STORYMOJA

Last Friday, someone asked me how I can tell what is good writing and what isn’t. Okay, that is a scary question. I come across many pieces of writing in the course of my work. Some is absolutely great. Some isn’t. Some does not appeal to my personal taste but still makes it into the great list. Some I like because the main idea was great, but the final product just would never cut it.

So when you are done writing your piece, how do you tell whether it is great or not. Well, you could treat it like a meal, and serve it out to your family and friends and hope that they will be honest enough to tell you if you are on your way to great cooking. Or you could suffer with it for days, like I do, writing and rewriting until your eyes are bloodshot and you finally decide to put it out there for everyone to see, then hold your breath in fear.

A sure way to make sure that your writing makes the cut, is never, NEVER, allow time and experience get to your head. That means that from the very beginning of your writing career, you must train yourself to absorb information, to look for information and to see how it fits in with what you already know. You must learn how to study excellent pieces of writing, and compare them to mediocre pieces. You must always look for ways to improve your writing even when you have already found your niche. Finally, you must learn to enjoy what you do otherwise you lose that creativity that sent you into the world of words in the first place.

I am certain that you all have something to say about writing so I not only look forward to seeing your pieces but also to read what makes you keep going and growing, and what you hope to achieve with your writing.

Please remember, all stories published on the Storymoja Blog will be eligible for the Crown of Story of the Week. The stories will be posted every Monday. Readers are encouraged to both critique and vote for the story they believe should wear the crown. At the end of the week, the votes will be tallied and the story with the most votes will posted on the Storymoja Website as the Story of the Week on the Friday of the same week. To have your story in this weekly process please send it to blogs@storymojaafrica.co.ke

This week, we are sharing with you a piece that was emailed around. We title it THE GLOBAL CRISIS, and hope that you will share your comments once you have read it.

Martin Mbugua explains the life of a college student and the importance of the illegal cooking in the residence halls in his piece COOKING IN THE HALLS OF RESIDENCE.

Clifford Oluoch’s wants you to think twice about what you believe and why you believe it. MARY AND JOSEPH.

Peterson Mutua has a story about kawaida clandes. TELL HOW DID I STRAY?

Juliet Maruru read a book that moved her. SOPHIE’S LOG.

Last but not least, Martin Njaga has an idea what will happen if OIL RUNS OUT.

Here’s to great writing and more reading!