The choice to become a writer is not always a deliberate one. Yes, there are those who, through inspiration from other writers, choose to enter the ring and experience what it means to put words together. Others are pushed into it by an obsession with reading; some of the ideas they get from books begin to compel them to write. Yet others become writers by virtue of their profession and/or occupation.
Irrespective of the reason(s) that make someone a writer, it often takes acknowledgment from readers and even encouragement from them for someone to attain the level of a prolific writer. From the moment your writing is acknowledged, critiqued, and people strongly urge you to continue until you become established, you sign up for what you may not have bargained for at all.
On my personal journey, I was deeply inspired and later mentored by Dr. Steve Ogidan when we were both students at the College. He was two years ahead of me, but the rate at which he churned out articles made my spine ache. Then, one day, I summoned the courage to step into his shoes, not minding whether I would be swallowed by it. I started with him on a draft. He read it, guided me, and still guides me to this day.
Each writer most often decides what area of life appeals to them to write about. My initial fortress was mainly social justice, greatly influenced by my father, of blessed memory, and most profoundly by Peter Abraham Mine Boy
Way back in college, I wrote about issues affecting students, school authorities, the college administration, societal ills, and whatever those represented. It was simply a passion to lend a voice and offer solutions, even if they were not always optimal, at least to engage rational minds in making the environment a much better place to live. It was fun, yet I approached it with a strong sense of responsibility.
I received good commendations, though even some of my close friends lambasted me. One accused me of seeking cheap popularity. I asked him then: if my intention was to seek popularity, either cheap or expensive, why was I using a pen name until someone eventually blew my cover? Of course, he could not answer that.
You may think you are just a writer, but others may perceive you as a social crusader.
I had an early baptism into that reality.
Let me share the story briefly.
Back in the days at the Federal College of Education, we ate free food until the Buhari military regime decided to put a stop to it.
On one fateful afternoon, when rice and chicken were served, the queue was extraordinarily long. I had gone somewhere with a friend to prepare stencils for the bi-weekly magazine of the Writers and Reporters Association (WRA), so by the time I got to the cafeteria, it had become almost impossible to endure. As I surveyed the hall, a friend beckoned to me to come over. He was already close to the serving point. Without thinking much about it, I accepted the offer.
Just as I was about to cut in line, someone pulled me back.
With an unsmiling face, an Okene-born radical student told me emphatically, “Mr. Writer, you cannot jump this queue. You write all the time about social justice. Kindly go back to the end of the queue.”
I was transfixed on the spot. All eyes turned on me, and I quietly went back to the end of the queue. Needless to say, before it got to my turn, the food had been exhausted. No lunch for me, despite having gone to work in the interest of the public, so to speak.
But there was a great lesson for me, and I am grateful to have learned it so early. There is no hiding place for a writer. The onus is on me now to conduct all my affairs with decorum, even if I have to miss some opportunities.
I missed free rice and chicken.
The question then is this: if writers are held accountable for their actions and inactions, can they really be restrained from minding other people’s business? Are writers not, by their very nature, supposed to be observers of society?
Tell me, should writers mind their business or continue to write whatever they observe, so long as objectivity is not compromised?
What are your thoughts?
©TheVillageBoy.
(The figure man who loves alphabets)
