The Writing Room

Miss Mattie settles herself in the white plastic chair on her verandah, her bottom a perfect fit for it. Too perfect, because every time she tries to find a comfortable position, the chair clings to her, preventing her from moving as she would like.  “Eeda de chair too small or me too big,” she mutters and abandons her attempts to adjust her position in the chair. She taps her plump fingers on the frail arms of her chair to the rhythm of the festival song that is blaring from the radio in her living room. Soon, she is rocking to the music.  “Granny, wha’ kine a fool-fool music you a play? Nobody nuh listen to dem kinda music again. Now a modern times. You mus’ move wid de times,” Fenton says, as he bounces on to the verandah. He jiggles his body and smiles down at Miss Mattie.  “So me a nobody.” Miss Mattie looks up at Fenton and continues to bop to the music.  “No, you a nuh nobody. You a somebody. Dat is not what a mean. A mean dat…”  “Me ole?”  Without a...

  I used to tell everybody that I didn’t have enemies. I really didn’t think I had any. I knew no one who was out to get me. My relationships were not perfect but I didn’t think anybody hated me. I was forced to think about my enemies , though, in one interview I attended. “ Suppose the current employees refuse to work with you, what would you do?” one of the interviewers asked. “ I would find a way for us to work together,” I said. “I tend to get on with people.” I had been confident in that conviction. That was before I had met my supervisor and that bus driver, but after I had met Mas Joe. “ Are you saying that you have no enemies?” That lady was persistent. “ None that I know of,” I had responded. “ Everybody has enemies,” she had told me, every one of her words imbued with a certainty that she had dared me to question. Since then, I had tried to figure out the meaning of that word — enemy. One dictionary told me that an enemy “is a person who is actively hos...

  The music of the crunching of stones under my feet, the bu-dum bu-dum of my heart and a head full of grown up thoughts accompanied me as I jogged down the dirt steps. The steps led to a dirt track that resembled a squiggly mark that a child who had not yet learnt to write had scribbled on a page. My body traced its curves until I reached its end. A hop and I was on the main road which was not much different from the track, but wider. I was ready to experience the first of many firsts in my life. I ran past silent houses, free from the constant bickering of their owners. After rounding two more corners of silent houses, I reached the guango tree that guarded other silent houses. The guango tree provided shade for people and beasts. I stopped, not because I wanted solace from the blazing sun overhead. Stopping there was what travellers did when they reached that spot. Climbing atop one of the gnarled, sprawling roots of the guango tree, I gazed to my left at the far end of the ...

The story writing experts suggest that writers 'show' and not 'tell' in their writing. What does it mean to 'show' and not 'tell'? 'Showing' in story writing means that the writer writes in such a way to invite the reader into the story. It means that the writer creates scenes and organises the scenes in such a way to stimulate the senses of the reader. The reader should be able to see, hear, taste, feel and smell as a result of the words you use to tell your story. You show the reader what is happening by including the following in your story: action, appropriate details, dialogue, reflection, a beginning and an end. There is nothing wrong with doing some telling in writing your story but you should try to 'show' much more than you 'tell'. Here is a a very short story for you. To what extent does the writer 'tell' vs 'show'?  Enjoy.

How do you write the story that you want to write? Good question!  The simple answer is to experiment with your writing. When you choose to write stories, you have several points of views from which to do so. Do you think that your story would be best written in the first person, second person or third person? Why not have fun with your story? Write the same story using different points of view, then decide which works for you. Probably you'll discover that they all work quite well. Share the one you prefer or all of them with your readers for their enjoyment and to get feedback. Feedback on your work is always useful because it gives you a sense of what could be improved in your story and how your story resonates with your readers. Remember to show not tell ! I wrote the following very short story from three points of view. Here, I am sharing one version with you. Imagine the other versions. Enjoy. Remember,  inspiration for your stories is all around you . ...

Stories are everywhere. At this minute one is playing out right in front of you. You just need to capture it in words and share it using any of the conventions of story writing . Here is one of my very short stories that I created after listening to a conversation between two women.