Circumspect

Hi all,

I take it that most (if not all) of us are getting our read-on? Great. If we were to take a poll on the kind of books people like to read, I'm pretty sure we'd have a loooong list to choose from: fiction, biographies, historical romance, mystery, sci-fi, poetry, self-help, religious etc etc. In the same way that we have different genres in reading, the reasons why people write what they write are different. In order to develop your writing ability, you also have to recognize your writing interests and in so doing, your writing style will develop. Why is it a good idea to figure out the reasons that propel you to write?

- It helps you understand yourself as a writer better
- You discover what your sources of inspiration are
- You learn your strengths and weaknesses as a writer (Eg. Whether you write better on a deadline, or whether you prefer to write leisurely and at your own pace. This can prove REALLY helpful when it comes to school writing assignments, reports for work etc)
- You could potentially develop a common theme in your writing...or go against what could be a common theme: It lets you know about possibilities.
-It helps map out your growth as a writer. What you choose to write about at 13 years, might not be the same thing you decide to write about at 20.

Personal Story:
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Like I mentioned in module 1, I used to do a lot of reading on basically everything. Curiously enough, my writing did NOT start off with a desire to match a certain author's style or to explore a genre of writing. My reasons for writing first started with a desire to understand myself. I TRIED to keep a diary (the operative word here being TRIED). I would be consistent with it for a week or so, but soon enough my entries would dwindle off to nothingness. This taught me an important thing about myself as a writer: I write best when I am inspired. There has to be something specific that I am either very enthused or aggravated by, in order for me to come up with a good piece of writing.

Consequently, during my adolescence...particularly around 12-14years, writing was therapeutic for me. My best writing (for a 12-year old) came about when I was either upset or angry. Especially when I was angry. My sister taught me anger management, and she also taught me how to write. Because every time she would make me extremely angry, I would go to my room, pick up my journal and write. At school, there were a number of occasions when people would just piss me off, and I'd walk away from them, head to my desk, and start writing. Sure, I'd be writing through a veil of tears in my eyes, but I'd write nevertheless, and it would calm me down. The fun part is when I'd pick up what I wrote days later, and I would be amazed at the sheer silliness of the moment.

From 15-18 years I started writing in order to understand myself. Any teenager knows that this time period is always eventful. From issues related to friends, school, parents, crushes, beliefs etc, its all about figuring oneself out. I was pretty independent at an early age, so even when I was in boarding school, I tried to figure out my issues on my own, and in order to do that, I would put my thoughts on paper. Most of my writing at that time was very philosophical (always because I considered myself a philosopher lol), as I tried to figure out why life was the way it was, why friends could let me down, why my crush had no idea I existed, why the pressures of responsibility were so great etc. I also wrote quite a number of poems during this time.

The turning point in my writing took place in my final year in high school. My English teacher Ms.Koree, was teaching us the techniques of report writing. She showed us a number of examples on how to write and gave us an assignment. Now, one thing I absolutely cannot stand, is boredom. I found the report samples too technical and boring. So I decided to spice it up. I imagined myself to be a detective who was solving a murder case and who had to write a report on the crime scene. I don't have access to that piece right now, but I believe its what introduced me to creative writing. After high school, I had to write college essays. Again, I wanted to write something "out of the norm." Even if it was just one paragraph that threw the reader off, I wanted to do that. So in writing about why a young person like me contemplated about serious issues, I started off with a very scenic introduction set in Africa (which, now that I think about it, is pretty cliche for an African) [You can check out that essay here: http://circumspecte.blogspot.com/2008/06/another-essay.html]

In college, I joined the school newspaper as an editor. My reasons for joining and writing were simple: I had many criticisms of Western media portraying Africans and African countries in the wrong light, and I wanted to rectify that. At the time, there was no black person on the team, and I also wanted some form of representation for MHC's black community. Initially, most of my articles were centered on human rights stuff, explaining the nuances of democracy in African countries etc. As my studies in Economics progressed and I settled on economic development as my area of concentration, I began writing more development-based articles instead eg, on why the World Bank, WTO etc don't really have the solutions to Africa's poverty issues.

