Journey

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