StoryMoja
organizes a monthly bloggers training for writers, in the months leading to the
annual StoryMoja Festival.
On
Saturday June 20th at 11:00am, bloggers participating in the 2015
festival converged at the Storymoja offices for a training session with Morris
Kiruga (Owaahh).
He
started off by highlighting that all stories get married in creative
non-fiction.
This
genre of writing is not fictitious, which means that the writer highlights
events or experiences that are happening or have happened before. It is
creative work, hence the writer employs the use of various stylistic devises
and colourful descriptions to bring the tale to life.
The
audience of creative non-fiction are often intelligent beings with an addiction
for colourful writing. Therefore writers must offer factual details even as they tap into the magic of their
creative juices.
3 Rs of creative non-fiction
There
are three main tips to keep in mind when, best expressed as the 3 Rs of
non-fiction writing. These are Research, Real-life exploration
and Review.
A
writer of creative non-fiction must get all the facts right. They should starts
off by seeking out as much factual information as they can about the subject on
which they wish to write. This will often require that one digs through the
clatter to find all relevant information.
It
is always necessary to watch out not to be overcome by the overload of
information one finds. In research, one will run two risks: Either be
overwhelmed by the facts they find, or keep procrastinating “until one has more
details”. He advised us to learn to discern when we have found out 'enough' and
stop.
Immersion
Another
key aspect is to tap into the real-life experiences either of oneself or of
others who have experienced the subject of the writing.
Unlike
fiction writing which is often based on imagination, the gist of creative
non-fiction writing is all in the telling. The writer should not tell rather
show the facts in a way that people can enjoy reading. Hence, one must learn to
tap into the magic and flow of their creative juices and tell the facts
in a way that people can enjoy reading. The language should be as simple as
possible without being simplistic. Owaah said that the only way to achieve this
is through immersion. The writer must get immersed into the story, by finding
ways to ignite the events, feelings and thoughts from that place and/or moment.
One must become a sub-character following all the characters in the story.
There are often two ways to gather relevant content through immersion. These
are:
ü Memory: Find ways to
stimulate old memories. Visit old places or look at old photos.
ü Interviews: Talk to some
characters, learn how others see or feel or experience the 'thing'.
During
the session, Owaah gave us short assignments with which we practised the skills
necessary to ensure good quality work. We were able to read out pieces of our
assignments and receive feedback, both from him and from fellow bloggers in the
training.
