenii Smyshliaev said:
“The seminar participants have shared fascinating stories of their experience as writers. The way our students reacted, shows how inspiring this meeting was for them. They asked interesting questions and exchanged contacting information with the young writers. Even I now wish to start writing a fantasy novel!”