This column turns three this week. After God, my wife and daughter, it is the next best thing that I treasure the most. It excites and frightens me in equal measure.
It’s exciting when family, friends and strangers tell me that they enjoyed a particular piece. It’s frightening when some of my readers are my former teachers and professors, some of whom have put me to task for not being intellectually deep enough. Barring the occasional deluge of hate mail and insults (some insults are so well-worded, they are literary masterpieces), readers are generally positive about the column and this newspaper.
Once people start reading you, there are those who inevitably will ask you for advice on how to launch their writing careers. Nine out of 10 of such people are never interested in writing, because as soon as you mention that you need passion, a lot of reading and a lot of writing practice, they would vanish. So, today, I will share my experience.
First, writing is about passion. If you don’t have the passion, don’t even bother. Many people want to be published on the first day, be given a column on the second and be superstars on the third. Even a girl who is blessed with an ample backside and wants to be a socialite puts some effort.
She starts with twerk videos, which go viral, but do nothing. She has to leak her nudes before insulting other socialites to become famous. That is when you’ll start seeing her shopping in Dubai perched on top of the socialite food chain. In short, it is a process.
I recently went to Hillsong, an evangelical church at Time Square, New York, where a charismatic preacher, Carl Lentz, spoke about people who want instant glory but are unwilling to follow the process. People want to be at the finish line, but are unwilling to put in the work. There is a lot of work involved.
Secondly, if the first thing you ask about is money before you even write a sentence worth reading, then you should quit. Get published first and prove your worth by being consistent before asking for money.
Thirdly, get into the habit of writing at least 2,000 words daily. Write about anything. The female office bully. Traffic. 1,000 things you can do to the ex who hurt you. Fantasise on the page about a Utopian world you envision. Writing daily expands your word bank, refines your prose and makes you a natural in your writing.
The fourth point has to do with ideas. You must have ideas. Without ideas, you are headed nowhere. Here are some helpful ideas. Learn to ask your questions. Question everything around you. Be curious. Ask petty and big metaphysical questions. In searching for answers, you will have something to write about. And you must always read. Read fiction and non-fiction.
Read books that will stretch your mind and teach you how good prose is structured. Reading widely exposes you to the array of ideas other authors have explored. This can train your brain to sense ideas that can work and those that can’t. Hence, you must invest in good books.
Fifth, read the publication you want to be published in. I am often shocked when someone tells me they want to be published and they have no idea where. You ask them what newspaper, they say The Nairobian.
You ask them which section and you get a blank. It is simple, if you want to be published in The Nairobian, spend all the time with the paper to understand where your piece can fit. Learn the style of the publication before you submit an 1,800-word term paper.
Sixth, always have real human voices in your story. Journalism is not fiction. Journalism is not about you. So, make the story about ideas and people other than you. Unless you are El-Chapo and keep crocodile for pets, nobody really is interested in your life story.
Seventh is patience. Giving up must never be part of your vocabulary. At my worst, only one in 20 pieces were published. Today, nearly half of my pieces are rejected, but life has to go on. Even senior writers usually face rejection. So, submitting one piece that is not published should not stop you. Stop when you submit your 77th piece. Passion and persistence have their perks in this business.
This may not be enough, but certainly you can start here.
@nyanchwani
snyanchwani@gmail.com.
