A recent delightful story

Recently, a lady I have encouraged to start writing sent me a heart-warming message. Her 11-year old is determined to do something, which she hasn’t even gotten to do: write a book before the end of the year!

I was thrilled. Although the mother has also started writing and is doing quite well at it, she hasn’t picked up the gauntlet about turning her experience into a book. But her daughter, who’s barely out of primary school, is giving it a very serious go! The last time I asked my friend about our little Angel’s passion, she said the young lady was in fact designing the cover of her book! She is so determined to get it done. I pleaded with the mother to encourage her and promised to do my best to support them.

This precious girl’s story took me back to the first time I ever picked up my pen to write. I must have been about eight years old and in Primary Four or something. I had the culture of reading every book I could lay my hands on immediately after the house chores every Saturday morning. I recall that while at this, my mother, who was a teacher, would literally drag me to the breakfast table before allowing me to go back to my reading. I guess I had begun to have an overflow one day, so I picked up my pen and started to write from my imagination. Of course, I really didn’t know what I was doing and soon lost the notebook where my precious, innocuous hand had penned these stories.

From Popular to Literary Fiction, Newspapers, Magazines, Blogging and Books

Secondary school was a lot of work for me, so I didn’t do much writing.  However, nothing could stop me from reading, and I did read! Now, thinking about it, I read more than 50 titles in the Pacesetter series, just as I read the thrillers of James Hadley Chase, which my father had on his shelves. By the time I got out of secondary school into A Levels, I read the offerings of a variety of commercial/popular Fiction authors like Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Harold Robbins, Barbara Bradford, Jackie Collins and the likes. I loved the pulsating thrillers of the Fredrick Forsyths, Robert Ludlums and Mario Puzos of this world. The only set of books I never succeeded in getting myself to read were those on the Mills and Boon stable. I tried, but just never could sustain it. Why? I cannot tell.

The More Literary Books

There was also the Heinemann’s African Writers Series that had the Chinua Achebes, Wole Soyinkas, Nurudin Farahs, Ngugi Wa Thiongos and Abubakar Gimbas. I was barely out of secondary school when I got introduced to the works of a phenomenal English writer known as Marie Corelli. I’ll write about her one day. This came alongside reading Jonathan Swift, William Golding, D.H Lawrence, George Orwell, George Eliot, Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy, amongst others, including biographies too numerous to list.

You’ll agree that this fairly significant deposit must produce results which manifested in my going back to writing fiction in long-hand and keeping a lyrics book in those analogue that I grew up with. Throughout my secondary education, A levels, and university, I devoured newspapers and their columns like my life depended on it. I also read the magazines: news magazines, general interest and even humour magazines. I would then write notes to newspaper editors in reaction to some of the stories I read. Little wonder that I was a member of the team of the leading campus magazine at the University of Ilorin, even becoming the Editor before I graduated.

So, becoming a journalist was probably just a matter of course. It’s also probably a matter of course that I have not stopped writing years after I left journalism. Writing is an essential skill for a public relations practitioner, but I have also written public commentary since 2013. I have moved on to writing books, mostly about my life experiences, and later helping other people articulate their stories.

When I look back, I see that I have literally been writing all my life. I believe you have too, you only probably just don’t realise. Now, let’s pause for a minute and think about it; is there any day you haven’t written a text message, posted on X, Instagram or Facebook? Do you keep a daily journal of your activities and experiences? If you do, who says you aren’t writing?

Is Writing Easy?

Of course not! Writing is not easy. It takes a lot of discipline. You should write your thoughts down as soon as they come to you, and be sure that you follow through. However, as in every other thing in life, practice makes perfect. The more you write, the more you get used to it and become better at it. I believe everyone has at least one story to tell. Yours might be the one that would change the trajectory of someone’s life.

 Your Story Deserves to Be Told

If you insist that you cannot write your story by yourself, I advise that you get a writing coach. Get your thoughts down in voice notes, employ the service of a ghostwriter if you must. One thing you must avoid, however, is to let your story die with you.

Start documenting your journey now. And if you need a writing coach? Reply to this newsletter.

Have a great week ahead.

You can also buy my book, Every Journalist Should Write a Book,here

Niran Adedokun,

Writer | Communications Strategist | Book Strategist | Author of The Danfo Driver in All of Us and Every Journalist Should Write a Book