So I've decided to share my experience as a writer here..
Starting to write this article, I feel like I am being asked to tell the story of my life. I have loved writing all my life, asides the fact that my mother was a writer I just found it fulfilling and easy to write.
Pixabay
Even my teachers in primary school then were often pleased with my essays. As I grew up I learnt more about becoming a better writer.
Over the years I have made mistakes, learnt from them and also learnt more about several mistakes other writers too make and more importantly I have learnt that every good writer has a unique voice and style no matter the topic they are writing on.
It is therefore advisable and germain that you get to that point as a writer where without signing your name below an article people can tell its you that has written it.
As a writer your style is your selling point, the way you start your articles, the way you project your point and the way you end are all pointers to your style of writing. Although, that you have a unique voice does not mean that you become rigid, or stuck to a manner of writing.. No. your unique voice and style of writing is evident in any article, no matter what you are writing on be it politics, sports, entertainment and others. Also you have to watch your tenses , grammar and typographical errors, it aids confidence.
I will like to share my entire journey as a young writer. Well maybe not all entirely but as much as I can remember. Like I said earlier, I started writing when I was in primary school, I remember well from age 8. My mother was my inspiration, she was a writer and having taught me how to read since I was 5, I was able to read most of her works early.
Whenever I came across a new word or “big” word then, I ask her for the meaning and she either tells me the meaning directly then or directs to me to get a dictionary. She simply made writing an interesting big deal for me and I discovered that I grew up that way.
As soon as my teachers noticed me, I started to write for the school magazines, represent the school in competitions, debates and essays . They were usually written by me, edited by my mother and teachers in school.
By the time I was 11, I had mastered all the clichés writers often use e.g corruption is a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabrics of our society
MISTAKE 1: Using clichés and popular expressions in your articles.
I must confess I made this mistake for a while and nobody corrected me. I did not even know it was an article killer until in my later teenage years, even mum was dead then, if she wasn’t I would have told her what I had found out.
I remember reading an article on becoming a better writer online and I saw the writer include that if you keep using popular clichés in your articles it becomes uninteresting and uninformative. Readers see other people’s line of thought in yours too.
I proceeded to secondary school and kept writing well, It didn’t take long before I was discovered there too.
ADVICE 1: Write and keep writing. It helps you master the art and develop a style.
All through my holidays I kept writing stories and essays for mum. She was a teacher before she died so she would show me her older students’s scripts, the good, the bad and the ugly. This really helped, as at 11, I could write letters, stories from certain expressions e.g write a story that ends with one man’s meat is another man’s poison”
To continue my story, despite the fact that I was discovered early in secondary school, I still didn’t shine as a writer. My teachers then took my write ups and entered it for competitions with senior student’s name on it.
I did not realize this at first, so I kept on struggling to write better, to please and to win prizes for the school , not knowing that I was writing for other people.
One day after I got over that phase and I was allowed to enter for competitions directly, my favourite English teacher sent for me. On getting there I realized that one of my articles had been published by a magazine of another school.
One of the articles I entered for a competition but couldn't participate in. I was surprised and at the same time happy. Although my teacher said it was punishable that my article had been used without my permission. I later learnt about copyright articles as a young adult but then I just was not interested, what came to my mind was so I can actually write for people I don’t know and get published!
That was the beginning of my writing for newspapers, magazines and publications. I began to look for more opportunities to write. See some of my published works, yes I got to write a tribute to my mum...
ADVICE 2: In any situation, write. Keep writing, one day you will get the desired encouragement and push to write more. You will eventually be recognized.
My articles got published in different school magazines and teen magazines. I kept asking for magazines who needed writers and write ups. I got email addresses of magazines who needed writers. I wrote more about teenagers and their lifestyle. I wrote on given topics too.
The first time my article was published in a newspaper, I was overjoyed. Although it was a tribute to my mother, so our joy was mixed with tears as she died early and couldn’t see what her daughter had written in the Nigerian compass newspaper. I started trying to get my articles into other newspapers to no avail. There was too much competition, I really got tired at some points but I kept writing.. I wish there had been steemit then....
