its taste was no longer as rich as before.
– First you need to create a plan. – said Peter, reflecting on the book. – I’ll come up with a plan, and then I’ll write according to the plan. —
He opened the desk drawer and took out a squared notebook and a pen. Opening the first page of the notebook, he wrote: «Plan.» That’s where all the thoughts ended. There was not a single idea, not a single thought about what a book could be written about. All dreams of a beautiful life and millions in royalties turned into emptiness, exactly the same as the one that reigned in his head.
– And how do these writers manage to write their books? – Peter got angry. – You need to look at someone’s book, understand how it’s written, how many scenes there are in one chapter, and how many words.
Having opened a website where free books were posted, Peter opened the first one he came across and began reading it. It was one of the most popular books in the world, selling over one hundred and fifty million copies. Peter chose one chapter at random and began to read it. Images and pictures, characters and their actions swam before his eyes, the world began to come to life in his mind, giving him impressions. The author was a master of words; he knew how to reach the reader’s consciousness. Peter was amazed by what he read, although he was not a fan of reading books, which made it doubly difficult for him to write them.
– Amazing. – he thought after finishing reading the chapter.
He highlighted the entire text of the chapter and copied it into an office program to see the word count. The number four thousand was displayed on the monitor.
– Four thousand words! – Peter was amazed. – And it reads so easily and quickly, as if there were only two!
He drank the rest of his iced coffee and created a separate folder for the future book, inside which he placed an office program file.
– Well, we need to come up with a name. – he thought. «But first you need to figure out what the book will be about.» Let’s say this book is about a writer who writes a book. You need to write down all the names that might fit.
Peter took the notebook that he had recently taken from the table and began to write down possible titles for the future book in a column:
«Peter and the Notebook.»
«Writer of the new century.»
«Young Writer»
«Only a writer.»
«The genius of the pen.»
«The devil is in words.»
«Master of Words»
«Genius of words.»
Having written several titles he liked, he began to choose the one that, as it seemed to him, could best suit the work he was going to write. After thinking for a few minutes, he settled on the title: «THE DEVIL IN THE WORDS.» He found it quite interesting and somewhat mystical. Now all that remained was to decide on the genre of the work and come up with a plot for it.
The bridge of the nose twitched again. Peter began to rub it with his fingers, as this tic greatly distracted him and did not allow him to concentrate.
– Go ahead already! – he blurted out.
The sister entered the room again.
– I need to do English. Help me translate the words.
– Come on, just quickly.
She put her English textbook on the table and pointed her finger at the words circled in pencil.
– Here are these, translate them.
Peter opened a translator in his browser and began to type English words into it one by one, the translation of which immediately appeared in the next column. The sister wrote down the translation, and then the sound of the word.
Peter fiddled with translating the words for about fifteen minutes, and completely lost the essence of what he was thinking about before.
– Thank you. – said the sister when she wrote down the translation of all the words.
– You’re welcome. – Peter called out.
Christina left the room and closed the door.
Peter returned to his book.
– Write a plot, or try to write how it goes. – he thought. – I’ll see what they write on the Internet.
He entered the desired phrase into the search and began reading manuals for aspiring authors, where they wrote about how best to start writing a book. Most were inclined to believe that the book should be written according to plan. This was justified by the fact that if you write without a plan, you can forget what the book is about, lose the plot line, and in the end, simply abandon everything.
– Well, okay, if I abandon it, then it’s not fate. – Peter thought, and opening the program in which he was going to write a book, he wrote the title in large letters: «THE DEVIL IN THE WORDS.» It looked impressive.
He took the mug, wanting to take a couple more sips of coffee, but the mug was empty. Then he got up from the computer and went to the kitchen. There was no one in the kitchen. He calmly poured himself some coffee and went back to the computer. The mood was working. Now, when the title of the book was ready, it seemed that the main work had already been done, and a little more, and the book would be ready, but not just a book, but a real bestseller that would sell millions of copies and make Peter one of the most successful writers. And then, for sure, he will have everything, a house, a car, and things that he wanted to buy, but could not, due to the fact that he was unemployed.
A dog ran into the room – a small pug that wanted to play. She grabbed onto Peter’s slipper and began to pull it from side to side, wanting the owner of the slipper to play with it.
– No, Motya, leave me alone, I won’t play with you, don’t, go play with mom or Christina.
But the dog did not lag behind. Then Peter took off his slippers and put them on the table. Motya sat down next to the chair and stared at Peter.
– I won’t play with you, just go. – he said, motioning with his hand for the dog to leave the room, but it continued to sit motionless and look at Peter.
Peter could not stand it, got up from the table, picked up the dog in his arms, and carried him out of the room. Having lowered it to the floor in the corridor, he returned back to the room and closed the door.
– Where did I stop… oh yes, the devil is in the words. – he said quietly, replaying all the previous thoughts in his head. – This will be a book about a writer. But this will not be just a book, it will be a real motivation for all aspiring writers who ever decide to write a book. Yes.
Having decided what the book would be about, Peter began to figure out where to start it. But absolutely nothing came to mind.
– The hero will be called Peter. – he thought, coming up with the main character. – Why complicate everything? The book is about Peter, who writes about a writer named Peter. Simple and clear. It’s like putting two mirrors opposite each other. Am I not a genius? Peter, who writes about Peter, who writes about Peter. And so on ad infinitum. One writer writes about another writer who writes about a writer. There’s definitely something to this. So, in St. Petersburg there lived a young man who dreamed of becoming a writer.
Peter wrote the first few sentences of the book. But the thought did not go beyond the idea. He sat for about an hour on the first paragraph, but still couldn’t come up with anything.
Deciding to pour another mug of coffee, he went to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he discovered that the milk had run out.
– The milk has run out. – he said when his mother entered the