FEW TIPS ON HOW TO WRITE 

Disclaimer: This is not coming from a professional writer or someone who has everything figured out. These are just few tips that has shaped my writing as I GROW too. I hope you find it useful.

Circa 2020, a beloved younger sister of mine with a burning passion to write and cause transformational change in her generation requested that I share with her some few tips on how to write. I told her to look up on it on the internet and get help or mentorship from established writer. However, EXPERIENTIAL knowledge can be helpful in some circumstances. So I deemed it fit to share with her some tips that have shaped my writing journey. In no order of priority, I will share them below. 

1. Carve a Niche. Just the way music is divided into genre, writing also has a genre and it is your duty to identify your key area of strength and write excellently in that genre. Some people love R'n'B songs, others country music, pop , gospel, highlife, afrobeat and many more. It is the same with writing too. Some people enjoy devouring inspirational/motivational articles, while others love reading love and relationship articles, others prefer poems, others read business articles, others love Christian articles, others love academic and educational articles, others love to read humorous article and many more. It is your duty to identify your core strength and match it with the needs of your audience. That does not mean that you can not write on other subject matter. Carving a niche only helps to project yourself to people as a master or an authority worth reading in that specialized field. 

When my name rings on people's mind as regard writing, the closest thing that comes to people's mind is that young guy that churns out inspirational article or faith based articles. It doesn't mean I can not write on other things but my strength comes from that area.

2. Consistency. How do I become a great writer? You become a great writer by writing. You do not become the best teacher in the teaching profession by entering into the profession expecting to be the best teacher after 4 weeks. As a six month old practising financial analyst, You can not command the same influence or result in the financial service sector like a 20 year old financial analyst. Before we can accord you the accolades due unto you, you need to pay your dues. Paying your dues in this context is to be consistent. Set a writing target. Once a week. Twice a week. Thrice a week. Write daily. Whichever you choose, ensure to follow it religiously via commitment and discipline.  

3. Write like a learned person. It is disheartening when I see a beautiful lady utter high 

sounding nonsense when conversing in English in public and such person calls herself a graduate. May I not raise beautiful daughters who have nothing upstairs. It is even appalling to be a guy who has six packs but still speak nonsense. The defense that English is not our mother tongue and hence we should not take it seriously is a baseless argument that holds no water. In essence, the way you speak is also the way you write. English is our official language. So as a budding writer, it is up to you to polish your English. If you write rubbish and still expect people to read your work, you are a JOKER. No one has that time to waste on something that MAY have content but poorly packaged. 

4. Be careful with the use of Abbreviation. "Thank you Jesus" is different from "Tnk u Jesus". Do not stress the life of your readers. If you know you are not ready to write in full, you have no business in the writing world. Do not assume that your readers know the message you are trying to pass across. "Lol" can mean LAUGHING OUT LOUD to a reader and the same word can also mean LOVE OVER LUST to another reader. Please, it is knowledge that we seek, do not come and confuse our confusion. 

5. Devour works of established writers. Having carved a niche for yourself, start to devour the works of established writers. You can make them your mentor as regard writing. You may not necessarily approach them for mentorship but the more you devour their works, it helps you hone your skill as a writer too. For example, if you have carved a niche as a STORY TELLER (A fiction writer), read as many fiction works that you can lay your hands upon. It is not just leaders who are readers, writers are readers too. However, do not limit yourself to your niche. Growing up, I would go to one of my neighbours house to pick up old newspaper and read columns of amazing writers. I still remember Mrs. Funke Egbemode of the Sun newspaper. I would devour columns in Punch and Vanguard newspaper. All of this columns has shaped my perception about certain things in life. 

Read voraciously on different subject matter like your life depends on it. A good writer knows EVERYTHING about SOMETHING and SOMETHING about EVERYTHING. To a significant extent, your writing prowess is directly proportional to how vast you can expand your horizon via reading. 

6. Arrange and present your thought logically. Either in speaking or writing, everything is a product of THOUGHT which springs up from your heart. In speaking, you have to arrange your thought logically in order to convince the listener. It is the same with writing too. See, I would not lie to you, speaking becomes very easy to you if you can speak well and have the charisma to let your audience see what you are seeing. But that is not always the case for writing. That is why I respect any big and established writer I know. Once you cannot gain their attention in the first two or three paragraphs, that is all. Once you lose your readers, that is all. Ensure to arrange and present your thought in a logical manner. Captivate your readers from the beginning of your article to the end of your article. Good works has a way of earning the LOYALTY of your audience. If they can read just one of your work and they get value, without force or coercion, they will gladly read the next work that you churn out because they know that they will still get value for their time and your writing will proffer a solution or provide likely suggestion on how to solve their problems. 

I'd wrap this up on the next and final series. 

I hope you find this helpful.

Shalom!

Oluwasegun