"I ran as fast as my nimble feet could carry me."
"The sky was blue, with bits of white as snow, and I felt happy. I was as happy as a King."
Sound familiar?
If you've gone through the 8-4-4 education system in Kenya then you understand the importance of flowery language in compositions to earn you better grades.
My English Teacher insisted that we use similes, metaphors and produce very creative compositions. I did as was asked of me and scored highly. I was proud when she read my work for others- and often gloated about it, because needless to say, I scored high grades for writing what she wanted to read.
It was easy to please her- and I did so.
When I joined High School, my English Teacher pulled me aside one evening and told me to write as though I was running away from myself. I wrote her a piece about walking into a bright room with flashing lights- and being interviewed for publishing a book. She kept it.
She told me the next time to write the darkest story I could.
I wrote about finding love by being Lucifer's love, and bearing his children only to wake up one day and walk out on them as though they never existed. He never followed me too. She laughed when she read it- and said if she gave it to the Priest, I'd be exorcised.
She told me to write about my angels and demons- and be ruthless about it.
I failed most of my essays because in high school- all we did was analyze works of literature. Free-writing was not part of the syllabus.
When I joined the University, I took up Literature and Creative Writing and was amazed at how much room I had to write. Only this time- I had to use American English and cast aside the British English I had so been cultured in for 12 years.
It worked like a charm, thanks to something called the Computer!
I questioned myself and my writing for a while and it worked in my favor.
I wrote.
I wrote during my Psychology class when Dr. Omolo would go on about Apes and life in the ever-after. I passed my stories around and received texts from Becky and Steph about my writing. Steph loved my work most- because together we could escape Dr. Omolo's world of apes and deviation from the topic at hand.
And then something happened...I discovered
Smashwords and started publishing my novels online.
It's been a journey- and I'm humbled by it all, but I asked myself what would have happened if I listened?
Bill says "it's easy to please people."
I believe him because I knew how to please my teacher in primary school.
He also tells me "It's easy to write for others, but when you write for yourself, for the sake of the story to be told- then that's deep right there."
He also believes my writing is "deep."
I don't know- but at times he knows just how to make this girl smile. A girl needs to smile sometime if not all the time!
And now...I see myself in those flashing lights and a piece of me wants to run back to where I came from because it's finally coming to me. I'm saving up for my first book to be published here in Kenya...
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How can one change the world if one identifies oneself with everybody?
