M.R. Tehrani's Blog

One of the questions I constantly asked myself was, “Why don't Iranians read?” Who even calculates this per capita reading? Well, I'm not really sure about the statistics presented about Iran. No matter how much I searched, I got no logical, identical, or even observable data. Anyway might be my fault for not searching thoroughly.
It's been two years since my mind wrapped around something more attractive. In a land where for special benefits, statistics change in a matter of seconds, one should not care about any of them. Things should be analyzed differently. The question that challenges me the most right now is this.
“How should I suggest books effectively? What does it mean to give an effective book suggestion? Does it mean I should introduce books that keep people returning for more? Are future referrals my goal?”
No
I aim to develop a habit of reading and shedding light on the path—a path which every person continues by getting to know their own taste and preferences.
This topic is an ongoing one and won't finish in this article. I have a lot to say about it. I also have successful jobs. I will write a series of articles about it and talk to you. But in this post, I'm going to raise some questions:
- What is serious literature?
- Is it essential to read serious literature?
- Who should read serious literature? When should they begin?
- Is it wrong if someone doesn't read serious literature throughout their reading life?
- Who are we to encourage people to read?
- Are we entitled to lead the popular taste?
- Is it even suitable to suggest books to others?
- If it is, what is the right way to suggest?
- What is a common mistake in the book suggesting?
- What is the higher good in recommending a book?
- When are we ready to start suggesting?
- Do book suggestions require any special knowledge?
In future posts, I will try to answer these questions and any other ones that come to mind. I myself am learning to learn how to suggest. So I'm open to hearing your ideas.

“You have to pick a job that makes you forget the passing of time. This means you should enjoy everything about it, and this “everything” includes failure.”

