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It was a calm and beautiful morning in the early days of March, 2020 when I woke up with a determined mind. I used to have random thoughts of me having my own space in the online community; not just any space- one where I can pour out parts of me, without dilution. On this day, I woke up creating a second Instagram account. Diary of a Naija Girl on Instagram was my motivation, in a way. I loved the way she talked real matters and carved a niche for herself amidst every other user. My sister noticed my manner of interpreting and overthinking issues and she was a mild push to me.
My writing art didn’t just start in a day like an overnight wealth. I guess I’ll take you on a little ride imaginatively. In my early secondary school days, I used to be very good at the English language, overall. My essay writing was my strength and it registered among my mates and even beyond. Building on this, I kept at it and it helped me in any subject that had to do with explaining in your own words. I was always awed at my ability when I got an examination answer script back after it had been marked. Do you know that feeling of being impressed with yourself? Yes! That was it.
I grew and got promoted to Senior Secondary School. This time, diaries were a trend amidst hostel girls (I lived my 6 years in high school in the hostel) in my school. Almost every girl had a diary somewhere. I did too. Peer pressure, you know? I kept mine inside my pillowcase. I noticed that some of my roommates already knew where I kept it. What would you have done? Change the location, I guess. Well, I found no suitable place and I resolved to another thing- writing in condensed words. I started writing in ‘codes’ and ‘indirect languages’. The way I wrote; if you were not me, you would misinterpret what I wrote.
I started getting used to this metaphorical way of expression and I became a silent poet. I had a volume one and two of my expressions in condensed language. These books stayed with me till January 2019. When I resumed A’ levels, they got stolen. I reported to the authorities and made frantic efforts. I caught no glimpse of it. It was so painful that I vowed never to write or pour out my expressions again. This vow was what I stuck to till late 2019 when I tried blogging. It failed. That was because I was so formal in expressions and used big vocabulary. I thought a good writer was someone who ‘blew off people’s heads’ with big grammar. Early 2020, my sister gave me a mild push to start an Instagram page for my writings.
I started off my other Instagram page writing nuggets, short quotes and deep sayings. It took a while before I started getting engagements. I was almost discouraged but I kept at it, anyway. Well, I tried blogging again in 2020. It failed. I reduced my big vocabulary but remained formal. Failure, to me, in this aspect is when one is not getting to pass across a message neutrally and without taking sides. It is when one cannot communicate effectively to the least person in his/her target audience. I faced my writing page on Instagram and consistently dropped pieces. I advanced to poetry. In between, I was learning graphics design and I used this knowledge in portraying my thoughts, alongside words.
I had about 68 posts before I stopped and left Instagram for a while. I had even forgotten my login details until early 2021. When I resumed the University of Ibadan, I picked it up slowly and dropped poems once in a while. I tried blogging again in April, 2021. I tried being conversational and very simple in communication. It made more sense when I got feedbacks, engagements and nice comments from my audience.
I get tired a lot of times. On some days, I feel like stopping the whole thing when I run out of contents. One thing kept me going; feedbacks! While this is a brief story of my growth in the art of writing, it also is a motivational one. Reading this, I am challenged to even do more and experiment widely. There was a period where I was stuck in choosing to be a poet, fiction writer, copywriter or content creator generally.
It was overwhelming, and I decided to face them one at a time.
Here’s another picture in my writing gallery.
I believe it’ll come out just fine. I’ll be dishing out posts about mental health, writing and lifestyle.
Cheers to more exploits! 🤩
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