Break All The Rules...After Learning Them First

The man who was nearly drowned in the river knows the places where it is most dangerous.

I am able to break the rules after I know them. Why? Because, by the time I know the rules, I will know what works for me and what doesn't. There are many writers out there who think they do not need rules on how to write. The premise might be right but the attitude is misguided. Like everything under the sun, all things come with a set of laws. Whether we like it or not, there are certain requirements, responsibilities and rationales that come with every art. However, as every one is different, it is also imperative for each person to express themselves distinctively within and outside the box of rules.

Know what writing is. Writing comes in different genres, perspectives and degrees of veracity. The three main genres are prose, poetry and drama. There are writers who merge those genres into new forms. Examples are prose poems, poetic prose and dramatic poetry. Shakespeare was an excellent example of a genre-merging writer. In most of his plays, the nobles spoke in poetry and the commoners spoke in prose. Under prose, there are so many sub-genres such as the essay, the journal, the reportage et cetera. Both poetry and drama also have their own interesting sub-genres. When it comes to perspectives, we have the first, second and third person narrative. While drama tends to use all three, poetry and prose tends to use the first and third person a lot. In terms of veracity, we have fiction, faction (a blend of fiction and fact) and fact. Every writer worth his/her salt operates from a basic understanding of what writing is and is not.

Know what you want to convey - content. What we write (content) comes with three main dynamics (pretext, text and context). We must create a reason why we write what we write (pretext) and populate that reason with enough description, dialogue and anecdotes (text) to reach a clarity that resonates with the reader (context). Writer's block usually occurs when the writer forgets to establish these three dynamics of content. Content without context is a train going nowhere fast. Readers catch that quickly as everything goes in a merry go round and barely resolves itself. Writers (poets, novelists, playwrights et cetera) are required to be, at least, conversant with their content. This aids in the fine balance of the dynamics that assist a writer to complete a good piece of writing.

Know how you want to convey – style. Content is usually the first hurdle but style is the slippery area where writers can slip and become trite. Style is the identity of a writer. It is his/her spin on content. Writers choose to write in first, second or third person narratives. It is important to establish style at the very beginning and stay consistent to it. Unless the work is experimental, it is better to stay on the chosen track. Some writers choose to tell their stories, poems and plays from the insider-looking out or outsider-looking. Some take it a bit further by being the omnipotent one who sees the insiders and outsiders looking at each other. How ever you choose to write, you must use your method to maximum effect. This enables the reader to get into the rhythms and nuances of your work.

Know who you are conveying your work to - reader. Good writers write for the pleasure of their readers. Great writers know how to engage their readers. The concept of a reading starts with the writer him/herself. Hence, the need for editing and proofreading. Bottom line, the piece must resonate. It must stir. It must push people out of their comfort zones or into the zone of their wildest dreams. Nobel prize winner Toni Morrison advised that 'if there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.' We do not write to satisfy the expectations of others. We write to calm our internal turbulence. Writing is catharsis. It is supposed to be the embodiment of your unique take on life in the facets that are of most relevance to you. However, we must write in a way that whenever a set of new eyes set upon our writing (forgive the pun), a response will be elicited. The jury is out on who the writer must satisfy: himself or the readers outside. The key to being successful in being in sync with the reader is clarity.

Know why you write – pleasure, money, and/or catharsis. Anaïs Nin remarked that 'Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.' It is important to know our motivations for writing. This helps enormously during times of rejection letters and dry spells. Some writers write because it gives them joy to see a completed work. Some write to get paid. Other writes as a way of channelling emotions. All three reasons are not wrong. One must have a basis for an activity. People walk away from writing because they did not determine what motivated to write. Ambivalence is an enemy to writing because it spawns procrastination. Whatever the reason is for your writing, let it sink into your conscious and sub-conscious mind. That reason will drive you to complete a novel, a poem or play. That reason will drive you to produce more. That reason will give you meaning on days when you question why you put up with the tests and trials of writing.

Read as much as you write. Stephen King stated that even though, he is a slow reader, he usually gets 'through seventy to eighty books a year, most fiction. I don't read in order to study the craft; I read because I like to read.' Good writers read a lot. There is no way around that. One part of self-editing is to see how other writers convey their content effortlessly. This is important because there is always a better way of putting one's piece across. Reading assists the writer in defragmenting his own process as it stands in the mirror of another writer's work. We read not to compare and contrast. We read to comprehend and capture nuance. Great writers are perpetual students of excellent writing.

Write much more than you read. This might seem counter to the previous point. However, the objective is to become a prolific writer and an avid reader. When one is able to write a lot, it becomes easier to edit. The music industry uses this method to resounding success. In preparation for an album of 8 - 14 songs, most artists record about 40 - 50 songs. This enables them to pick the very best songs out of everything they recorded for the album project. The bonus effect is the situation where they have songs in place, in the event of their inability to record a second album. Compare this to the situation where the artistes records only eight songs and the studio tends to dislike five of those songs. The artiste would be in big trouble. Writing should be copious. I recommend that strongly. It will surprise you how random thoughts can become the stuff of new writing projects. Do not underestimate the power of surplus.