MISTAKE 2: Getting discouraged or tired when you feel unappreciated as a writer.
I reduced the intensity and pace with which I was writing, until I realized I was losing touch I had to re-fire myself again. I encouraged myself again, prayed, reminded myself of past successes and I forged ahead. I later got published in The punch newspaper. I just sent my article to the email address like I always do and forgot about it, until I was called by a friend to congratulate me. I got encouraged again.
ADVICE 3: Never keep quiet if you are misquoted and your style is tampered with, even when someone is doing you a favour by publishing.
At some points I encountered a magazine offer , I was overjoyed and I wrote. But by the time the magazine was published, my article turned out to be not my article. The editor of the magazine had totally over edited my work, turned it into hers and annoyingly wrote my name underneath. Some people will think well, she still wrote my name on it...but remember that your style is your style. You do not have to change to please anyone.
ADVICE 4: Write about everything that inspires you. From that story you heard , to the animals on the streets, the movies you see.
I wrote an article about winning after I got inspired watching the movie “Akeelah and the bee”. That article was published in the punch newspaper that same month.
ADVICE 5: Let everybody know that you write.
When I got into the university,a few people were already aware that I was a writer. So I was linked with other young writers and I started writing on noticeboards in school. I used my pen name when necessary, if I wanted to remain anonymous in sensitive issues, I and some other young writers started a press club on campus which was the first of its kind. It entailed press journalism, public speaking and book review.
In my third year I was assistant to the public relations officer of my department and we interviewed almost all the lecturers in the department. I kept writing and pasting on boards in school.
At the same time, I was still writing for newspapers and magazines all over, blogs inclusive and websites e.g E-zine articles, scribd.com…. I was satisfied with the number of readers and audience I had without expecting money in return.
ADVICE 6: Do not write because you want to get paid, do not wait till you get monetary rewards
This really helped, as I was not after money. There was no steemit then... When I went on industrial training one of my bosses knew I write so he told me to write for his magazine. I did , it gave me more exposure and a lot of other people became aware that I could write. Before I knew it I was advised to start writing for the company’s newsletter. My first entry was surprisingly approved, it was very rare and amazing that an IT student will contribute to the company’s newsletter , a company of that magnitude (Nestle Nigeria) but the editor gave me the opportunity and I was grateful and overjoyed. That was more than money.
A year after, when I was already out of the company and was not writing for them anymore, the editor invited me to write for her and I started getting paid a token. The first time I will ever get paid for writing!
MISTAKE 3: Procrastinating
I discovered that I started relaxing after any little success, always shifting the days to write. Till I hadn’t written for months! I was alarmed and disappointed in myself for getting carried away with other activities. I challenged myself to write again, I gradually drifted to writing more on issues of the society.
ADVICE 7: Always find a means to get published, start a blog of your own..luckily there is steemit now so everyone here is automatically a blogger.
Back then as time passed and I discovered most of my articles which didn’t get published were wasting away I realized it was time to start a blog as suggested by a few people earlier. I had brushed off the idea because I had no steady internet access and besides every tom, dick and harry was blogging then. But I eventually started, I have not had cause to regret starting ever since. Visit my blog brownySays although steemit is beginning to take a lot of my time..but its all good...I' m still writing.
I even got encouragements, advice and commendation from people I didn’t know on my blog.
ADVICE 8
Develop your imaginative skills and your knowledge..
You can not effectively write well if you do not know how to imagine ...especially when you are writing fictions. You also need to be able to read, read wide and get knowledge. Research...I love to research , maybe that is why I can write on a wide range of subjects. I have been told it is good to have a niche on steemit anyway.. But still..research!
So far so good writing has taught me a lot of things, I hope sharing part of my experience has been helpful.
Even as a food technologist, I have found fulfillment and success in writing, I am also still learning to be a better writer too.
It does not have to be only on steemit, you can write anywhere. I have also discovered that it is possible for you to fight for anything you believe in through writing. Writing is power, writers are leaders.