The earliest memory I have of how I began to write dates back to high school. The press club had just been founded and I was privileged to be among the pioneer members of the most prestigious club in school.
We were divided into departments; I was in the Internal News Department, which I headed. The only days I was excused from having to write something were days school didn’t open.
Fast forward to later years, I began writing other things. My Facebook wall was more active than my diary. Some of the articles were short, others long. I stopped writing at a time because some people were ‘stealing’ my writings, and taking credit for them. But, I couldn’t stop for long. The urge to write was too compelling.
I took interest in reading what others had written or were writing too. Beautiful stories, flash fictions, personal accounts, drama series… I felt like there was something kicking on the inside of me, “You can do it too! ” That’s how I started writing stories.
I now write more. I write either I’m happy or sad. I write to celebrate friends or decry something wrong. I write fictions, Christian stories especially. Articles… I love writing. I write everyday. It may be a line, or a paragraph, or a page, or more. I just must write.
I posted my first short story on my wall; people liked it and I was happy. I did another one; they liked it too. Then, I ran a 30-part story series of about 30,000 words on my blog (johnogunjimi.wordpress.com) and the stats boomed. Now, I’m working on another story, though at a slower pace because I’m trying to balance my reading goal with writing.
While I can’t say I’ve ‘made it’ as a writer yet–because my stories still sometimes have wrong punctuations, faulty plots, grammatical errors, and some other shortcomings I may not have noticed–I’m glad about this: I’m not where I used to be. Everyday, with every new line on every new page, I’m improving. I’m getting better.
God willing, I’ll be publishing my first book this year. The future holds more than I can imagine at the moment, even from the top of a mind-skyscraper. I’m taking a step at a time till I reach my goal.
It’s World Book Day! Shout out to all authors, writers, and readers.
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