Take a look at the image below:

The Man and his goat

Write a 500-1000 word story inspired by the picture and send it to blogs@storymojaafrica.co.ke. Storymoja will pay Ksh 1000 prize by M-pesa or Zap to the  most interesting story.

Please mark in the subject of your submission email: Man and his Goat Picture Prompt Writing Competition, and attach in Word 97 compatible document.

The deadline for this competition is November 30th, 2009 at midnight.

I am going to begin this week’s reading by sending you all to an article that I thought was quite interesting. Please read it and keep the information you gather in mind as you submit your artistic pieces in future. Also feel free to share any such material that you find and feel would be useful to this writing community. So here: 40 Tips to make your Writing hit its mark.

Now, that we have that out of the way, let’s discuss something that should be discussed. Not all writers are fiction writers. Sometimes even fiction writers have to writer opinion editorials, otherwise sometimes called op-eds. The reasons for writing op-eds might vary, from needing your writing to earn income, to just expressing your opinion about something you care about. So let’s get to the important stuff.

What is an Op-ed?
An Op-ed is an opinion piece through which writers express their views on a timely issue. Right now, the issues burning the Kenyan air are: The Mau Forest, The Post-Election Violence, IDPs, Gay Relationships and The Passat Debate. The opinion piece is drafted and submitted to a publication’s editorial board for review. Publications here in Kenya include The Daily Nation, The Standard, The Star. Add a few more names from the East African Region to your list. And there is nothing wrong with submitting Op-eds to papers outside of the country and continent.

How do I get an Op-ed placed?
Op-ed editors tend to look for articles that cover subjects and make arguments that have not been articulated elsewhere in their publications. Editors also look for timeliness, ingenuity, strength of argument, freshness of opinion, clear writing and newsworthiness. Personal experiences and first-person narrative can be great, particularly when they humanize and/or bring a larger idea or issue to life.

Each publication has individual guidelines for submitting an Op-ed. A quick call or email to the editorial page editor of a publication can clarify what the rules are for an individual outlet. Depending on the publication, these guidelines can also be found online. Generally speaking, Op-ed guidelines tend to include the following:

• Should Be Approximately 750 Words. The opinion piece stands a better chance of publication if it makes its argument quickly and compellingly, backing it up with evidence.
• Should Avoid Jargon. Remember that you are speaking to an audience that may not be as familiar with the issues of community pharmacy as you or your members are.
• Should Be Exclusive. A publication is more likely to publish an opinion piece if the editor knows the same piece will not be appearing in a competitor’s. In fact, many newspapers will require the writer to guarantee exclusivity for a two-week period.
• Should Include Contact Information. Editors will need your contact information to verify authorship and/or sentiments expressed in the piece. It’s best to provide your email address along with your work and cell phone numbers.

Do you have any more ideas with regards to this topic that you would like to share with us? Storymoja will reward one reader every month, for your participation in our Writer’s Blog. All you have to is either send us a piece of your work or comment on and rate the posts.

And now to this week’s reading:

What would you do for love? How far would you go? A Shameful Sacrifice by Nixon Mateulah.

And then here is a letter to our far cousin who lives in the White House. Dear Mr. President by Denis kabi

Does it ever get better? It will get better by Sandra Mushi.

A new day has dawned for one young man. But what is the price for it? Black Tie Affair by Stanley Mitoko.

lastly, we go to the land of hopes and aspiration and the harsh reality that kills dreams. Green Card by Peter Yieko Ndiwa.

Thank you very much for sharing your work, and for commenting on other writer’s pieces. Please continue sending your ideas about how to make your weekly reading more fun to blogs@storymojaafrica.co.ke. And remember, all stories published on the Storymoja Blog will be eligible for the Crown of Story of the Week. The stories are posted every Monday. Please critique and vote for the story you 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 before Friday at 4pm.

Have a wonderful and creative week!

On Sunday night, when the entire country was plunged into a darkness that lasted five hours, I got a chance to go back to something that was my favourite past time when I was just a little girl.

My mother did not believe in TV, and we lived in rural home that was quite secure back in the day. So it was possible for me and my brothers to sit outside at night and watch the stars. My brother had a simple telescope and he loved to point out the constellations for me. He was a master at teaching me new stuff without ever boring me.

Did you know that you can’t see constellations during the day because the sun’s light is too bright to see star light?

If you are on the equator you can view all the constellations in a year. If you are on the North or South Pole, you will only be able to see the part of the sky above you.

And then he would tell me a story for each constellation. My favourite one of them all was Orion. It is one of the largest, most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellation  in the night sky. Orion consists of three bright stars in a row known as the Belt of Orion. Surrounding the belt at roughly similar distances are four bright stars. Apparently the constellation is named after Orion, a Hunter in Greek Mythology. But my brother made up a completely new story for me, that did not quite identify race, but that made me see in my mind’s eye my favourite Uncle. Interestingly, my Uncle was the hunter in the family, going out into the woods not very far from my grandmother’s home to hunt small game. In a way that little story has made me almost idolise my Uncle, as well as the storyteller. It seems like a far off memory, but I think that it has influenced me quite a bit.

