Just back from a blog break!
Actually, i went in search of answers. And i was busy rounding off my November projects. While i was away, John Attah, sent me an essay on his experience with writing. I hope you enjoy reading.
WHY I AM STILL WRITING by JOHN ATTAH
An attempt at
really exposing the reason or reasons why I am still writing may seem easy to
say but most difficult when one moves beyond mere words. I have a feeling that
writing requires skill and technique; like in soccer, a player requires a
handful of skill, technique, psychological balance, and experience to be at the
top of his game likewise a writer who requires a whole lot of things – reading
ability, writing skill, technique, experience, and all the other necessary
ingredients to spice up his literary soup.
One important
thing that I feel I grew up with and which is still nascent but extremely
budding is my reading and writing. I wouldn’t say I grew up in a completely
Academic environment where I read books from day one like Chimamanda Adichie,
but I was privileged to have siblings who taught me the hard way as I sat
beside my eldest brother, receiving the doleful number of knocks on my
head each time I failed to pronounce a word correctly or misspelt while
writing.
My writing
began mysteriously and I never knew I could craft words out of the blue or try
to make language more beautiful than the everyday expressions that beget
clichés and all those which sometimes make English less attractive and boring.
Writing to me is definitely a craft, an art that requires some of the
things I have earlier mentioned and many more depending on varied treatments
and somewhat different opinions by individuals.
Writing to me
has become something like a positive curse in that if i leave it
for long, i could fall ill. I may not be a household name (at the moment), but
i think from the few stupidly creative things i have written especially
poetry and short story lately, i can say that writing anytime at all motivates
me to do awesome things. The motivation that accrues from writing either on a
daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis is amazing. Each day, i try my hand at
writing something no matter how stupid or inconsequential it may seem
when someone else reads them. Take for instance the English Premier League
match reviews which I write almost every other weekend. There are few persons
who would take interest in something of that sort, and still there are a
handful of others who would never tell you anything positive but it gives me
motivation and crowns it with joy. I cannot imagine a life without writing. Sometimes
i dream that my writing could change the world someday.
Writing has to
be my lifeblood, this means a lot to me. It gives me that freedom to express
myself more than when i speak. The weirdest of thoughts, crazy enough to make
people hate me come via my writing and the most creative to make them love me
or appreciate my style of writing comes still via my writing. This, seems to
me, enough proof beyond doubt that i love writing and will continue at this
craft till death stops me.
In summary, i
write for people, about people, for myself, about myself or situations. At
other times, I create something that seems real – fiction, they call it, where
things that don’t happen in actual life situations happen.
All in all, writing
has been my biggest blessing!
JOHN ATTAH is a poet and a short story writer whose
writings have appeared online and in print. He studied English and
Literary Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. His short story ‘The
Tea Shop’ won the 3rd prize at a Literary Festival.