Develop your style carefully and learn how to be confident with it. Susan Sontag wrote that 'writing is a little door. Some fantasies, like big pieces of furniture, won’t come through.' Whatever blocks your writing should be analyzed for relevance. We cannot fall so much in love with our works that we refuse to prune them of excessiveness or a dearth of clarity. We must step out of the way of the creative process which, in many cases, can be brutal to content, style and structure. Since, the writing experience is an eternal pursuit of excellence, we must be prepared to allow the trimming of our works. In the event that you grow confident in your style, watch out for any hints of laziness. Your readers will not forgive you if you take them for granted.

Remember you do not owe anyone any explanation for what and why you write. Sigmund Freud opined that 'might we not say that every child at play behaves like a creative writer, in that he creates a world of his own, or, rather, rearranges the things of his world in a new way which pleases him? It would be wrong to think he does not take that world seriously; on the contrary, he takes his play very seriously and he expends large amounts of emotion on it. The opposite of play is not what is serious but what is real.' After all said and done, you are the writer. You determine how your story, poem or play ends. You have that divine-like power to create worlds, characters, situations and conflicts. Through your writings, you welcome others into the universe of your mind. Like all strangers, readers have a limit to the changes they can suggest to your world. You might solicit advice, which is fine, but you are not required to change to suit someone's opinions. Your motivations for writing, your style and content and your nuances as a writer are yours and yours only. That is your brand in the marketplace of writers. Some may like it; others may not. In the democracy of writing, all are free to associate with whoever they like. Bear that in mind on this path of writing.

Break all the rules after learning them first. Know your art. Practice your craft. Involve yourself in the business of writing. Study the science of writing. Open yourself to knowledge that enhances your work as a writer. A closed mind cannot receive visitors from the world of wisdom. 

To the poet, I say, Poetry is the language of life in all its idiosyncrasies and idiocies, in all its glory and goriness. Poetry is the power in few words to summarize existence or to shed light on a hidden beauty caught in triteness. Poetry is also about everything that concerns man. It is about everything he discerns. It is about things that confound and compound our minds with mystery. Hence, poetry is about the known and unknown. It is about everything. Therefore, we have no excuse, whatsoever, not to write. 

To the playwright, I say, plays are visions of existence. They employ the other genres to maximum effect. Through plays, we see human character in 3-D: the character as s/he sees her/himself, the character as other see her/him and the character in the nuance of existence. Societies are provoked to assess themselves through plays. People are forced to question their own personalities after they see plays that resonate with them. The purpose of a play is to deploy a thought of stark truth to the audience, to make them laugh at their foibles and cringe at their own wickedness. A play has the power of presence.

To the novelist, I say, stories are the mirrors of life. We see our realities and dreams reflect back to us through fact and fiction. A story cannot be irrelevant. It applies to all. The fact that no one is insulated from the power of stories makes the novelist a very important part of society. This demands a meticulous view of the world of reality and fantasy. It is a sacrosanct duty that must be undertaken with the clearest of intentions. Chinua Achebe once stated that 'to me, being an intellectual doesn't mean knowing about intellectual issues; it means taking pleasure in them.' One of the greatest gifts to any civilization is the excellent writer. Such a writer is usually unique and focused on paint a picture of the world, one work at a time.

You have to be original, not obnoxious

Wordsmiths and Word carvers – Innovation and Ingenuity in Writing

Words are flowers in the florilegia of life.

JRR Martin, author of the Game of Thrones trilogy, once said that writers come in two categories: architects and gardeners. Architects see the big picture; gardeners pay attention to detail. Great writers combine both skills, according to their personalities. To write, one must have a premise or intent towards a set of subjects. Writing serves as a triggering point for ongoing conversations between the writer and his own ethos, the writer and the themes and characters he/she employs and the writer and his society. It is the clarity of such conversations that informs great writing.

Writers are usually good readers. You cannot write if you have not subjected your mindscape to the methods of other writers. You are not really obliged to copy their style but if there is something about their works that works (forgive the pun, I couldn't help it), please study and see how  you can inculcate that style into your writing. There are no rules in writing. The only rule is that  you make sense and stir your readers to contemplation on a specific (or set of) themes and situations. No one writes in a void just as no one reads in a void. There has to be a point of reference, a place of discomfort that constantly clamors for a writer's attention. It is through that discomfort that the writer reaches the catharsis needed to espouse his/her work.

In her book, So Long A Letter, Mariama Ba states that

The power of books, this marvellous invention of astute human intelligence.  Various signs associated with sound: different sounds that form the word.  Juxtaposition of words from which springs the idea.  Thought, History, Science, Life.  Sole instrument of interrelationships and of culture, unparalleled means of giving and receiving.  Books knit generations together in the same continuing effort that leads to progress.

Writing is work done well through repetition – the more you write, the better you get. There are so many people in this world with wonderful stories stuck in their heads. They have not build the discipline to sit down and write the story out. Writing is an art but it also a craft. You cannot succeed by neglecting the craft side of things. Talent is nothing if hard work is nonexistent. I wrote in an earlier post that poets should aim for a minimum of 10 poems a month and writers should aim for, at least, a short story a month. There is a proverbs that states that it is through discipline that we find freedom.

Remember writing, like life, is a continuum. You will always get a chance to clarify a thought you began in one work in the next one. The problem with starting a work lies in the fact that we want it to be perfect in our minds before we write. That can be a stumbling block to getting any work done. The idea is to write and write and write, even though you might not end up using what you wrote. You will be preparing yourself through exercises of clarity and clarification.

