I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in.
--Robert Louis Stevenson
There are two things I have always loved to do —reading and writing, in that order. Thankfully, this week's prompt makes it easy for me to express my creative process through writing.
My creative process is a very simple one borne out of reading books (fiction and nonfiction) and articles (offline and online). Mostly, I love to write and post on fiction because I am kind of a storyteller and enjoy making up characters in my head. Hive offers me a place where I can lay out how I want my character to look and how their lives could be.
I get inspired to write my stories from reading books, my life experiences, the things I see around me, my study of people's character and lifestyle and from watching movies. I turn scenes around in my head, put myself in the shoes of my characters and write.
For nonfiction posts, I get my inspiration from reading. I do a little research on every topic I want to write on, compare it with whatever is obtainable in reality (plus my experience) and let the words flow.
Have I ever dealt with writer's block? Certainly! I believe every writer has and I resolve this by subscribing to daily prompts via email. So when I am stuck on things to write on, I go through my email and pick a prompt, shape it how I like and write on it.
Also, I spend time reading other users' posts and engaging with them in the comment section. Most times when I do this, a quote will jump out at me from the post. I would reflect it on and write my opinion on such a quote or topic.
After I am done writing, especially fiction, I pass them along to fellow fiction writers to read through and critique. Then I edit before I finally post. A fresh pair of eyes on your write-ups is much better than relying on only yours.
You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence. ―Octavia E. Butler
Am I perfect in writing? No, I am still far from it. They say practice makes perfect and it's true. I noted that the more I write, the better I get at it.
I look back at some of the pieces I wrote and shake my head. Some of them, I am impressed with and can't believe I actually wrote them while some, I see them and cringe. So I work at improving my writing daily. This includes my formatting style.
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. —Dr. Seuss
One thing that I have also noted which I work hard to avoid is that when my reading rate is low, my writing turns out mediocre and awful. Like watery posts, without flavour. This is because our minds are like drums that can hold as much knowledge as we want to fill in. It is out of this metaphorical drum that we draw out mental strength and ideas to write on.
Every time we do this, the content reduces and eventually will run low if we do not refill it. Refilling this drum is by reading, reading and reading. You can not give what you do not have.
I blog using my phone so I rely on Google Docs app to prepare my posts because it helps to check my grammar and spellings. I also use Google search engine a lot! Like every time for practically everything. In fact, Google is a life saver!
I use Canva App to design some of my images and also use free image sites (pixabay, pexels and unsplash) for some of my images because of copyright.
This is my entry to the Hive Naija Weekly Prompts themed "Your Creative Process". You are invited to participate.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
