Sharing your ideas with the pen effectively 

 

The writing skill has distinguished several individuals in different spheres of life, helping to amplify their story, impacting the world through their well articulated ideas. There is hardly a career you choose that good writing skill would not come in handy as there are several forms of writing, including:

 

Fiction

Prose

Poetry

Drama (Script Writing)

 

Non-Fiction

Copy Writing

Blogging

Journalism

Business Writing

Academic, etc..

 

Everyone gets to write at one instance or the other, however, it takes good crafting of words, excellent punctuation and intentional narrative prowess to drum home the point that is needed to be conveyed by the writer. Here we will discuss how you as the writer can impact your world more effectively through writing.

 

What Makes Good Writing

 

 

• The Narrative: Is the narrative ethical? Are the elements defined? The key elements are: Theme, Plot, and the Setting. Theme is a central topic, subject, or message within a narrative. Plot is how the narrative takes form, the progression of events. Within the plot, sub-elements such as Character (which are the persons in the story), Conflict (which is the bone of contention in the story), and the Causation (a logical chain of sequence which explains how one event leads to another) are the skeletons which pushes the story forward. There are even other minor elements under the sub-elements which add to the quality of the narrative. This includes the Climax (how and when conflict peaks), with the Resolution (how the conflict resolves).

One interesting assertion that needs to be mentioned is that for you to make a good story the narrative must be intentional with these themes. While this is often advised for fiction, we should remember that non-fiction too needs to employ the structure. When this is put in mind in non-fiction, a truly quality piece will be in the offing.

 

 

 

• Syntax: Everybody gets to write at some point in their career, but the ones who make a mark are ones who lay down the best syntax. Syntax means the usage of punctuations, words, structuring of the sentences, including even the length. Good writers endeavor to write like they are talking, and their readers often recognize their voice. For them it is not just about conveying an idea, but also emotion, or urgency if need be. Syntax is everything in writing, and two different application of syntax can draw very different reactions from readers.

How expedient is your narrative? is it the narrative of a whistle blower who announces war is at the city gate, or the eulogy of a pupil at his principal’s birthday anniversary? Even the sun, same it may be to the two narrators, would be described differently. This is because the writer means to draw different emotions on those different occasions. Punctuations too should be taken seriously. It can save lives.

 

 

• Texture: Irrespective of the language used in writing, the texture can decidedly vary, and this is what usually makes the difference even between experienced writers who gets it right with both the narrative and syntax. The texture takes the reader on a journey through the writer’s fears, anger, humour, and hopes. It shows the state of the writer’s mind, and experienced writers adopt different textures to experiment tonalities, combined with choice words to convey their inner emotions. A retiring officer, for example, may want to give a didactic farewell speech encumbered with figures of speech, rather than a straight appreciation, depending on what circumstance surrounds their exit from the organization. Texture of the writing conveys also the personality of the writer, and this can be so well utilized in fiction. A happy-go-lucky would not communicate same way as the reflective introvert. A courtly lady of high status will not communicate same way as a rural girl with lowly living. Depending on how the story ends, the writer would employ different textures which correctly reflects this mood even from the beginning.

• There is a world of difference between the following different pieces of work:
• In the middle of the journey of our life, I was lost from the straight path and came to myself within a dark cold wood.
• – Divine Comdey, 1321. Dante Alighieri
• I think sometimes of the poems I have lost- Maybe their loss it was that saved the world- still they get lost, and I recall them only when a fragment levitates behind discarded invoices.
• – Lost Poems, Wole Soyinka, 2002

 

Examples of Accomplished Writers; their influence & idiosyncrasy

 

WOLE SOYINKA

Soyinka ‘s work has been described as lush, engaging, and one of his recent books was reviewed as provoking action through the urgency which it conveys. Soyinka does not only utilize strong Yoruba themes in bringing universal plots to life but also employ humor, hyperbole, metaphors, and other exotic idiosyncrasies reminiscent of rich Yoruba proverbs. This takes the reader on a journey in which diverse interpretations is welcome. Soyinka is celebrated all over the world and he is a Nobel Prize (Literature) laureate.

 

CHINUA ACHEBE

Achebe does not employ such luxury as Soyinka’s. If he makes any effort at tempering his passion or mask his ideals under the equally rich Igbo figures of speech, he made a feeble show of it. Achebe did not shy away from being didactic, and he entertains as well as employs strong imageries in pushing his stories forward. His literatures are more chronological and have been reviewed as representing Igbo, by extension, African tradition clearly to unfamiliar cultures. Achebe is well known in the Americas. He won the Man Booker Prize.

 

Reading as first step in honing writing skill

To become a good writer, you must be an avid reader. Identify what journals or books that may help you become better within your subjects of interest. There are manners of writing which is acceptable in certain genres but not in other genres. The use of high language, devoid of colloquialism, elegant and well chosen, while optional in some genres of fiction, is sacrosanct in some type of literatures. In Academic writing, you are better off using “Obtain” for “get” and there are times you use “collect” all synonyms of the same word. You become familiar with these skills only by reading.

How much reading before you becomes world class?

Firstly, I will charge you to not despise small beginnings, and to enjoy stages of your growth. Ensure to read more than you watch the TV, and make it a delight to look up new words in the dictionary. This will expand your vocabulary. Pay attention to figures of speech too. They are rich items you may want to learn. It will help in your writing to convey your message with controlled intensity. Euphemisms help you to downplay occurrences; you wouldn’t want to be rude or insensitive. When you read you will find euphemism is often used as much as hyperbole for humor. Reading makes you feel some connection with the writer, whose story becomes increasingly interesting to you. Back to the question how much reading before you become world class, it is recommended you consider the 10,000 Hour Rule of Malcom Gladwell which asserts that the the key to achieving true expertise in any skill is simply a matter of practicing, albeit in the correct way, for at least 10 000 hours.

 

 

Benefits of Good Writing Skill

Nigerian Startups raised $377 million in 2019, more than twice the value in 2018, but only a third of the value in 2021 when it raised $1 billion. None of these startups accomplished this without some Business Writing, a narrative which tells their story as it itemizes the promises and anticipated challenges of proposed businesses. Bloggers from all over the world make money as well as Copywriters, script writers, and hundreds of career roles which involves heavy writing.