The Writing Room

The Nigeria SARS protests have dominated the news headlines during the last two weeks and have placed that country under the glare of the international spotlight.  When I first saw the headline on  The Daily Show :  Nigeria[n]   End SARS Protests,  my mind immediately went to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS ), the deadly disease caused by one of the corona viruses that emerged in China in 2003. SARS? Wasn’t the SARS outbreak controlled? Is there a SARS outbreak in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic? These questions raced through my mind.   However, as the story unfolded I realised my mistake. The SARS in the world's spotlight at this time is the  Special Anti-Robbery Squad  (SARS) in the Nigerian police force and is the source of the protests named Nigeria SARS protests. Apparently, over the years, SARS has expanded its role from foiling robberies to committing atrocities against targeted citizens of Nig...

You want to know how to write a nonfiction book. This is the challenge that we will overcome by the end of this tutorial. Writing a non-fiction book is like having that pesky wisdom tooth out. You endure a period of pain before finally deciding to get it out. Once it is out, a feeling of well-being washes over you. So it is with writing a book. You go through a long painful period telling yourself and maybe anybody who will listen that you will write a book, but you keep procrastinating. Finally, you sit and write what you think you want to write, then second guessing yourself over and over. But once you’ve got that book out of you and you've shared it with the world, a feeling of well-being washes over you. I know because I have gone through this process  twice  before. Alas, only a tiny fraction of people who resolve to write a book actually do so but that tiny fraction of people produce many books each year for avid readers.  Way back in 2013,  William Dietri...

The United States of America (USA), a country founded on the principles of liberty and justice for all, has branded itself as the richest, most powerful and greatest country in the world and a bastion of democracy. This branding has captured the imagination of people across the world who see the USA as a land of opportunity. But, what is the place of the USA in the world and is the external perception of the USA the reality? Let’s find out. The USA—the richest, most powerful and greatest country in the world For now, the USA has the  largest economy  in the world and is, indeed, the  richest countr y in the world. It is also ranked the  most powerful country  in the world. American culture, as it is experienced through its food, globalised media and entertainment industry, has been held up as the ideal and this view has permeated almost every society. The USA is the country to visit, the country in which to live, the country to experience—the land of opportu...

  Let’s begin with a brief summary of what we have done so far.  In  Book writing 1 , we looked at the preliminaries that the new writer must consider before she or he begins to write. In Book writing 2 , we focused on writing non-fiction. We look ed at types of non-fiction, word count and an outline for a non-fiction book.  In the third writing tutorial , we focused on organising the content of a non-fiction book and in Book Writing Tutorial 4 - Point of View,  we help you to select your point of view for your book. After going through the previous three tutorials, you should have a sense of what your book will be about. Now that you know what you want to say, how do you say it? Point of view Your point of view is the perspective from which you tell your story. You may tell your story from a first person, second person or third person point of view. Whether you are writing non-fiction or fiction you will choose a point of view from which to tell your s...

  Letters of the alphabet are the building blocks of words. Words are the building blocks of sentences. Sentences are the building blocks of paragraphs. Paragraphs are the building blocks of chapters. Chapters are the building blocks of books. Writing is a puzzle but unlike a jigsaw puzzle that has its pieces already created for you and which you have to put in the right place to complete a pre-designed image, writing that is your own is created by you, word by word, with the final product often a blurry vision - at least initially. In this tutorial, we will examine the building blocks of the chapters in your book – the words, the sentences and the paragraphs and how you manipulate them to communicate your idea. You will learn to use these to write your book. Writing non-fiction – choice of words As a writer, your job is to use words to create images of your subject matter in your reader’s mind to help them to understand and appreciate the work that you create. Try to use “...