Olamide Lawal

The Beauty of Writing

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Writing is an art. Maybe not the conventional type of art that we know like drawing or painting, but it is an art. Just like a painter mixes colours together on a drawing board to bring out a design, a writer puts words together to form something beautiful. But to be honest, not everybody writes a beautiful piece, and not everybody writes in a way that will excite your emotions. It’s just the same way anyone can learn the basics of drawing but not everyone will do a drawing that will make it to a museum or be auctioned for a really good sum. There is something beautiful in putting words together to make sense to you or your readers. Have you ever been at a wedding and seen two people exchanging their vows and reading their promises to each other? It is always beautiful to witness them bare their hearts to each other. Sometimes they cry, other times you as the guest who knows nothing about their love story cry with them. That is because the words were beautiful, and they were beautifully put together. This same experience can also be felt when you read certain poems. Some people are gifted in the art of writing poems and when they put those words together and arrange them in stanzas, you’ll be swept off your feet. There is something about words that brings colour to life. And when these words are mixed with emotions it deepens the effect. However, you must also note that in as much as writing can be beautiful, it can also be hurtful and can cause irrevocable damage. Here are things you need to keep in mind to make your writing beautiful. 1. Emotion Emotion plays a very vital role in making your writing beautiful. Have you ever compared a piece of writing written with emotion to one written without emotion? The difference is clear. The one with emotions would always make sense to you and stand out because someone is baring their heart. Someone is writing soulfully to you – even if the writing is a lie. Words carry power, either written or spoken. 2. Think about who you are writing for This also springs from emotions. When you think about your readers when writing, you’ll write in a way that will communicate directly to them and make them see your point. The writing will be personal to them, and your readers might even believe that you are talking to them directly. 3. Share personal experiences There are times when people read a book and it makes them eager to know what inspired you, the writer, or what was going through your mind as you wrote. When you share your personal experience in any area that relates to what you are writing about, people hold it dear to their hearts and they term the book as a beautiful book.   4. Write what people can relate to Another way to see the beauty in writing is to write what people can easily relate to. That way it is easy for them to have a close connection with the book. You can take this a step further by providing solutions to any life problems that you might have raised in the story. That way, the book would remain dear to your readers’ hearts. In summary, writing is an art and can be beautiful, but it will take some effort and deliberateness to write a book that people would consider beautiful. Let your writing meet people’s needs at different points in time and the work will become dear to them.   Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writing.

Which is Easier; Writing or Speaking?

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WHICH IS EASIER, WRITING OR SPEAKING? Just like I mentioned in my last article, different people have different opinions as regards speaking and writing and different people have different preferences as to which is easier. Today, we would look at it together, and then you would be allowed to comment on which you think is easier from your own end. Before I start, I need to tell you that despite the differences between writing and speaking, they still have some similarities and the same rules guiding them. They run by the rules of semantics and syntax, and they both use languages to express their feelings. Skipping introductions, I will go straight to tell you that writing simply involves putting words down. And these words can be for different purposes, but the end result is so they can be read. Writing involves putting nice words together to give a good read, but that is not all. It is not enough to put words together or write down your thoughts. You have to make those thoughts make sense because they are your thoughts and you have the back story behind them. Anyone picking your writing should be able to read it with the same or almost the same intentions you had when you were writing. Meaning, appropriate pauses, right emotions, right tone of voice and the other things that are communicated while writing. This is where writing becomes a bit difficult. You may not be the one doing all the talking, but your writing must make it possible for the person talking to deliver it properly. When it comes to speaking, it is a different ball game entirely, and you are allowed to be as dramatic as you want, to vary your words and the tone of your voice, to use your whole body to communicate. But you still have the responsibility of doing a good job because people are watching you. You don’t have the luxury of hiding behind the letters in a paper like a writer. For some people, working up the right emotions to speak is not easy. All they want to do is speak and go. But speaking blandly causes the real intent of a book or a speech to be lost as the people cannot follow through. I will give the example of reading a story to children. One thing that keeps the children excited to the end is the way the story is being read. Some of the people that read to children are usually very dramatic, and they make different hand and facial gestures so the children can follow and be properly involved. But in order for the reader to be that dramatic, the writer must have done a very good job of putting the appropriate punctuation and all other necessary things in place. Another advantage that a speaker enjoys is being able to make eye contact with his audience which is impossible for a writer. The only way it can be possible for the speaker to have eye contact is if the writer has done a fantastic job of writing that the audience could not help but follow till the end. A speaker also has the advantage of talking in a multidimensional manner rather than a writer who just writes in one direction. And a speaker enjoys the privilege of getting responses and reaction from his listeners. In as much as speaking has its own advantages, it also has some disadvantages like stage fright, bad pronunciation on the part of the reader, speaking colloquially in a formal setting, too much mannerism and excessive repetition. These differences can go on and on, but some people are still better suited for one of the two while some are comfortable doing the two. Some people would rather work hard at writing to make it make sense rather than being at the forefront of speaking or working up emotions as they speak. Same goes in the other direction, some would rather be out there speaking, gesticulating, making people keep their eyes on them rather than being the brains behind the written text and struggling with putting words together for it to make sense. I must also add that mistakes can be permitted when speaking. You can always apologize and rephrase your statement. But when writing, it is almost impossible to correct your mistake once your work has gone out. Hence the extra work of rereading and proofreading to produce the best. These are not all the different things to note about writing and speaking. There are more things to consider but I believe that you have the basic idea from this write up. Therefore, I would love to know your opinion and what you think about these two subjects. Feel free to comment in the comment section on which you prefer. Speaking or writing. And state your reason for your choice. Thank you!   “Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writings”      

