Your Right To Write by Abdullahi Tosin Mohammed - HTML preview

Here’s my story…

Once upon a time,

I loved the craft of writing. I envied the ranks of writers. Their wits, their elegance … and influence. Their almost immortal existence, living many years after they’re long dead. I wanted to be one. But I just could not. Starting was a nightmare. I could only wish I was a writer.

Why was this so?

• Writing is a lonely task; it bores.
• It consumes time; I was busy.
• It requires talents; I had none.
• It takes a special training; I lacked this.
• It calls for perfect language mastery; my grammar sucked.

That was my thinking. My secondary school teachers would cheer me on. They sometimes even coerced me to write for contests.

‘You write well’ was their sincere lie. They all failed. I wouldn’t argue with them. But I was just not made to be a writer. I couldn’t be one. And for so long, I wasn’t one.

How did the story change? All my fears were actually real, so how could my status have changed? What turned my bleeding edge into my leading edge?

Mindset!

You heard me right – my mindset. It was my attitude to writing.

Before – I saw the challenges … and concluded they were stumbling blocks.

Today – I see them … and I’m thrilled at the opportunity to break new grounds.

Perception is everything

Maybe you don’t know – perception is everything.

Now, read that again … and let it sink into your skull: perception is everything.

Let’s have an aside: There’s a story of two salesmen sent to conduct research on the market potential of shoes in Africa.

The first salesman was quick to observe: “There is no potential here – nobody wears shoes.” His counterpart had an entirely different view: “There is massive potential here – everybody needs shoes.”

I give you the permission – take 2 minutes off reading this piece … just to ponder on the story.

You’re back? Great! That’s the decisiveness of the mindset. I was a victim too for so long a time. I opined the cup was half empty. I was very correct in my observation.

But my judgement was completely wrong.

The gamechanger

Sometime in 2009, a friend and mentor, Akinde AbdulHafiz was the editor of a campus organization I was a member of. An essay contest was organized and he wanted me to enter. “I wish I were a good writer,” I lamely excused.

Any editor could have let go of it. He could have seen a young boy who couldn’t be a writer because he didn’t write well. He did not.

He saw a young talented boy … slumbering and snoring. But he believed the boy was a great writer in embryo. So he woke him.

With an overdose of constant motivation – even persuasion – he made me enter the contest, as if he was paid to make sure I entered.

I went ahead to claim the second prize. And that has made all the difference.

Ask me now and I’ll tell you – the cup is always half filled. Never half empty!

Is this book for you?

Friend, if you’re an always-motivated writer, you’ve never procrastinated writing your ideas, and you never shelve your passion because you’re busy, this book isn’t for you. So please stop reading now and go write what’s on your mind.

If you’re an aspiring writer, or better still a wishful writer … if your story is or was once like mine, then you’re in the right place. You’re reading what will wake you from your dream, for that’s the only way to make it come true.

This book won’t teach you how to write. For only when you’re motivated to write against all odds, do you need the how. The first step is your mindset – and that’s what this book will help you with.

How’s writing to you?

Do you love writing at all? Is it your dream to become a proficient essayist? Foolish questions, right?

Yes! They’re ridiculously idiotic questions. But they prove a point: that you love writing. Everyone does. Some people will not own up, but they envy writers too.

I have not lived long on earth – just a few years more than two decades.

But I can tell you I’ve met and interacted with many people; people with varied orientations, backgrounds, inclinations and interests.

I haven’t found for once – or heard of – anyone who would aver with impunity that he hates writing!

One who would proclaim: “I do not wish to know how to assemble words in print into literary jewels to express my thoughts.”

I bet you’ve not too.

What you’ll find everywhere are wishful writers all too reluctant to give the craft a starting shot. They wish to write, but wishes aren’t horses.

You’re facing this challenge too, aren’t you?

Don’t be shy to own up…I’ve confessed mine too. And I assure you you’ve got many co-wishful writers.

In anyway, all hope is not lost. You still can claim your right to write. But only if you’re ready.

Are you set?

Here are some killing mindsets

You sure want to be a writer, but you feel some prerequisites are missing:

• You haven’t discovered the secrets of writing
• You’ve got no mentor;
• You haven’t read copious grammar books;
• You haven’t attended ample writing workshops;
• You haven’t taken a course at Writers Bureau;
• You study Chemistry, not English Literature;
• And many other crazy excuses … you know them best.

If your case is one of these, the bad news is you’re living in the dreamland. Attaining all these before you start writing is utopian.

The above are advantages to position you for a fulfilling writing adventure. They’re must-have, skill-enhancing gizmos I don’t take with levity and that I recommend.

But they’re to be progressively acquired. They aren’t prerequisites. Only a thing do you need from the start: your willing mind.

Other tools will help you, but you can excel without first getting them. They are helpful enhancers, never preconditions. They make you better along the way, but you can get going initially even without them.

Let’s examine these advantages?

1: Writing secrets

You want some writing secrets, don’t you? I mean some real magical wands you can apply to become a writer that’s proficient, celebrated and every reader’s darling overnight … you want them don’t you?

I know you do. But I’ll disappoint you.

This scrambling for writing secrets has slaughtered many promising writing lives. It has stunted the