Y is for You
Writing starts with YOU.
Who you are now.
Where you come from and what you carry
around inside of you.
Being a writer is using these parts of you
to create work that engages and inspires people in an authentic way.
Who am I? I don’t know, it changes from day
to day but one way I keep track of who I am is keeping a journal. My thoughts,
dreams, aspirations, failures, rants and all the things I carry around inside
uncensored in vomit size chunks, to track my progress as a person and as a
writer.
Why do I want to be a writer? I don’t know
but I do know what other writers have done for me. The first time I read Toni
Morrison, I felt that she had shone a light into the darkest corner of my soul
and helped me see what lurked there. When I read “the bluest eye” she lead me
kicking and screaming into understanding and seeing the humanity of a character
I would have condemned in real life as a monster. It changed me profoundly forever.
Unlike most writers I came to literacy late
at the age of ten. Reading a book by myself for the first time was a true
experience of magic. That someone thousands of miles away or centuries away
from where I was sitting had written their thoughts, their story down and by
looking at the words I could see, hear and feel what they wanted me to
experience. If that isn’t telepathy I don’t know what is.
And all the writers who came after that
first book, George Orwell making me laugh so much I once nearly peed myself on
a train, James Baldwin making me weep and feel things I didn’t know I had in
me, Dostoevsky taking me to places I could never imagine going. That is what I
want to do for other people. I may never achieve it but writing is my way of
trying.
What do I have to say? I don’t know but
when I do, that is when the pen is mightier than the sword. There’s that part
of us as writers that wants a pat on the back, the recognition of publishers or
massive readership or a way to prove to our doubters or family that we are not
wasting our time. When we remove these crippling expectations and just write
what we are passionate about it keeps us authentic, inspired and empowered.
Think of it this way. There are about seven
billion people in the world. Even if your book, or film or whatever you are
writing will only appeal to one in a million people, that is still seven
thousand people who will engage, connect and appreciate whatever you have to
say to them!
How do I keep the writer side of me going?
Just by doing it. Writing consistently everyday and training myself not to
worry that it won’t get anywhere or it’s not good enough. Being a writer is a
vocation: a strong impulse, a summons, a strong feeling of suitability to a
particular state, occupation or course of action. So I say to the writer side of you, give in
to the vocation, be passionate, be yourself and let the chips fall where they
may.
Afia Nkrumah
Loved this post, especially the description of discovering the magic of literature at the age of ten as "telepathy". Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteCertainly good advice for all of us.