My brother’s stories created a fondness in my hearts for stories, whether told or written and read. I realise now, that although the stories he made up seem to just flow right out of his mouth, he had actually taken the time to consider what words to use, what tone would appeal to me and most importantly how to keep me hooked inside his stories.

That said, it is time for us to get into this week’s reading.

We begin with the fourth and final part ofTears of a Mother by Nixon Mateulah. – Hadrak abruptly put his beer down and shook off from the scantly dressed girl’s hands who was massaging his shoulders and ran to Zachariah.To read the other parts of Tears of a Mother go here.

The Standard Chartered Marathon dubbed Hesabika Tena occured on Sunday 25^th October, 2009. One of the participants shares his experience with us: The Great Race by Gitura Kihuria.

Denis has shown himself capable of telling a story even when using unusual characters or using themes that are generally considered taboo. Here is another one: Passing Wind by Denis Kabi.

Once again Sandra Mushi treat us to yet another piece. This time the devil is to blame. Twas the Devil by Sandra Mushi.

So how does a body end up on a US Most Wanted Terrorist list? Could it be you going to Guantanamo Bay next? The Road to Guantanamo by Evans Kinyua.

Finally, but not by any means least, how did you little cousin decide what they want to be when they grow up? I am Going to be a Politician by Liz Ombati.

Please continue sending your ideas about how to make your weekly reading more fun to blogs@storymojaafrica.co.ke. And remember, all stories published on the Storymoja Blog will be eligible for the Crown of Story of the Week. The stories are posted every Monday. Please critique and vote for the story you 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 before Friday at 4pm.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful and creative week!

What is style and how do you acquire it? Writing style is the manner in which a writer addresses a matter. It is the result of the choices the writer makes in syntactical structures, diction, and figures of thought.

We all have a natural style. Style is simply the way in which you put words together when you are writing. It is a reflection of your speaking and thinking habits. Clear, muddled? Some people write in short staccato sentences, sometimes even without using verbs. Style can reflect your personality, e.g. serious, brusque, friendly, chatty, “whacky, breezy”… and so on.

Here are four habits that can help you develop your own personal style into something that will draw your work to readers.

Don’t be too wordy. Make your writing easy to read.  Keep it simple. Keep paragraphs short and sweet.  Keep sentences shorter and sweeter. This means “concise,” not cryptic.

Space your work properly. White space is not wasted space — it greatly improves clarity.

Pick your words carefully. Writing with precision is as important here as it is in any other kind of discourse.  Consider whether what you have written can be misinterpreted, and whether that is something you wish to have happen. (Puns and entendres can create humor, depending on who your audience is.) Define the acronyms and abbreviations you use.

Spell words correctly. “Cute” misspellings are difficult to read, especially if the reader is not fluent in the language involved. Obvious misspellings are jarring and distract the reader. Leaving out articles (such as “the,” “a,” “an,” etc.) for “brevity” mangles the meaning of your sentences and takes longer to read. It saves you time at the expense of your reader.

In non-fiction works, try to write in a simple and unobtrusive style, with the odd “whacky” bit of humour thrown in to keep the reader entertained, as well as informed. Your writing mission should be; through words to inform, illuminate, entertain, uplift, delight, as well as hopefully even inspire people.

Do you have any more ideas with regards to this topic that you would like to share with us? Storymoja will reward one reader every month, for your participation in our Writer’s Blog. All you have to is either send us a piece of your work or comment on and rate the posts.

And with that I usher you into this week’s readings.

Simon Mbuthia portrays a world of economic difficulty, something we can all identify with. Will it be another tragedy? No Survival.

Do you remember your teenage years, those boarding school times, when nothing mattered as much as pocket money, the school trips, and Friday evening when the letters would be distributed? Munga G. reminds us with The Letter.

Time to break the taboo and talk about very important matters. Well, at least I hope. But Denis Kabi has made the first step with A Tale of the Tampon.

Then we make a little trip to visit with our writer friend in Tanzania, Sandra Mushi, who now shares her piece about food, men and the women who love them. The Plate of Ugali.

We close our readings this week with a piece from a writer who is trying out a new form of writing. It is not a story, it is a review, but your honest critique will be most appreciated. Please vote on it too. A Review – The 43^rd Tribe of Kenya by Faith Oneya.

Please continue sending your ideas about how to make your weekly reading more fun to blogs@storymojaafrica.co.ke. And remember, all stories published on the Storymoja Blog will be eligible for the Crown of Story of the Week. The stories are posted every Monday. Please critique and vote for the story you 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 before Friday at 4pm.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful and creative week!

When you are writing technical or business pieces, your theme is already quite defined. However, when it comes to works of fiction, a writer might find it a little tricky to define the theme of their work.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the literary term theme is “the subject of a piece of writing.” You are right, that definition would not help a beginning writer at all.

The theme of a story, however, is not concrete at all. It can usually be summed up by a word like “love” or “truth” or “courage” or “happiness” – something abstract like that. The theme of your novel is what “love” (or whatever) means to you, given your own life experiences.