Words do not have to be always placed where others think they should be. Especially in poetry, you have the license to 'destroy and rebuild' language if it makes your poem work.Do not try to sound like others. That is a big mistake. You can start a story anywhere you like. You can play hopscotch with your themes or hide and seek with your reader. What I am conveying is this simple truth: be comfortable in your skin as a writer.

Remember that you are writing for the audience of one. Never let criticism determine the course of your writing. Criticism is to make you conscious of weak spots, not to strip you of your strong points. Any criticism that shreds your abilities to pieces is not worth listening to. Writing attracts, as it should, a lot of criticism. You get clobbered for spelling errors, syntax confusion, tautology, style, subject matter et cetera. Consider criticism as a sign that you are important enough to merit the attention of others. Use it as a tool to assess your work objectively.

Find a theme you are most passionate about and interpret it in every way you can. Life is full of prisms and paradigms. It is your task as a writer to utilize them as vehicles for your ideas. The danger of writing on popular topics is that we set ourselves up for needless competition. Smart writers find a way to make obscure subjects interesting to their readers. There are countless themes and variations in this world to be used as tools for writing. I suggest that you commit to reading subjects that are new to you. Try breaking down those new subjects with your powers of analysis and you would see nuggets of insights hiding in plain sight.

Pay attention to your craft. Attend workshops, seminars and programs where you are likely to be encouraged by the work of other writers. I would be the first to state how important it is to write alone. However, like flowers, we are better when we cross pollinate. The flower does not have wings and legs to execute pollination. Hence, it uses the bee's activities to serve its own purpose. Some of us are flowers, some of us are bees. Each group shall get what it wants if there is an effort towards collaboration.

Pay attention to your art. Editing, proofreading, formatting, style, tone, theme, context et cetera. Stephen King said,

Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.

It is important to spend time on perfecting one's identity. We just cannot wing it to success. That has never happened. Thoughtful development of one's skill as a writer involves periods of self-critique and repositioning of ideas. Do not regard any of your works as done. Subject it, as you would to an piece of gold or diamond, to ensure whether it is the real deal. We cannot allow the comfort of self-preservation to get in the way of a better version of our work.

Do not slow down for accidents – Keep on writing even when you do not feel like it. Remember, great writing comes from great pain. So you got a rejection letter. So what? Keep writing. So, someone said your poem or short story sucked. So what? Keep writing. Remember writing is an extension of life. Do we stop attending school just because a certain teacher dislikes us? The journey of writing, like that of life, is traveled upon by the determined. You cannot let anyone or any situation punk you out of your purpose.

Writing demands a comfortable relationship with truth. This is the core of Wole Soyinka's writing when he explains how

truth and power for me form an antithesis, an antagonism, which will hardly ever be resolved. I can define in fact, can simplify the history of human society, the evolution of human society, as a contest between power and freedom.

Fiction still has its basis in truth. There is an almost sacred requirement for the writer to expose truth through his/her work. Some tend to hint at truth; others place it in the limelight. Writing places on us the pressures of our surroundings. We must hone our catharsis towards two main goals: the stating of problems and the suggestion of solutions. Both activities require the power of clarity to evoke response in the reader. That is how poets like Dennis Brutus exposed apartheid. That is how novelists Peter Abrahams used Mine Boy to tell the story of being black in white South Africa. Writing gives us an intangible weapon that is appropriate for the shaping and sharpening of thought in our world. As a soldier spends a lot of time practicing with his weapon, we are required to become conversant with the nuances of our trade.

Boris Pasternak advised, focus on a reality which feeling has displaced, art is a record of this displacement – You are presenting a world (known or unknown) to your reader and it is your duty to leave them stunned (and stirred to action) by the time they are done reading (or listening). Novelist Benjamin Kwakye states in Kojo Ansah that

If people would spend thinking half the time they spend talking the world would be a better place. If people filtered their thoughts before they spoke, they would not come out with the rubbish we hear these days.

There is a call to thoughtfulness in this realm of writing. We need to let the sacredness of our duty in our societies sink in and prompt us towards excellence. We have to think through our works. We have to think through our careers. We have to think through our contributions to our societies. As we smith and carve words into pieces and sculptures of existence, may we not forget to remain catalysts. Our duty is to inform the world of its present state, one book (one poem, one story and one play) at a time.

Never forget to utilize the need to use structure, poetic license and identity in writing

The Ghanaian Poet/Writer: Enjoy The Meal You Prepared Yourself

When you know the origin of a meal, you eat it without trepidation, even in the midst of enemies.

One of the most precise instructions on writing – Kill your darlings – was given by Arthur Quiller-Couch. I agree with that assertion a thousand percent. As poets (and writers of other genres) we must learn to put ourselves out of the way of the story. We might be joined at the hip to a particular set of words but we ought to investigate whether there are other words (synonyms) or ways to better capture your poem (or writing). The ancient Greeks had a proverb – Know thyself. That summarizes the spirit that ought to be behind every human endeavor. No one on God's green earth knows you more than yourself. You ought to use that to your advantage when you are editing yourself. You ought to read the poem (or writing) out loud to check whether it flows or shows the mood you want to convey. You have to enjoy the process of preparing your work, the way a cook is immersed in the preparation of ingredients for a meal. You have to find the recipe that you like best and stick to it. That is how you stay relevant in any genre of writing. Kofi Awoonor advised that the writer tells the truth – honesty wakes the world up…As a writer, know yourself.