Some Hard Truths About Writing

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Writing is not hard, especially if you have a good command of the English language, or whatever language you are writing in. And many people have always said that writing is way easier than speaking because all you have to do is write, and not bother about the pitch, the tone or the emotions your voice is trying to portray. This may or may not be true, depending on the perspective you are looking at it from, but it will be a discussion for another day. Whether writing is simple or not, there are some truths that are very important for you to know. Whether you are a long-time writer or just a prospect, you still need to know these truths because they will guide you and help you become a better author. Some Hard Truths You Need to Know About Writing 1. You will always have critics. When it comes to writing, you can never please everybody. Someone would always have a different opinion or a negative thing to say about your writing no matter how hard you work on it. Not everyone would agree with what you have written or the method you use to write. Be okay with that. Just do your part and write without errors. Write with correct and well-researched facts. Then leave the rest to the critics. 2. There are times when you will have to rewrite your work multiple times. This might sound hard, but it is the truth. When writing, sometimes you might think that you are on the right track, then along the line you will find out that you have gone away from your line of thoughts, or that what you are writing does not seem to make sense. Then you will have to start all over again. When you are at this point, it is better to start all over again than to patch things up and just edit. It might not turn out well in the long run. 3. Your writing can always be better. No matter how many years you have been writing or the kind of experience you think you might have gained, your writing can always be better. You have to keep learning different ways to make your writing better. Even if you have a bestseller or you have won numerous awards, you still have to keep learning and keep getting better. There is always something new to learn. 4. Not all your ideas would see the light of day. You need to know that not all the ideas you have about your book would see the light of day. Your manuscript might be entirely rejected, or you might have to edit and rework some parts of it. You have to be okay with that and work around it rather than feeling bad and perhaps thinking you are not good enough. 5. Writing is not just about you. This might sound strange because you are the one doing the writing. The book was your idea. The title was your idea. And your name was written on it. But it is not all about you. It is about your readers, the people you are writing for. They have to be able to enjoy the book, learn from it and love it. This means that you must consider your audience when you are writing. Final note One thing that can help you deal with these hard truths is imagining that you are writing a book to people outside your region, outside your culture, people entirely different from you. When you have this at the back of your mind, you will be able to work around your ideas and books to make them suitable for everyone and anyone to read. Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writing.  

