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And as you read, ask yourself: What is
writer saying? Why is he saying it? How is he saying it? The answers you get will help you comprehend, interpret and appreciate book, together with writer’s use of language.
You also have another source –- observation. How do you observe things? Do you look at them closely? Or do you just take a cursory look? You may have missed a great discovery.
Now, come to think of it. Which invention was ever made without a keen observation followed by an inference –- from cause to effect, or from effect to cause.
Remember Isaac Newton observing a falling apple (gravity), Achimedes jumping out of a pool of water and solving riddle of king’s crown (Eureka!), or Mungo Park following river course and “discovering” River Niger (I saw with infinite pleasure great object of my mission….)
So, in your daily activities, make it a habit to observe closely; who knows, right in your garden, you may discover remains of an extinct dinosaur!
Third, you would have to draw materials from your personal life experiences –- what you have seen or heard of people, places and things. Who was it that said experience is best teacher?
He was probably right. People have written masterpieces and autobiographies based on their life experiences. Like Charles Darwin. Like Nelson Mandela.
So, what you are as a person, called “persona”, and your life experiences must reflect in your work, whether you call it fiction, or non- fiction. And since books are a combination of facts and fiction, some have invented coinage--faction, to represent middle ground.
You have another last source of information –- interview people, ask questions.
No man is a repository of knowledge, and if you do not have an inquisitive mind, you will continue to wallow in ignorance, which itself is a disease.
So, ask questions to get information you seek, and follow with more questions to clarify answers. Do not be timid, shy, or proud, to know. Remember that knowledge is power. Remember also that Socrates, great philosopher, asked to know. And remember words of Rene Descartes: “Dare to know!”
At this stage, I must mention importance of diary. Yes, carry one about, and make a daily entry of materials you like to use as they come. It may be of what you read, see or hear. And you must learn to be patient. Writers are most disciplined persons on earth. I wrote a book in ten years!
Do not be frightened at that prospect. I wrote one also in six months. So, have a strong desire, and finish what you start!
Also note as you are going to write, that you are going to be a philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist, all in one.
You are going to invent characters and interpret their actions. You are going to create, and destroy civilizations. That is might of pen.
And as we now begin to write our best-seller in next chapter, remember these words of Sir Francis Bacon: “Reading maketh a man, conference a ready man, and writing, an exact man”.
I totally agree with him. What about you?
Copyright © 2002, all rights reserved
About Author:
ARTHUR ZULU, The Most Controversial Writer in World, is author of best – selling book, HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER. Download your copy and FREE excerpt at : http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/10975. For FREE writing helps, mailto : controversialwriter@yahoo.com
ARTHUR ZULU, The Most Controversial Writer in the World, is the author of the best – selling book, HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER.