Good writers are good editors. First drafts are, more likely than not, like disheveled hair. You need take them to the barber shop of editing. One rule of editing is to focus on being clear. In the administration of this rule, we cannot have favorite words or phrases. Everything is subject to editing. Where we develop the attitude of not getting in the way of editing, we give ourselves the space to grown into better poets and writers. It is extremely important to edit one's work, as much as one can, before a new set of eyes reads them. This positions us to better understand (or refute) any criticism or changes. Editing is like leaving the valley of words to stand on the mountain of clarity. The higher we are on that mountain, the smaller and precise our work becomes. Editing gives writing a needed sense of perspective.


Own a thesaurus. I have ran into several pieces that betrayed the poet's lack of flexibility with word choice. If you do not have a thesaurus, please get one. If you cannot afford it, use the Internet to access the many online thesauruses out there. A thesaurus is like a writing assistant who, in our moment of doubt on a word, whispers several alternatives for that word into our ears. A thesaurus comes in handy, especially, during times of editing. Poets and writers should make it habit to consult with one on a regular basis.


Own a dictionary. Now if you do not have a dictionary, I ought to have you arrested for fraud. (Hey, I'm just joking). A writer without a dictionary is like a one-legged man without his clutches. Since we deal with words for a living, we need to have a dictionary besides us so we can spell our words right. There are many poets and writers who have realized, especially when it was too late, how undependable the Spell Check feature is. The best ritual to have while writing is to have a physical dictionary at our side. One that we can quickly reach for while writing or editing. Once again, the Internet has a lot of dictionaries like this one.


Get a notebook (hard copy or electronic) in which you play around with phrases. Develop writing exercises with phrases you make up. Move words here and there to check on how meaning is either muddled or clarified. It is a good practice to keep such phrases in a notebook set aside for random thought. I can tell you that one days when I had writer's block, it was my phrase notebook that kick-starts my creativity. There are times when a sentence, phrase or, even a stanza drops in one's head at very odd moments. A handy pocket book will save those thoughts for latter use.


Get a group of writers who share your goals. It has been noted that writers who belong to small support groups are able to produce a lot of quality work.  For example, great writers, such as C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien were part of a writer's collaborative called the Inklings. This idea is even touted among the other disciplines. Collaboration, instead of competition, is the best way to ensure quality and (ironically!) discover individuality. Artists such as Cezanne and Van Gogh, belonged to a group (the Post Impressionists) that supported their ideologies of art, at the time when the art world did not care for their works. The support system gave those artists the fuel to produce more and more. Now the work of those artists is worth millions of dollars. The support, criticism and community of such groups can be the impetus for a great stretch of writing. I was a member of a local poetry group in the city I live in. We met on the second Sunday of every month. I always looked forward to that 2 hour meeting because I gained invaluable insights on my works. What we did was quite simple: every one brought in a poem or two to read. Copies of the poem(s) were passed around to everyone in the meeting before the poets read. Instead of verbally criticizing on a poem, fellow poets wrote what they liked or disliked about the poems(s) on the copies they had. I can tell you that I was able to complete ten books of poetry based on the inspirations I got from this group. Such a model should be the norm among Ghanaian poets and writers. Of course, such groups are founded on trust. Plagiarism was not allowed in the group I was in. Everyone at our meeting was serious about his/her art. We were there to support each other. Presently, there is a collaborative project called #CommunalPoemExperiment on Facebook. It is premised on the idea of having poets come together to create a poem. It is a thriving idea. Feel free to join if you are on Facebook.


Aim to write about 120 poems a year (That's 10 poems a month). For writers, I would say one short story a month is a good goal to aim for. The reason behind this point is that a year's work should be an anthology waiting to be published. It is important to work hard in these times of relative obscurity so that whenever we intersect with opportunity, we can feed its demands. Like any human activity of worth, writing demands diligence. You cannot wing it. Thinking that only talent will do is a state of wishful thinking. You must work hard with your skill sets by having an attitude of constant creativity and curiosity. I have intersected with a lot of poets and writers who want to be famous but are not willing to put in the work. If you claim to be a poet or writer, you should be able to have a portfolio of works or produce them on short notice.

Believe in yourself but be ever ready to learn new ways of writing. Orison Swett Marden stated that, the best educated people are those who are always learning, always absorbing knowledge from every possible source and at every opportunity. Being open to novel ways of doing things is an asset to any poet or writer. It is not unoriginal to learn something new. As poets and writers, it should be one of our goals to constantly enhance our skill sets by challenging ourselves through experimentation.

In one of his many literary lectures, Chinua Achebe said nobody can teach me who I am. You can describe parts of me, but who I am - and what I need - is something I have to find out myself. It is imperative be circumspect of strengths and weakness and be ready to work on them. In the end, we harvest the things we planted in our own fields of writing. If we sow the wind, we shall reap the whirlwind. But if we commit to hard work and perseverance, we will not be disappointed.

No one will believe the person who does not believe in him/herself. You need to believe in your work enough to edit it.

A Leopard Does Not Behave Like A Lion

The leopard understands that even though the lion is king, it can never change its dull brown coat by royal command.

