He tried to live from his writing. However, since he did not follow the official socrealistic style of literature and was unwilling to write political propaganda this proved to be unsuccessful. He published theatrical and musical criticisms and reports from exhibits which ignored the criteria of socrealistic art. In 1948 the weekly magazine "Tygodnik Wybrzeża" published his cycle "Poetyka dla Laików" (Poetry for Lay People). Herbert also published a few of his reviews in the journal "Słowo Powszechne" in 1949 under his real name and a year later under a pen name, Patryk. The same happened with his publishing in "Tygodnik Powszechny". In 1952 "Przegląd Powszechny", published a few of his reviews under a pen name – Bolesław Hertyński.