It's one thing to spend 8 hours a day in an office, doing what you like, but it's quite another to decide about spending the rest of the day (until you fall asleep). This idea and the quote you read in the beginning, plus what was happening in my work and personal life, had me thinking about a second activity (and maybe a second career). But what?
It was around October 2017 that I messaged a well-mannered comedian on Instagram, sending him a few stage play ideas. I thought I had no chance, but he actually read, commented, and rejected all of them. I didn't care about getting rejected, but I cared about the comments and explanations. At last, concerning my interest in writing, he advised that I get educated and practice. Practice? My interest? What was he talking about?
Yes, it was right. I had forgotten all about one of my talents. But this wasn't the only reason I got back into writing. A few days after my conversation with that comedian, one of my friends called and asked me to write a short congratulatory text for his friend who had just gotten married. The favor he asked me was so urgent that he stayed on the line while I wrote, See? He didn't ask me to “search,” but he asked me to “say.” And I said!
After I hung up, I remembered my essays in school. Whenever the teacher gave us two topics, I used to write them both (not to brag, but I sold one of them). I also remember I used to write on a personal blog with a lot of daily views.
The main question was, “Should I start?”. It took me around a year to find the answer. Yes, of course, it was essential to consider the quote I began this article with, but it sure wasn't easy. I had to make sure. So I wrote every story idea I had in a Word document. Two pages with 11 font sizes and 1 CM margin indicated that I made the right decision.
I picked an idea and began writing. But writing a story was no blog writing. It was new to me. No matter what I did, I didn't go further than a few lines. There was no time, so I enrolled in a class. You might find it funny, but I wrote my first story after the first session. It was a pretty ridiculous one, but I didn't care. I HAD FINALLY WRITTEN A STORY.
How did I solve this problem? My mentor once asked me what my story was, and I replied, “A story should consist of a beginning and an end and should include a message or advice.”
“Who are you to give advice? Your one job is to tell a story, that's all. Who told you to give lessons to people? You got the first part right. A beginning and an ending. That's all.”
I spent three semesters of storywriting and two semesters of playwriting. I was also busy writing my stories and sometimes publishing them on my blog or sending them to my friends for feedback.
One day, when I was busy working in the office, my friend Hamed Mohammadkhani spontaneously suggested that I read “Walking in the fog” (Harakat dar meh) by “Mohammadhasan Shahsavari.” “A good read for you since you like writing,” he said. After he left, I searched, bought it, and started reading.
A few days after finishing it, while I was preparing the suggested books (by the writer), I saw a video of Mahmoud Dowlatabadi (Iranian novelist). In the video, he was talking about a writer's job. This ignited an idea in my brain. He said, “I learned everything by working” He also wondered why young writers read so much theory, stating that they should start writing, working, doing…
Something was forming in my unconscious, but I needed a stronger motive to believe it. In October 2020, I went to the central Bookcity (a great bookstore in midtown Tehran) to shop. When I got to the “New releases in fiction” table, I had an epiphany! There it was! My motive to write! I took a photo of the table. One day, If I published, It had to sit on that table.
Now I had enough motivation. But what to write? Where to begin? I messaged my mentor and asked him for advice on writing a novel. “Write short stories. Your writing is not mature enough for a novel yet,” He said with his unique perspicuity. I believed in him sincerely, So I set a target: writing a short story collection.
I decided that my book should have 200 pages. So I had to write around 12 short stories, three of which were already written and only needed revision. But the hard part was what came after the planning. Not only did 200 pages seem hard to achieve, but I wasn't very fond of the three short stories I had. I even considered deleting them. I was stressed right at the starting point. Finally, I pulled myself together and told myself, “what's the worst that can happen? It won't get published! So what?”
The events in my Personal life led me to a point where my motivation for writing a multi-volume novel increased. But getting to that point needed practice. My first practice was finishing the short story collection. So I put aside all my thoughts and dreams just to focus on that.
The first step was writing the plot for 12 stories. I wrote them on my one-day trip to Shiraz: on October 8, 2020. You may not believe I even had a Gantt chart. Yes, a full metal plan. I even set the alarm to remind myself of the short story collection every night. Each plot consisted of exposition, character building, picking the narrator, deciding the theme, writing, finishing, first, second, third, and fourth readout, selecting the final name, editing, and that's it. I did this to all my short stories, kind of a WBS. I designed a beginning, an end, and a timespan for each one.
I sure had disappointments. The first one was when I finished the first 15-page story within 20 days. Twenty days for just one story, 11 more to go. Only 15 out of 200 pages. I had to change the order of the stories to control the disappointments. I randomly distributed the ones I was sure about among the 12 stories.
The second disappointment occurred when I lost all my ideas between the two stories. It took around three weeks. My plan was hugely affected by my personal life, my mood, lack of mindfulness, etc., so I had to design an additional timespan to stop the planning errors I was facing. Writing this book was a project for me. I sure had delays. My first goal was to have it published by September 12, 2021. But I wasn't very good at bureaucratic processes and receiving licenses from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which also caused delays.
Last, “For you, life” was finished on June 27, 2021. 240 pages. I called a few publishers, but no result. Some didn't cooperate, and some I rejected. I even refused one of them for making fun of the title (although it had good collaboration terms). Finally, on َAugust 24, 2021, I signed my contract with Hekmat Publications, and “For you, life” was published on my birthday, December 16, 2021.
In June 2021, when I wrote about my goals in an Instagram post, one of my friends (who used to make fun of my plans years ago) called me and said, “You truly know how to live…” and I guess he was right. But the point was I solely knew how to plan targets. You should pick a target that, even if you fail to reach, you won't consider your time wasted. Heard that?

“YOU. "

It all began after I got pleasant feedback from my friends regarding three of my short stories. I decided to collect them and write a book. In the meantime, I came across a video of DowlatAbadi (Iranian Writer) in which he was talking about how young writers should just stop reading and start writing. This was It. I had to define a project and follow it precisely. I wrote this post with the sole purpose of helping other aspiring writers. Maybe What I did (and didn't do) inspires someone. Here are my steps (respectively):