There is a reason why the human race is interpreted in different colors, why we have clans and tribes, why we have language and dialect. The one reason is variety. Without variety, the world will be one dull place. That is why the changing seasons, together with the colors and ambiance they bring, give us such joy. That is why we have day and night. It is in the spirit of that variety that I plead, that we cannot be a commune of copycats, either of ourselves or the rest of the world. Each one of us has a poem, play and story to tell that nobody else can. The power of diverse perspectives is evident in the way words change in context and meaning as they are pronounced on the tongues on different people. Pick the word, God. In Hausa, it is Allah. In Twi, it is Nyame. In Ewe, it is Mawu. In Ga, it is Nγumɔ. The fascinating thing is that the word, God, takes on more descriptions as it is mentioned in other languages. I used this illustration to buttress the fact that we must write from our POV (point of view) of the world we live in or want to live in. That is the strongest place a writer can write from. That is the place where more likely than not, he/she will make more sense. Playwright Afua Sutherland said that what we cannot buy is the spirit of originality and endeavour which makes a people dynamic and creative. We must write from the depths of our identity and the heights of our capabilities. There is no excuse to waste one's writing life trying to sound like others.




Your understanding of the world through your cultural identity will set you apart. Kofi Awoonor said that a writer is first and foremost an individual; born and bred. Comes from somewhere, a family, a town, a country, a culture, a civilization, a people… Individuality defines artistic capabilities. No one comes from a vacuum…” Your perspectives on humanity are still needed. For a long time, we have listened to the westernized view of things even at our our existential peril. Western literature, in all its brilliance, has still not being able to capture the myriad of nuances that dance in the African worldview. Although works by seminal African writers and poets made definitive statements about independence, a vacuum remains when it comes to the continuation and expansion of our narratives. Presently, we have African writers and poets who are taking their places in the literary world. That should galvanize the Ghanaian writer and poet to do more with his/her art. Ghana, with all its rich and colorful traditions, is far behind other countries in putting our stories and poetry out there. It is time to showcase our worlds through our different cultural identities. It is through this kaleidoscopic effort that we can make an impact in our world and beyond.


Your usage of your cultural nuances (language, practices and beliefs) makes your writing authentic. Poet Darko Antwi puts it succinctly in his essay, All Poets Are Mad...Except Kwaku Ananse, that cultural nuances, like languages, should be treated like food or people. It should be within our choice to consume or befriend, irrespective of origin or ethnic background. Some people like local dishes. Others want to go foreign. Someone wants a bit of this and a bit of that. It's all a matter of choice. I do not like writing all my poems in English. I speak six languages and do believe I should be able to mix them up whenever I like. I have been experimenting with a fusion of Twi and English (tentatively dubbed, Twinglish). There may be some who might not like that, as it might sound to them as a variation of Pidgin English or, worse, a terrible case of sanitized vernacular. As a professional linguist, I have always had a big problem with the word, 'vernacular'. There used to be a time when all the native languages were classified as vernacular as English was hailed as the right language. I think that is still the case. This attitude must change, for goodness' sake. If our politicians and leaders are too timid to take the lead in this matter, our poets and writers should. Believe it or not, our languages are very important. They encapsulate our histories, music, folklore, proverbs, legends and knowledge. The work at hand is enormous but if each poet decides to take up the cross of standing up for culture and tradition, we can create an industry for ourselves.


You are not required to write to satisfy anybody's set of rule (unless it is for an anthology with set guidelines). Pick a set of styles and be known for them. Never commit the mistake of writing to suit the expectations of others. Write for yourself first. It is important for us to be confident in what we do. Instead of comparing and contrasting yourself, hone your art and develop the knack for self-correction. If it does not read right, it will not sound right. Write in every style you set your eyes on. Push yourself to do things that are out of the norm for your poetry. Be creative when it comes to presentation. However, if you are writing for an anthology or competition, by all means, pay attention to the guidelines. In short, you must pay attention to your art.


Write as much as you can about as much as you know. Wole Soyinka, in exploring what made him write, said that looking at faces of people, one gets the feeling there's a lot of work to be done. There is always a story or an idea begging to be written. More likely than not, poets and writers are witnesses or characters of some tragedy, comedy or melodrama. Such experiences must not escape the net of exposition. Poets and writers alike must write and write and write about what they know. There should be no end to our activities because we are presented with opportunities to change the world and we better be up to it.


Do not imitate. Innovate. Orison Swett Marden advised, do not imitate. Originality is the best substitute for advertising. I hate it when people imitate others. It is a pet peeve. I believe that the world has so many interpretations that it is a travesty to live without a touch of originality. I get it that not everyone can create from nothing. However, we can create something from something. We can take something familiar and make it unfamiliar or vice versa. Innovation, something that sets a company from its competitors, is sorely needed in African writing. We cannot afford to sound the same. Language is like a mold of soft clay. It can be morphed into anything the potter likes. We cannot keep on using a particular style ad nauseaum. We must learn to infuse newness into the way we write.


Do not substitute the richness of your own circumstances for circumstances you know nothing about. One of my lamentations (and I have many) is when I read native writers and poets trying to sound westernized. I ask myself whether (a) they are ashamed of their own stories, (b) unable to tell their own stories or (c) reluctant to use their own environments to drive their works. I used to joke with friends that a day in Accra could easily fill an anthology with poems or short stories. The humorous situations, coupled with scenes of perseverance, do fill the mind with amble material to write. We cannot wait for inspiration. We have to meet it half-way by using what exists in our hearts and minds.


