How Writing Is Changing My Life

Yesterday I was reading Stephen King's book, On Writing. And I could hear a part of me saying that I'm going to be Nigeria's most prolific writer, that I am going to write more novels than any other Nigerian. I am going to finish my first novel which I am close to halfway through, then I'll write another, and another. And another. I am going to write everything I can write, whether I'm supposed to write it or not. 

image: contentwritings.com

I now believe that I have got a gift of writing. Or how else can I account for my not being able to sleep well until I  have written an article that day. And that is all that matters in writing. When you write frequently (daily, for instance), your writing skill becomes better and better, and you gradually become as good as the professional writers you look up to. You'll discover your inner voice and come up with lots of original creative content.

I constantly tell myself that if hardwork can lead to success, then I have gotten all the good luck I need in life. I find hardwork easy. I can be as hardworking as humanly possible. And fortunately, writing has gone beyond a hobby to now a habit for me. I don't think that there is anything I can't write. Writing is communication, being open and clear matters a lot more than style and grammar. If you look in the technology world, a lot of the inventions are by the academic world -- Ph.D holders. Research papers and academic projects often become the business case for building a revolutionary company. But in the literary world, the only professor that gave us something revolutionary was Professor William Strunk Jr. He gave us an innovative style guide. All the influence and creativity are by regular people who write like their life depends on it. From Shakespeare to Charles Dickens to J K Rowling. Your education doesn't matter much. John Bunyan had less formal education than you and wrote The Pilgrim's Progress. That book is one of the ten most popular books ever written and believed to be the world's best selling novel. It has been translated into about 250 languages and sold over 250 million copies. And it's written in such a clear simple way that a seven year old child can read and understand it. The one thing all great books have in common is clarity. Not hiding behind words and overuse of metaphors. They make things very clear, pass an easily understandable message and use common words.

I have found writing easy. I never run out of things to write about. I am not afraid of being open. I try to write in a clear easy to understand way. I have found my inner voice. I am going to write as many novels and non-fiction as possible. Writing is not just changing my life, it's also taking over my life.