Well, maybe you think that love (of the romantic variety) is the greatest gift of all and the only reason for living. In that case, your novel would be an argument which “proves” this. Or perhaps you think that love is over-hyped and we’re all frankly a lot better off without it. Again, you would explore the reasons why you believe this is so in your novel.

Therefore, The Literary Term ‘Theme’ refers to what your novel is “about”, on a philosophical level.

Don’t be scared by the word “philosophical”. You don’t have to be a famed psychoanalyst to write meaningful, affecting literature. Your greatest strength as a novelist is your uniqueness. No one has ever seen the world through your eyes before…and so what the reader will be interested in is what love (or happiness, or whatever) means to you.

Why does the Theme of a Story, or a Novel Theme, matter?

If you write a crime/detective story with wonderfully rounded characters and a page-turning plot, that is great…

But if the novel, on a deeper level, is also an exploration of “guilt”, say, it won’t merely be a good read but will also provide the reader with something to think about, something that stays with them long after they have finished the novel’s final chapter. That is the power of theme.

Knowing the theme of a story also has a more practical purpose for novel writing. Put simply, your theme is your novel’s guidance system. It tells you where to go next and where you are going wrong…what to leave in and what to take out.

One final word of warning: It isn’t always possible to work out the theme of a story in detail before you start writing your novel. Even if you think you do, sometimes what you thought you believed will be altered by what you discover as you write.

The thing to do is to have a good think about your theme during the planning stage. Set your thoughts down on paper if you like. But always be prepared to make adjustments as you go.

Do you have any ideas, that you would like to share with us? Storymoja will reward one readers every month, for your participation in our Writer’s Blog. All you have to is either send us a piece of your work or comment on and rate the posts.

And with that I now usher you into this week’s reading.

Two of our stories are a continuation from last week’s pieces. Tears of a Mother (Three), by Nixon Mateulah and Driving License (Two), by  Dominic Owuor.

Then Munga G. sends us into the story about a young woman’s journey through a world that is not favorable to her dreams. Judge Not.

Then all the way from Tanzania, Sandra Mushi shares the story of The Wheelbarrow Lady

Please continue sending your ideas about how to make your weekly reading more fun to blogs@storymojaafrica.co.ke. And remember, all stories published on the Storymoja Blog will be eligible for the Crown of Story of the Week. The stories are posted every Monday. Please critique and vote for the story you 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 before Friday at 4pm.

Have a wonderful week!

This week’s Story of the Week comes all the way from a Kenyan living in Germany. The first part of his story about learning how to drive was posted last week. The story continues in this week’s blog. Driving License 2. Look out for it.

To read the Driving License 1, go here.

Do you have any ideas about how to make your weekly reading more fun? Please send your suggestions to blogs@storymojaafrica.co.ke today. Join us here on Monday for the next batch of stories and be sure to vote for the Story of the week starting October 12th, 2009. If you would like your story to compete for the Story of the Week, please send in your story to blogs@storymojaafrica.co.ke by every Friday before 4pm.

Point of View (POV) is whose eyes the story is told through.

First Person
First person is the most intimate POV, because you experience the story from only one person’s POV. Since you are hearing the story through only one person’s POV, you will not know about any events this character does not know of and you will not experience anything this character does not personally experience.

Second Person
Second person is told from the perspective of “you”. This is not commonly used, except in instructional writings.

Omniscient
In the omniscient POV everything is seen, everything is known. With it you only read about things the different character’s experience. Whether or not you experience what the characters experience depends upon how caught up you are in the story.

Third Person
Third person POV is a compromise between omniscient POV and first person POV. This POV allows you to switch back and forth between different characters and the unique way they each see things. There are multiple lead characters using third person POV. This is now the one used most by writers.

There is no solid rule that a book must be written from a single point of view. Many authors mix points of view, alternating from third person limited to third person omniscient. In this case, part of the book is usually seen through omniscient eyes, the other through the eyes of the detective. Some authors may also switch from first person to third person viewpoint, using first person for the hero and third for the villain.

Just be sure to not make the story confusing for your reader. There should not be too much head-hopping and it should always be clear when the POV character is switched. If you confuse the reader, chances are your story will be laid down and not finished.

Do you have any more points you might like to share about Point of View? Please post them in the comments section of this blog post.

And now to this week’s readings:

James Karuga takes us into the world of teens and popularity in Bad Hair Day.

Dominic Owour allows us to look into his quest for legal permission to drive a vehicle in Driving Licence

Jimmy Mwandigha has a story about fast foods, University professors and the President in Chips

We continue with Nixon Mateulah’s story which begun in last week’s Blog. Tears of a Mother-Part Two.

We conclude this week’s reading with Juliet Maruru’s ramble about her mum and motorbikes in Me, Mum and Bikes.

Please continue sending your ideas about how to make your weekly reading more fun to blogs@storymojaafrica.co.ke. And remember, all stories published on the Storymoja Blog will be eligible for the Crown of Story of the Week. The stories are posted every Monday. Please critique and vote for the story you 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 before Friday at 4pm.

Have a wonderful week!

Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.
~ Mortimer J. Adler ~