Brand yourself through intentional distinctiveness in your writing. Maya Angelou nailed it when she said

When I am writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we feel, how we lose and stand up, and go on from darkness into darkness. I'm trying for that. But I'm also trying for the language. I'm trying to see how it can really sound. I really love language. I love it for what it does for us, how it allows us to explain the pain and the glory, the nuances and delicacies of our existence. And then it allows us to laugh, allows us to show wit. Real wit is shown in language. We need language.

Focus on your uniqueness. Play to your strengths. Use your persona to leverage your work. There is no other voice out there that sounds like yours. Others may try to imitate. Let them do what they like. Find a place in your writing where you produce excellence and grow there. Be known for a style of writing. Differentiate yourself from the crowd. Remember that if you are distinct in your writing, you would have achieved the very purpose for which we write. This is not time to rest on your oars.

Your cultural identity plays a critical role in your poetry (and writing)

Dancing To Mozama Disco Kristo Music

Give me words that make me sway,

give me words that make my day,

give me words that bounce with style -

and if they make me dance and smile, I have music

- When Music Takes Over 

(from the lachrymose ways of rain and other poems)

I love to dance. Not the formation kind. Just the move-your-body-in-funny-twists kind of dancing. I see that life and love are dances we must master. I see that struggle and success are also movements we must excel in. Everything is a dance, an internal attempt to be in sync with external rhythms of existence. Since we are all in one big dance hall called the world, wouldn't it be smart to inculcate that musicality into our works? Musicality, also called beat by American poets, is a rhythmic essence peculiar to a particular poet, writer or body of work. In works with musicality, you can detect (when you read or listen to that poet, writer or work) that the words flow with ease and that the flow makes sense. That flow reaches recesses of your mind and lingers there even after you are done reading or listening.


Find your own unique rhythm. All of us have varied tastes. Someone might be an azonto dance master. Another might be a waltz king. We must play to our strengths, things that are integrals features of our personas. Like rhyme, rhythm can hold back or set your poetry free. The temptation to write like others comes into play whenever the subject of rhythm is raised. Of course, people respond to some beats better than others. However, the poet must not forget this Shakespearean advice in Hamlet: to thy own self, be true. Never, ever copy someone's rhythm. You will catch writer's block as quickly as a naked man in the Arctic. It is of supreme importance to stick to one's core id when it comes to the subject of rhythm.


Use it effectively to drive home the mood of your poem. Like beats to a song, rhythm sets the mood to poetry. It determines when certain words enter and exit a poem. It is important to stay true to rhythm as an abrupt exit can kill the effectiveness of a poem. Trust me, it is not only spoken word that has such challenges. Written word is equally as powerful in the mind of an engaged reader. He/she detects abruptness and dissonance just by the way words are woven into a poem.


Experiment with variations of your rhythm. By no means, use variations of your rhythm in a poem. This allows you to slow it down with words that have soft syllables, make it fast with words with short syllables or add oomph with delicate sounding words. One has to be absolutely intentional with rhythm because of its intangibility.


Write to an imaginary listener who loves music. Poets write to someone. A lover. An ex-lover. A parent. A crush. A boss. Whoever. When we read our poems out loud, it becomes easy to detect where rhythm is suffering. This enables us to edit the irregularity so we can keep the poem in the flow. One secret of rhythm is to write as if one was talking to someone who loved music. Not just any kind of music but the music we like. Poems are songs without melodies. It helps to keep that in mind when writing them.


Do not fight the flow of your poem during the first draft. You will have ample time to edit. You might begin a poem that has a rhythm you dislike. Instead of tossing it into the dustbin, write it out. Give it a chance to live. You might like it after a few reads or tweak it into a rhythm you like. Great songs are usually great poetry; great poetry does not have to be a song but it should involve several elements of a song.


Jazz pianist Thelonious Monk said that anything that’s good will make you laugh in admiration – Your poem (and writing) is your presentation of perspectives of the world to the world. You must pull your readers (and listeners) in. You must push off your guardedness and embrace the inner rhythms of your soul. They come out whenever you put pen to paper, waiting on you to involve them in the process of creation. As Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka says, the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That's all.

Do not mute the music in your words.

Poetry: A Tapestry of Words, A Mosaic of Meaning

If a known poison cures a man of a terrible disease, medicine men run out of business and those who kill through poisoning will be considered sages.

Every poet worth their salt knows that feeling within when one starts or completes a piece. We listen or read, with amusement, how others interpret our works. Sometimes, it is on point. Other times, it surprises us and reveals something we never knew about ourselves. Such is the power of words. The world of words is a place where meanings vary, where perceptions change, where writer and reader are challenged (and changed) by conundrums of existence. In this beautiful tapestry of words, we seek to create a world like nobody else has seen. Poet Kofi Awoonor stated that society is the teacher, the mentor: listen, watch, observe the life around you; it is that which will provide you the impetus.


A poem is a statement of truth (or a statement on a facet of truth).Stephen King reasoned that you cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you. The truth comes in variations: your truth and mine. This is where poets can exploit prisms of meaning and arrive at ideas that challenge accepted norms. The truth is a gold mine and a smart poet (and writer) can extract nuggets for a lifetime. The tools needed in this particular endeavor is observation, contemplation and open-mindedness. A poet must be prepared anything in defense of the truth, even if it sounds like a lie to his/her readers. The world, being a stage for paradox, never runs out of scenarios. A poet must go with the flow of reality in order to state his/her dreams properly.


