We are living in a world full of stories, and these stories for so long have protected us from chaos. Our forefathers told us stories that have changed and shifted the course of life to what it is today. They mastered storytelling because they understood the power of stories. Stories are a fundamental unit of knowledge, the foundation of memory, and is essential to the way we make sense of our lives.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o once said: “Our lives are a battlefield on which is fought a continuous war between the forces that are pledged to confirm our humanity and those determined to dismantle it; those who strive to build a protective wall around it, and those who wish to pull it down; those who seek to mould it and those committed to breaking it up; those who aim to open our eyes, to make us see the light and look to tomorrow… and those who wish to lull us into closing our eyes.”
# As you begin your writing journey, any reason you have for thinking you can’t write your book/story should be easily countered. Understand you have something that could add value and benefit other lives. Your piece has the power to make them a better person, or make their lives easier to live or more enriched.
# How far can you see? Because writing needs more men/women with vision, the call for this service requires a highly trained mind with patience, passion, and persistence. This is not merely the possession of Professors, but the ability to create. Writers are philosophers of our time and age and they question the reality.
# For a writer a blank page is like a blank day, writing is much like painting. It is a process that turns the blank page into a masterpiece, and the very act of writing itself generates ideas and creates new connections that will make it easy to fill the blank page.
# Creative input in anything that needs man’s creativity takes place at the mental level. It takes place when you step aside from your mind and simply let it flow. As you write the words you want, allow your thinking frequency try to level that of God’s mind, giving life its fine detail.
# Dear writer a well-written story is just the literary version of a well-told story. If you have something of interest to say, then you have something interesting to write.
# Don’t limit yourself only to what you know, have the drive to learn something every day. Part of the fun of writing a great story is breathing yourself into your characters, allowing them to be more alive than just statues, objects or figures.
Read – Mental Health for Writers
# God created you in His Likeliness, in His image. That alone explains how much you can bring to life and achieve it. It is a blueprint that you too are a creator. Every day is your opportunity to add value to your writing.
# As a writer often times you will worry about what readers want but the truth is readers don’t have to fit into what you are offering but you can give them exactly what they want. You just need to define your own voice.
# You need a guide in life because there is nothing more interesting and instructive in any endeavour of life as having an experienced hand give you the benefit of his/her wisdom, seek mentors or a guide to show you the way because he/she could know more than you. Usually, this is an experienced writer who shares their wisdom with you as you begin their career. He/she can help you develop your own voice because he or she understands your strengthens. And also improve your writing skills by reviewing and critiquing your work. This person provides ongoing support and creative growth.
# There’s no better way of writing, but there’s a better way of thinking.
# There are no self-made men alive, everything we know we learned it somewhere or from someone. The same way you learned to walk, allow yourself to learn from those that have gone after you. But bear in mind that some will not be fully honest with you, but there’s always someone who will value the potential, zeal, and passion you have, so they will guide you with honesty.
# You owe it to yourself to complete that great story, it’s your duty, your obligation. Those who hesitate in the writing of their book/story are bound to be disappointed when they discover at least one individual who didn’t hesitate to write the exact idea they had and made the most out of it.
# Passion is the most important for the writer’s soul.
# As a writer that has just embarked on this journey of writing, see yourself as a knowledge developer. Because your writing is contributing to the table of knowledge and development of your generation.
Try to answer these personal questions:
- Who am I?
- What am I?
- Who am I not?
- Do I have a cause?
- What then can I do?
- Those that have made it, how did they become what they are?
- Why do I write?
- How can I think differently from what society thinks?
- How is the relationship between my heart and mind?
- How is my writing going to be unique?
- What destiny do I have to fulfil?