Your Journey to Becoming a Writer

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The journey to becoming a writer starts from you and only you. Not just from the moment you had the idea or when you came up with what you want to write, but the moment you actually see yourself as a writer and begin to write. There were certain times in our lives, especially the women-folk, when we would pick up a journal or a diary and then begin to write out our daily experiences or the most exciting thing or depressing thing that happened to us each day. In as much as those diaries or journals had a lot of interesting content, they did not make us writers because we were writing them to ourselves or as a means of remembering past occurrences. Writing is Deliberate When it comes to writing, it is more deliberate. You might be writing from your personal experiences or even how you currently feel. But it starts by you making the choice to start writing. You cannot consider yourself a driver if you know all the theory about driving and can even explain it to others, but without having driven before. All you do is have the knowledge. In the same vein, having some good content doesn’t necessarily make you a writer. Make a Conscious Choice to Be a Writer When starting this journey, you would have to make your choice first, whether or not you have the content. One of the major things making that choice does for you is that it changes your perspective about yourself. It helps you to see that you have become a writer, and that you have something inside of you for the world. That way, you would become more deliberate about giving answers in your writing. Another thing this choice helps you to do is to help you stay focused on your path as a writer. There are times that writing would be so difficult that writing a sentence or phrasing a sentence properly can take time. But with the choice you’ve made, you are able to hang on until you come out with the right content. The choice helps you to stay on track, rather than give up. Start Writing After making the choice, then you can actually start writing. There is no one way to write a book. You can start from the topic or even the end, or you can write the book and give it a befitting topic. The choice is yours. The only thing you need to do is to actually write the book. Once you start, you might be faced with the challenge of what to write. Once that challenge comes, ask yourself what you want to achieve with your writing. Do you just want to be one of those writers, or do you want your writing to help people? That depends on you. Here is a list of writing prompts. Interestingly enough, you can even write from some of the journals that you kept while you were a teenager. You will be surprised at the level of wisdom that came out of you in handling situations or the level of drama in your life at that age. WRITING TIP One thing that can help you in writing is to have a summary of the things you want to write. Then you can build around it and make it more compact. And at other times, just start writing until you reach a point where possibilities come into what you are writing. At that point, you would have to make the choice of what you want your book to look like. Conclusion Let me end with this. When starting your writing journey, the first thing to do is to make up your mind that you are a writer and let that sink in. From there, what steps you take is up to you. Sometimes your writing journey goes with your personality. Such that if you are an organized person, you might want to have a step-by-step or chapter-by-chapter analysis of what you want your book to look like. If you are used to doing things without rigid planning, then you might also want to write that way. Whatever the case may be, or whatever your personality may be, make the choice and get to work. And always remember that people are counting on you, your book, your experiences or even your current life to get their answers. Be sure to give them the best content. Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writings  

Why Publishers Are Not Hard to Find

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Contrary to popular opinion, publishers are not hard to find. Or better put, good publishers are not hard to find. They are in strategic places but are very selective about the kind of books they choose to publish. Writers and publishers move in the same line of business, but what they do is very different. A writer has certain advantages more than a publisher in some regard. A writer can always use a pen name. That means that a writer can choose to use someone else’s name rather than their own when they are writing. This happens for many reasons. To protect their identity, to avoid being in the spotlight, and for some to just test the waters. Such that if the book does not turn out well, no one knows they are responsible for it. A book can be written by a ghostwriter. When an author decides to use a ghostwriter for his book, that way he is not the one completely behind the telling of the story but the honour goes to him. A publisher does not have some of these advantages. Usually they are known for the kind of books they publish and once something bad comes out from them, then it begins to tarnish their image and reduce the number of authors that come to them. From the title of this write-up, publishers are not hard to find in that they are scarce, they are hard to find because many authors have refused to do the needful. Hence, their works don’t get published. Many times, when writers write a book, they usually look for the most popular publisher so that their work would gain relevance through its publishing. This is a very good way to give their work presence but it requires a little bit of effort. To this end, I will be explaining a few reasons why publishers can be hard to find. They love to protect the integrity of their work. In as much as publishers are looking forward to making more sales, or getting new customers per day, they are not looking forward to having their works ruined by a potential customer. Your book has to make sense. It has to be something that people can buy. If not, it would be rejected. One of the joys associated with a publisher’s work is that people are buying. The more people buy, the more copies they get to print, the more money flows into their hands. But when a book does not sell, it is bad business for them, and they tend to avoid it at all costs. They hate having to go through editing. Sometimes, many of the publishers out there have become too busy, or too big to go through the process of editing your work for you. As a writer, the honour is on you to write a hitch-free book as much as possible. Let your book go through editors before sending it to the publishers. That way, if your work is read, it can be published in a little while. Some of them have carved a niche for themselves. There are times when certain publishers would have decided they are only going to publish books in a certain direction. For example, comics, academic books, thrillers, etc. Those publishers would have made their choice and they usually stick to it. Sometimes, they might be the most popular publishers, and you, as a writer, are looking forward to launching yourself into public consciousness but may not be able to because your manuscript is not from the publisher’s most preferred niche. Conclusion One of the things that can help you get your work published as a writer is proper research. Before writing or while you are still writing, look out for possible publishers and select the ones you would like to work with. Then you can go ahead to get their list of requirements so you could adjust appropriately. There are times that the requirements may not match your envisioned desire for your book. Move on to the next publisher, rather than compromising so as to publish your book. If you decide to compromise, you would not be happy with the book. Just carry out proper research and refuse to give up.   Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writing.    