A poem is supposed to lead the reader to a realization. Poetry has a hook that pulls the reader in and guides him/her to a conclusion. Some poets choose to let the readers find their own conclusions. Others are unequivocal about what they intend to convey. A poem is supposed to a journey of thought, a snippet on life that drives home a theme or idea in either a good or bad light. Great poems give you a feeling of either feeling content or wanting more.


A poem can use powers of prose and drama (adjectives, characters et cetera). Good poems use every literary device available. Do not burden yourself with unnecessary limitations. However, if you consciously intend to limit your scope of writing by conforming to a set method, by all means, help yourself. I highly recommend using poetic license in your drive through the terrains of writing. Give yourself a break. Enjoy this writing life by opening yourself and works to the possibilities out there. Use prose when it best serves your poem, where rhyming holds you back. Use drama when mere descriptions will not suffice. You are your poem's creator. It is your sacrosanct duty to give it life.


A poem can be long but it has to be precise. There is this school of thought that poems should be short. You can obey that law or break it, depending on the scope of your poem. Some of the greatest works of poetry, like the Inferno, Iliad and Odyssey, run for hundreds of pages but they never exhaust themselves out of the realm of their thematic confines. Even though such poems possess qualities of prose and drama, they stay true to the poetic sense. So, yes, you can write a long poem about a historical figure or event. But do so by tempering your creative strokes with the precision that poetry requires.


A poem is a reaction to the world. Whether it is a dream, actual event or prophecy, a poem is a human reaction to either ugliness or beauty in the world. Hence, it becomes subject to criticism, not only because of its form, but its subject matter. This places the poet, front and center, as a vehicle of social consciousness, which has its existential consequences. In the endless war between the forces of the world as it is and those of the world as it should be, the poet must take sides. This becomes the poet's internal dilemma, which creates tension in his/her works. Tension, by the way, is very good for poetry. It tells the reader (or listener) that the poet is thinking.


A poem finds many different ways to state the obvious. Through euphemisms, synecdoche, similes and metaphors (just to mention a few), the poet is able to mask, obscure or reveal meaning. A poem must be able to say many things at once, either through clarity or contradiction. This enables the poet to stay out of the way of the life of the poem because it becomes the work of the reader (or listener) to apply it to his/her own experiences. This is why poetry is the bedfellow of wisdom and its progeny (proverbs and idioms). LS Mensah opines that a poem can mean different things at different times, depending on how one looks at it. So can words and images within a poem.

Justice makes us write. It stirs us out of our comfort zones to face the evils that the world, in order to keep its creature comforts, has conveniently tolerated. Writing is about what the world should be to each and every one of its inhabitants. Equal opportunities in suffering and success, equal opportunities in tears and triumphs. That is why any other writing, that glorifies and validates injustice, does not make sense.

Great poetry teaches and titillates the mind.

The Landscapes of Poetry: From Apapransa to Zongolachichi

The world is big but very little when compared to the worlds our minds can create

Nothing should be sacred to writing. Nothing. That is why when I run into people who say they have nothing to write about, I shake my head. Are you serious? Have you looked outside lately? Have you listened to the news lately? Have you felt an emotion lately? The lack of innovation prompts a sentiment similar to that of Professor Kofi Anyidoho in the poem, My Song

Think
My People
Think
Think well before you laugh at those who walk in the rain.

It is imperative to be cognizant of what you want to do with your writing. Many are the motivations but they should be clear to each poet. In these times, poetry is not held to rigid structures and methods. It has become anything, even in prosaic form, that stokes the senses. Poetry is meant to make us ponder on the many themes and variations of life. It is intended to drive us to an eternal curiosity after both familiar and unfamiliar things. I dare say that poetry is the language of the soul, for every human pauses to grasp the powers of intentional phrases whenever they are spoken. It is in poetry that we steal glimpses at the elusive meanings of our existence. Hence, poetry is meant to touch anything, everything and everyone. Its landscape is as expansive as the universe and its applicability is beyond the capacities of the one who writes or recites it.


As African poets, the goal is to paint our worlds, one poem at a time, into a gallery of humanity. This is how we get to own the meta data of our collective psyche. We cannot continue to write literature that appeases Western sentiment. Much as we appreciate literature from those parts of the world, we must forge our creative paths, based on the nuances of our varied societies. The authenticity of the African poet is directly linked to his/her ability to speak without taint or bias for foreign acceptance. It is in the pursuit of authenticity that we find excellence. Never write in fear of critics or to win the acclaim of others. Write because you must write and let the urgency take to you a place only you are allowed to go. I have several pointers as to where my brethren of the ink can take their calling.

Find a subject or incident inspires (or inspired you). Ghanaian poet Novisi Dzitre wrote that I don’t think there are enough words, breath or punctuation to hold the places in the expression of ideas by any one individual, and that is where poetry comes in handy for me. Everyone of us, being unique beings, possesses interests that are different from the next person. This is the platform from which each one of us must create. In my personal walk as a poet and writer, I have found it extremely difficult to write from ignorance. It is like a virgin who writes about the joys of intercourse or a toddler who scribbles about the pains of old age. Yes, one is free to write as an observer and there are many works out there where the poet takes the role of an observer. What I am writing about is about the poet being in sync with his poem to the point that he/she can take liberties with that work by playing insider or observer. We all have life -changing incidents. Some for good, others for worse. Such incidents are all tools in the workshop of a poet and writer. Our creativity is captured in our experiences and does flourish when we take chances with ourselves.

