Common Questions About Writing
The question that many people have been asking is: How can I become a writer? How can I start writing my own story? How do I deal with pacing and sentence structure? How do I write without losing focus?
These are just a few questions that have been on the mind of so many people. It is a question that many have given up hope of finding the solution to. Here, I’m going to write a few things I know about writing. I’m going to share how I start, what motivates me, and how I deal with pacing and sentence structure.
Writing Can Become Easier Once You Understand A Few Basic Principles
One thing many people don’t understand is that writing is very easy. It is one of the simplest things to do. Many people don’t see this because so many of them don’t have the motivation to do so. They think it is difficult putting on various characters and building various personalities. Well, to be honest, that is simple to keep up with.
Let me put it this way: when writing a story that is made up of more characters than you can keep up with, it is best if you have a notebook by your side. You jot down every character, their roles, their personality, and the purpose they have in your story. You write it down so when the story progresses and you think you have missed something or a character, you can check it in the notebook, and that will help in keeping up with whatever you think you have missed.
Writing a story is very easy because, depending on the sort of stories, our daily lives and those of people around us are story enough. From there we can create fiction. We can use real-life challenges to create a story, and when we walk along the street, we see drama. Drama that unfolds from the vendor, the barber, the shopkeeper, the street urchins, and various groups of people. That is enough to give you a good story.
Understanding Pacing
Pacing is one of the hardest things to understand as a beginner. Many people fall victim to fast pacing without adding any flavor, but the one thing people don’t understand is that pacing has to do with the form of story you’re telling. For example, a short blog story needs to have fast to medium pacing, but you must add the flavor that makes the pacing thick. Hey, it’s my own idea when I said adding a flavor that makes the story thick. Here is what I have come to understand:
1. Build the tension: While writing a story, you must build the tension when it comes to pacing. That tension is like a slow motion of building up to an explosion of nerves, hysteria, fear, and every molecule of breath that leaves the body and how it does.
2. Show and don’t tell: You must show the reader how it happens and not tell. You must show them how the fire started and not just say the fire starts in one go. Show them like this, for example: The kerosene lamp wobbled on the edge of the workbench, its glass chimney smudged with soot. A single spark, thrown by the dying wick, landed on a pile of oily rags. For a moment, nothing. Then a wisp of grey curled upward—hesitant, almost lazy. The rags began to blacken at the edges, tightening into tiny curls. A low crackle whispered through the shed. Within seconds, a blue-orange tongue lapped at the dry wood, growing hungrier as it found the old newspapers stacked beside the bench. The heat swelled, and the shadows on the wall started to dance.
As you can see, I showed you everything about how the fire started. You just can’t tell; you have to show the reader so they can feel the tension and be part of what is happening and not like a third party.
3. You must learn how to crawl: Writing a story is a serious business because it will be read by millions of people, and that can change many things. For starters, it tells the reader the kind of person you are and how good you might come to be with time, or it tells the reader you’re just experimenting and may give up any moment. So you must learn how to crawl before you walk the path of a writer. You must start from somewhere, and you must be honest and diligent in your writing by starting as a beginner instead of pretending you’re a made-up writer. That itself will hurt you more than you bargained for because you will lose your readers even before they have read your work.
The Importance of Structure
Another area that needs to be understood when writing a story is structuring. This is very important because it helps in so many ways, such as:
1. Provides a clear roadmap – Structure (like the three-act or hero’s journey) tells you what needs to happen next, preventing writer’s block and ensuring you don’t get lost halfway through the plot.
Before starting a story, you must make sure you have set the plot, you must develop a character until you know it like the back of your hand, and you must have a clear goal on what you want the character to be, where you want the character to go, and what you want the character to do. Having such a clear purpose will make you never encounter any writer's block.
To help you understand what I mean by 'know a character like the back of your hand,' here is an example:
For example, when I said you must know a character like the back of your hand, I mean while writing a story and you describe the protagonist as having a scar on his right cheek and dark eyes, you must keep that in mind. Because in the next part, when you describe the same character, you must not change his appearance—like having the scar on his left cheek instead of his right, or having blue eyes instead of the dark eyes you earlier mentioned.
2. Controls pacing and tension – With a structure, you know when to raise stakes (rising action), when to pause for breath (calm before the climax), and when to deliver payoff, keeping readers engaged without rushing or dragging.
Just like the example I gave above about "show, don't tell," you have to build the tension slowly and make your readers feel every step and every word so they can see it in their own way. You don't have to rush it. You don't have to say there was thunder and lightning. You say it like this:
It was a sunny morning with the warm rays of the sun entering the room through the crack in the wall. But suddenly the weather grew darker, and the wind increased. You could hear the window blinds flapping about. You could see the dried leaves floating around, and the air grew colder. You could hear the first droplet as it hit the roof, and suddenly there was a crack that sounded like two palms clapping together.
3. Supports character development – A solid structure forces your character to face escalating challenges, make choices, and change by the end, making their arc feel earned rather than random.
How to Start a Story
One of the best ways to start a story is from something you have experienced. Only you know how it feels to experience it, and so that will give you an edge and help you overcome writer’s block. For example, if you want to write a love story, you can start from your own experience, but you must put it in the form of fiction and don’t tell like I said earlier—just show, so the reader can experience your triumphs, your fears, and your heartache.
You know, writing a love story is one of the easiest because in life we have all experienced love at one stage and heartbreak at another. You know the chase when you were after her and the game she kept playing until she finally relented and let you into her life. This is just one example of numerous ways to start a story, and starting from your own experience will be the greatest blockbuster you will ever write.
Using Dreams for Inspiration
If you’re into magic or supernatural fiction, another way to get the story flowing is through your dreams. Yes, you heard me right—dreams are one of the best places to get that inspiration. In our dreams, we are like superheroes, and we experience every action. We feel the pain, the fear, and the victory. We feel it all, and we can put that on paper for our readers.
For example, you might dream you’re in another world and you have the abilities to perform different acts of magic, and you were given a task which will make you face many dangers, and you get to overcome it. That alone is a gold mine of information. One secret I keep to myself is that I always have a pen and paper on my bedside so that just in case I have a dream and I wake up suddenly, I will jot it down that night so I will not forget it. Hey, now my secret is out. I hope yours will be better than mine, and please, we all have our own ways, but mine is from my own experience.
Keep Writing and Learn from Others
Never be afraid of writing a story, no matter how ridiculous you think it is. Just keep writing, and with time you will get better at mastering the pacing, structure, and beginning of a story.
Another way of writing a story and getting better is to learn from experienced people. Yes, I always read to learn from the best. I read how they structure their words and how they build tension with action, and I can say I’m getting the hang of it. I may not be there yet, but I can say I’m about getting to that level, and the more I write and read, the more my skills are developing.
Final Conclusions
Look, I'm not going to sit here and tell you I have all the answers. I don't. Every writer is still learning, including me. But what I do know is this: the only way to fail at writing is to never start. You can read a hundred articles like this one, watch a thousand videos, buy all the courses. None of that will write your story for you.
So here is my real advice. Stop waiting. Stop thinking you need permission. Take that notebook I told you about, write down one character, give them one problem, and just go. It might be bad. That's fine. My first attempts were terrible. Yours will be too. But you will get better with every paragraph.
And one more thing—don't compare your beginning to someone else's middle. The writers you admire struggled too. They just didn't quit.
Now go write something. Even if it's just one page. Even if no one reads it. Write for yourself first. The rest will follow.
The Niger Delta Chronicles
Subject: Historical Resistance, Resource Wealth, & Cultural Roots
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