TOPIC:CONCEPT OF WRITING:

        
 One thing that is synonymous to reading, is writing. They literally go hand in hand, just like best friends or better still twins that are inseparable. Right from time, one is considered a literate or educated when he/she can read and write. One is first taught how to read and identify the alphabets, then taught how to write them down. So basically writing involves putting down words, formed from combinations of alphabets, that represent your thoughts.
  Writing skill as the name implies, is the knowledge you acquire, learn and practice  in order to write better.
  From elementary school, we've all been exposed to different forms of writing, from compositions, to letters, comprehension, down to literary works. All spoke of different types of writing. Even science spoke of a different type of writing.
  Literally, we can categorise all these into; *Nonfiction- writing that contains real facts. That you can easily relate to.
   Under this type, you can have the inspirational/ motivational write ups, educative articles that deal with things around us etc.
  Fiction- this writing deals more with imaginations. The reader enters the writer's created world. Here you have novels, drama scripts, etc.
 So at every point in time, when you put now anything on paper, it's either you're writing on real facts:Nonfiction or you're creating a whole new world, but in all you are expressing your thoughts. Telling your readers the way that you think. So if I'm reading your piece of writing, I can to some extent tell how you think or who you are.
 Now let's focus on *how to improve our writing skill*
1:Create your own style:Most times when we think of writing, we imagine, a nerd in glasses sitting in front of a table, with so many littered papers around, and a huge encyclopaedia opened at one end on the table. Hey writing is never that serious. You mustn't be perfect, or be a professor in grammar, or an award winning novelist, to write anything. You have to first "recognise what you want to write about" and just go with your flow of thoughts. If you're writing to meet up anybody's standard, you might just limit your abilities and creativity.
Like the phrase, "express rather than impress", writing too is centred on expressing rather than impressing. Now you know better than to copy Prof Wole Soyinka's well polished style making your readers run to a dictionary in search of almost every word. The end point is write it your own way.
2:Write often: To be better at any thing, you must be consistent at it. So is the same thing for writing. You must write often, to improve your writing skills. So don't schedule your writing monthly, schedule it daily if possible. The more the better.
3:Make your writing brief and concise: Especially for those who are interested in writing nonfiction, or are already writing it, try as much as possible not to make your work lengthy in order to keep your readers' attention. When it's too lengthy, it becomes one of those long boring lectures that you pray to come to an end. Unfortunately, in this case your readers might not need to pray to get to the end, they'll simply scroll their screen to something shorter and more interesting.
4:Be creative:Alright so if you're like me, that love to write lengthy things, as you've seen so far, don't blame me, I took that too much "tori tori" from my mother. I mean no matter how you try to make it short, it doesn't work, it always just comes out lonnnnggggg, then you've got no choice than to bring on your "creativity game".Try to find ways to keep your readers' attention, after all, you are writing for them. So try different ways to keep your readers reading till the end.
5:Be conscious of writing prompts: Always carry your writing kits anywhere you go, even to the toilet. Yes,there too. You can have the prompt or inspiration to write about something at any point in time. So stay alert.
6:Catchy title:Your title is as important as your write up. To get the attention of a reader, you must first get through your title. Never judge a book by its cover you may say, trust me some people judge it by the title. Keep that in mind.
7:Organise your writing:Yes, it's alright to do your style but hey organising your work is highly essential. From grammar construction, to punctuation marks, down to addition paraphrases etc, makes your work professional. So avoid making a sentence like, "Do you think everyone in world thinks like you do." Using a full stop instead of of a question mark, "?".
... Permit me, I know I have said a lot. Just give me the grace of two extra points, and I'll be done.
8:Content/Quality:Content and quality of your writing can never be overemphasised. Sometimes it's really not about writing, but "what are you writing?" I mean anyone can write, even three year olds write, but only a few can pass a message. A quality one at that. As reading is to get knowledge, writing is to pass knowledge. So what knowledge/ message are you passing to your readers? Is it worth the time spent on writing?  Or it is to write anything that comes to your mind, since you get inspirations on every topic. Content is everything. So the next time you pick up your pen or keyboard to write, think about what you are going to write carefully.
  Now finally!
9:Read, Read Read:From the fact established earlier, you can deduce that "you can't write, if you don't read". Reading doesn't just expose you to new things, it also exposes you to new writing styles. So if you want to be good at writing articles, read more articles. If you want to be better at writing novels, read more novels. Now ladies, I didn't say read more romance novels, cause trust me after you're done building castles in the sky and creating your own version of the story in your head, you're left with an empty paper. So expose your mind to different writings, by reading the works of others, in order to be better at writing. You don't know it all, so keep reading and keep growing.
QUESTION:
Do u mean I should read more of the type of book I like to write or rather the style I want to imbibe?
ANSWER:
  Both ma'am! Reading the type of books you would like to write, will expand your knowledge on that particular field, increase your focused and narrow your interest. So you wouldn't be reading more of Chimamada's novels when you want to be an inspirational writer like Joyce Meyer. But then you shouldn't be stereotyped about reading books, as this may not help your level of creativity and exposure.
  Read wide to expand your horizon both for knowledge and for style. In all, "have a singular focus!"

Taught by Chioma Jennifer.