Find a subject or incident that scares (or scared you). Orison Swett Marden admonished, grant your imagination full sway. Fear is a wonderful emotion when used as a tool of creativity. When we know how, where and why we are afraid, we can write about it convincingly. Choosing a subject or incident that frightens you is an excellent tool of vulnerability in the hands of a poet. Vulnerability is what makes us all human. Even Kweku Ananse had his secret fears.


Practice writing with a self-imposed strict regimen of words. Write, using words you thoroughly understand. I have read some works by writers who have used words that muddled their context. Such a practice results in a meandering into meaninglessness. The dictionary is a friend; not a dictator. Use words that free your work into a place of clarity, not the ones that block the flow. Write everyday even if there is nothing to write about. Write letters. Journal your thoughts. Scribble those half-formed ideas. Get into the habit of writing because that is the best place to be whenever inspiration hits.


Write about popular topics from an overlooked point of view. I learned, a while ago in art class at Adisadel College, that there was more than one angle to anything. It is our job as poets to see the overlooked angles, which might not be popular, but essential to the conversation of life. When my Arts teacher made us sit in a circle around a black jug on blue paper, he did not expect the same picture from everyone in class. He expected different pictures of the same black jug on blue paper. The same applies to poetry, and writing in general. We cannot be caught up in the general narratives of poets and writers we love and adore. We must take what those narratives were about and tweak them with alternating scenarios. By doing this simple exercise, we find a world hidden in plain sight.


Write about unpopular topics from an obscure point of view. As you already might know, there are some topics in our society that are considered taboo. Well, taboos are meant to be broken. You can break a taboo by exposing either its irrelevance or true meaning. As a poet, it is your assignment to make people question everything around them. Curiosity is not a bad thing when it leads to change. In being social catalysts, poets elevate problems within society to a level of constant discussion which leads to eventual solutions.


Research various styles of poetry and experiment with them. Poet Dela Bobobee said many poems mean a lot of different things to me in various perspectives at varying points in time. It all depends on the significance of the poem in question to the specific situation on ground and what is at stake. I am a proponent of rule-breaking in writing. However, here's the caveat: how can you break something you do not know? Poets must read the poems of others. By doing that, we prune our own shortcomings and learn new ways of expressing ourselves. The proverb, iron sharpens iron, is in play here. Great poets (and writers) are not afraid of learning from others. We cannot create from a point of ignorant reclusivity.


Develop a style or tone (or form) that becomes your imprimatur. Poet LS Mensah reiterates that

there are many things one could do with a poem. Sometimes like water, a poem can exist in different states: a liquid, a solid, a vapour in the air. Sometimes it is like light, both wave and particle. The running joke about Ghanaian poems is that they are all about politics. Well, we can can keep the politics running. However, we can merge it into poems about love, hope and pain. There is something in something. There is politics in everything. Use that awareness to create your literary voice. You can decide to stay there and be known for a specific stance or viewpoint or you can experiment with all the wonderful variations of perspective.

Create moral scenarios wherein your readers will have to think their way through. Prominent Ghanaian literary critic, Nana Fredua Agyeman (in his critique of Ibsen's Enemy of the People) states that in a progressive society therefore, hypotheses, laws, institutions, authorities should be constantly challenged. One need not accept or believe an idea, a response, a supposition, just because everyone believes it. Universally believed ideas, must be analysed and questioned. This is as important today as the year 1882. Playwrights and novelists think like poets, in that they try to encapsulate tortuous ideas into few words. Poets should endeavor to learn from them as well. It is not unusual to develop plot structures, characters, acts and scenes in one's poetry. It can be done in a short poem or a long one. What I am pointing at is the existence of an endless world of possibilities when one is determined to take one's poetry to places of excellence. We must push ourselves out of our comfort zones.

Wole Soyinka once stated books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth. There is a perpetual onus on writers of all genres to expose the circus of deception that pitches itself in the very center of our society from time to time. Reality has a tendency to gloss over what is right to what is rational, or over what is essential to what is circumstantial. And the best illustration of what reality can do is in the realm of politics where everything is conducted through facades and fear mongering. This explains why from time immemorial politicians and writers have not meshed well. Writers are in a constant pursuit of what is possible; politicians are in constant pursuit of what is plausible. In Africa, the power class (politicians and soldiers) have long persecuted writers because, through writing, a society is stirred unto a consciousness of its realities, for better or for worse. Politicians do not want to see their people galvanized, if it is not to their benefit. Hence, they loath writers because writing's middle name is 'galvanization'. That is why Wole Soyinka had to suffer years of persecution from Nigeria's array of military usurpers. That is why Ken Saro Wiwa was executed by Abacha's kangaroo court.

Writing is a very dangerous profession. That which must be pursued with passion and purpose. That which must be done with urgency and clarity. That which must be done with the mindset that nothing will rise up to the excuse of not writing. Writing is also a delightful profession. You get to be the scribe of beauty and ugliness, a recorder of pleasure and pain, the bookkeeper of human existence. I would not trade that for anything else in the world.

Nothing is off-limits to poetry; it is life and its creation sheds light on other facets of life.