Things to Note in Your Manuscript Before Approaching a Publisher

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Many times, writers are so eager to have their work published that they forget to do their own due diligence. They just write and send it to the publisher and hope that he/she would do the needful and then publish their work. It does not work that way. A writer is not an editor, and neither is a writer a publisher although those roles can be interchanged between them. As a writer, it is important that you have basic editing skills. That way, you are able to preserve the integrity of your work rather than leave it for someone that would edit in the way he/she thinks about what you have written. This difference in roles is very important because it would help you in playing your part well and make it easy for others to do their work effectively. Here are some of the things you should note before taking your manuscript to a publisher: 1. You must ensure your work has been proofread and edited for errors. As a writer, it is not just enough to write a good piece or a good book. You have to go through the book several times to make sure your thoughts are fully captured and well written then you also have to make sure that it is properly edited before you send it out. That way, whoever picks up your work would be comfortable reading it and even eager to publish it. 2. Follow the publisher’s guidelines. This is very important in publishing as it fast-tracks your work and makes things easier for the publisher. Many times, publishers have certain standards or a couple of rules that they lay down for their prospective customers. And it would do you a lot of good to follow those guidelines. When your work meets all the necessary criteria, it will be easy to publish. 3. Know what you want your work to look like. There are times that all a writer cares about is having their work published. To them, nothing else is important. They would prefer for the publisher or friends to make the choices they need to make. Don’t be that kind of writer. Have an idea of what you want your work to look like and the way you want people to perceive it. Then do a good job of communicating it to the publishers. That way, you are seen as someone who knows what they want, and you would also be proud of the creativity that you displayed. 4. Be open to ideas. Many times as writers, we already have an idea of what we want our books to look like, the cover page, the size, the colour and so on. But sometimes, it is good to listen to ideas and suggestions from more experienced people or from publishers. Remember that it is their job, and they have been doing it for years. So they have a lot of experience in it. You don’t have to take their suggestion. Just open your mind to receive it and if need be, be humble enough to take the suggestion. You would be better for it, and your work would also get visibility. In conclusion, when it comes to writing, it is important that you play your own part. Make things easy for everyone working with you on your way to success. Keeping all these things in mind would make your dreams come true sooner than you think.   Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writing. She could be reached via LinkedIn or email: [email protected]

5 Coping Strategies for Single Fathers

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You’re a single dad, right? You’re not by yourself. Single parents frequently face logistical difficulties. They can’t be in two places simultaneously, and they don’t have a partner to fall back on. They may encounter unexpected issues, such as suspicion from strangers while out with their children. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 2 million single fathers in 2016. About 40 per cent were divorced, 38 per cent were never married, 16 per cent were separated, and 6 per cent were widowed. Life can be challenging for single fathers out there. You must adopt coping mechanisms if you’re a single father. You still have kids to take care of; therefore, you must do everything you can to retain your sanity. Here are 5 strategies for quieting the mind. 1. Look for Optimistic Aspects of life to Think About The first thing you should do as a single father is to focus on what you have rather than what you have lost. Whether you’ve divorced or lost your wife to death, optimism must be an anchor to keep your mind calm. Your children look up to you for all the help they can get, so it’s essential to be a strong motivator for them. 2. Remove all toxicity from your life The next thing to do is to delete all toxicity from your mind or circle. Anything that would drag you back and make you lose focus must be removed. They can be as inconsequential as a wristwatch or a piece of clothing given to you by your ex-partner before you parted ways. Whether it is people who constantly remind you of all the negativity in your life or objects that continuously remind you of your past mistakes, you must let go of them. 3. Turn off all distractions during mealtime Ensure you disconnect from the outside world during meals and bedtime. Concentrate on your children. This will aid in communication and make them feel secure. A busy dad won’t be of help to any child. The time together should be where you as a single father communicate with your children. They will appreciate it more. 4. Exercise To cope with the stress of single parenting, some single fathers turn to drugs or alcohol. Exercise can be a good substitute for drugs and alcohol. Positive endorphins are released during exercise. You will feel better about yourself and that all of your problems are manageable. I believe that the perception that they are manageable rather than gone makes a significant difference in this situation. You don’t have the severe come down that you do when you try to pretend they’ve gone away with alcohol or drugs because they never vanished. 5. Network for Help Your children’s schools are a good location to obtain assistance. Networking with other parents and school personnel will make you feel less stressed about your kids’ welfare. It’s really common for single parents to feel lonely. Share the responsibility with another single-parent family or your close relatives. Accepting assistance will allow you to recharge. Overall, stay positive and do your best for your children. Also, a single father can find love again. It is certainly possible! Single parents meet new people, find love, and find true happiness. It’s even possible that your children will help you meet your next spouse. It could be a single person in the neighbourhood or at school who is close to your children.