1. Deciding about the pages: 200 pages
2. Deciding about the number of stories: 12 stories
3. Choosing a general theme for all the stories: life and death
4. Planning and timing. This can be a pretty unstable part of the plan. If you decided to finish a story in one week and failed, don't fret. Just go on and don't get disappointed at all. Stop thinking about time. Focus on the story.
5. After the planning, I started overthinking. “What if I wrote all the stories and no one published them? Who should I even approach? Should I even wait for someone to volunteer?”
6. I selected 20 publishing companies I liked and wrote them in a list. The first one was Cheshmeh, a veteran of Iranian literature.
7. After finishing the list, I made a deal with myself: If this doesn't get published, I will post the PDF on the internet. The publishers have the right not to like my work, but I can't just stop doing what gives me so much joy. So if this one doesn't work, I will start the next project.
8. What would the next project be?
9. I made a list of all my ideas. This boosted my confidence a lot. I had so many ideas to write about!
10. I designed the steps with complete transparency.
11. Two rereads, one final reread, editing, making the final order, finalizing the names, and the most important one: finalizing the book's title.
12. I assigned timelines for each of the steps.
13. I started and took notes of the time I spent.
14. After that, everything was about the plan. Just think about what you are doing, nothing else.
15. Some days you don't write, and that's OK. These days, spend 2 hours working on the project even if this “work” means only thinking.

Now that I'm writing this article, I have a full lookout for what the tenth story is about to be. I will probably finish it in the next couple of days, and two more will remain until the end of the first part of my plan. This was supposed to be finished before, but I don't care. I did my best. I laughed and cried with my characters. I completed my other ideas and changed and replaced some stories so I could write them in a better time (with more experience). I even selected one story to use for a comedy play.
I will complete this post along the way, but for now, I have just realized that when you walk on a path you love, there is not really much more to worry about.

“For you, life” was published on December 16, 2021, by “Hekmat Kalameh” publications. This book has 12 short stories, each revolving around a particular concept of life. At first, some readers might find it pretty dark. What is “dark” to you? Do you find it disturbing to talk about death? About the lost time?
In “Thursdays with Morrie,” the author writes that to understand life completely, we should understand death. I think it's something like that. You can perceive death as a dark, disturbing concept or as a colored pencil to colour life. It can be a disappointment or simply an event we must cope with. By coping, I don't mean taking death for granted or forgetting about it altogether. This would be impossible. َAs Iranian poet Houshang Ebtehaj says, “Death only happens when we are not there”...
In these 12 stories, I tried to develop a different view on life from the perspective of the time that passes us every day. This view inevitably makes me approach the matter of death. Writing this collection started on October 6, 2020, and was finished on June 27, 2021. Following, you can see some details about each story:

1. The presence of “Your void”: Hamed is trying to find a way to talk to his mother after having an unpleasant dream.
2. The endless fall: Ehsan is in a place where only himself can help him. Sometimes his efforts are seen, and sometimes not.
3. Standing in the past: Vahid is trying to solve a crime mystery. A mystery he is involved in unwillingly. He feels obligated to find the answer.
4. One picture, one life: Mohammadreza is an Iranian writer who has gotten to publish his books abroad. Unable to finish his last novel, he hands the job to his nephew.
5. The Eyes: Milad has been accepted into one of the best universities in the country. Hopeful for a bright future and for solving a family mystery, he leaves Shiraz for Tehran. It will be years before this mystery is solved.
6. For you, life: Children of a deceased father are gathered to discover his secret. Each has a task, and they should make one decision.
7. Flight number…: Meysam Finds the right time to tell a memory after hearing a story idea by a girl. This memory is hard for Elmira to believe, but it's true.
8. What I went through: A courtroom is being held for a murder case. One witness tells about the events before and after the murder to express the truth.
9. I wanted it late, but: Parsa is trying to find out why he can't live like others. Has the death of his wife caused this, or is this rooted in other things?
10. The essay of my life: The main character has to enter a unique journey to do what he has to do: a medical task.
11. He was just himself: Coming from different universes, two friends are together without interventions and completely respecting each other's boundaries.
12. Between two blinks: Having lost his memory in an accident, Hossein meets a family trying to bring back their daughter's lost memory. Despite his issue, he accepts their request for help.
I spend a significant amount of my time on social media to develop my ideas through observation. Since my first novel, I have read comments and communicated with my readers. I am enthusiastic to talk about YOUR ideas. You can reach me through:
My website: https://mohamadrezatehrani.com
Instagram: following #محمدرضاطهرانی or #برای_تو_زندگی
Twitter: following #محمدرضاطهرانی or #برای_تو_زندگی
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...