Thinking like a writer through lockdown!

If there was ever a time to dust down that old notebook, you know the one your friend gave you nearly a decade ago for your birthday, yes, that one, now is the time to give it the love it deserves and get that creative juice flowing. I had been writing before the lockdown started and was in the minority among my family and friends for whom working from home had little or no effect on. My novel, The Grass Is Weeping, was nearing its final chapter when COVID-19 became a global conversation. It was surprising how many people were beginning to discover their voices as writers during such a tremendous call for self-evaluation.

I had the opportunity to teach Creative Writing virtually at a college in Dubai. That in itself was beautiful; to see how many people wanted to write creatively and how many of them actually could. Writing is like learning to play a musical instrument, I told them. The more you practice, the better you become. My message to my Dubai students was, view every blank page as an opportunity to give life to something not yet created. The more I had said this to them, the more I became convinced by my own philosophy.

Here I am in 2021 starting a writing blog from a blank page.

I not only have a blog, but I also own a website and am planning a host of new and exciting things here. I have also started a new novel and am viewing its blank pages with optimism.

Finding your voice.

Finding your voice as a writer will only happen when you start to think like a writer.

Don't be afraid to own that title.

I was telling everyone that I was a writer way before I had my first poem published or before finding a literary agent.

Believe in yourself and your ability to write. You will only become the person you believe you are. Remember, the only person standing between you and your writing is you.

What is the narrative voice?

I was asked this question by my American Professor while on my Master's course at university. I hesitated for a moment. I had been writing for years before I went on the course, yet this question was one that I never knew how to answer. I knew how I felt when writing but I could never put it into words, partly because I never gave it much thought. But on that day, I was compelled to think, to ask myself the question and to come up with an answer. But while I was busy thinking of an intelligent way to put my words into thought, she went on to answer the question herself. She told all twelve of us sitting in the tiny beige room in a square shaped circle that the narrative voice is style. The quiet voice the reader hears, the style of your narration, the way your characters think and process the world around them. This definition has stayed with me ever since, and now I am sharing it with you.

Now that you have taken the time to read this blog, do something more to get yourself thinking like a writer. Get out your notebook or laptop and start writing.

Like everyone, I'm hoping the virus will be beaten soon and that many lives will be spared. We are all waiting for the storm to pass and for the tears to end, but how many of us will emerge from this blip in our history as better writers? The answer is, only time and good practice will tell.

- CRW.