The point of this personal story is to emphasize the fact that there is no real definition of who a "good writer" is. I think its really important to understand this before we get into the technicalities of writing. Everybody has to start off somewhere, and if writing poetry is how you start, great. Also, there is always an opportunity for change to be made. Today, when I read the first book Abena and I wrote, I have to laugh because it represents Jemi at 15 with her somewhat warped view of what was important in the world etc. You can be the best writer you want to be. But only if you allow yourself. There is no template profile on who a writer should be (it might interest you to know that some of the best writers in history were actually regarded as weird or misfits in society). If you want to write in a language other than English, go ahead. If you want to write about an annoying encounter at school or work, go ahead. You will never know the lengths you can go to until you try.

Module 2 Suggestion:
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Ok, in order for us to determine our reasons for writing, and in time, our identities as writers here's what I suggest we all do.

1- Make a list of 10 things that interest you. (It doesn't have to be restricted to writing, just 10 things in general (Eg. music, women, human rights, butterflies, fufu, friends, Ghana, internet, basketball, love)

2-Take 3 of the 10 things you're interested in, and write a 200 word paragraph on each.
*For the first thing you write on, try and write it immediately after reading this module, and time yourself. Take note of when you're writing it (morning, afternoon or evening), what the environment is like (is there music playing, are there many people around, are you alone?), think about how you're feeling as you write it (do you find it to be a nuisance, are you enjoying it? do you feel like putting it off?)

*For the second thing you write on, set an appointment with yourself for sometime between today 6/16 and 6/23, and write. Please email it to me by 6/24 at jabdulai@gmail.com . After you send it to me, review how it felt to write on a deadline. When you set up your appointment did you stick to it? Or did you put it off for a while?

*The third thing you decide to write about...don't write until you feel especially inspired. You don't have to email these to me unless you want to. I will however probably ask for these at the end of the writing workshop, so please do write lol.

NB:
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I realise this probably doesn't make complete sense but I sincerely hope you guys do get a chance to do these cos it really will be very helpful and interesting for you to discover your writing style and to see your progression at the end of the workshop. With module 3 we'll start looking at the technicalities of writing - sentence formulation, grammar, vocabulary etc. Happy Writing! And let me know if you have comments, suggestions etc. Peace.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
We all see life through the veil of our own realities.



Happy. Sad. Certain. Doubt-ridden. Beautiful. And, oh so drab!
Forgiveness. Vengeance. Inspiration. Depression. Reluctance. Determination.
On the brink.
Electric impulses. Protons. Neutrons. Electrons... Ions? On the brink?
Neurons. Cerebrum. Medulla Oblongata. Limbic system.
On the brink.
Arteries. Cardiology. Leukocytes. La Coeur. 70 to 90 pumps per min.
Reality. Illusion. Nightmare. Dream. Perception. Deception. Is it all real?
Commonplace. Norm. Uncommon...abnormal?
Sane. Plain. Call it...the matrix!
Eccentric. Crazy. Sensitive. Mad...who's got their head on their shoulders, now?

On the brink.

Photo Source: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v408/n6809/fig_tab/408154a0_F1.html

For a long time now, I have concentrated on writing articles that focus on Ghana's development as a whole, without looking too critically at the various factors and elements that contribute to Ghana's inability to accelerate development. Following my independent study research this past year on Ghana and Malaysia's economic development, I realized that specifics are just as important as generalities, and in the case of Ghana, the lack of development in Northern Ghana is one particular factor that greatly hinders Ghana's development efforts. I am Dagomba, hence from Northern Ghana, so I might be a bit biased when it comes to this topic. However, I'll attempt as much as I can to be objective in this article, and although I will talk about how the disregard for Northerners feeds under development, I'll also take it from a case-study point of view, looking at Malaysia, in order to explain why it is imperative that the Ghanaian government quit paying homage to words, and put actual action into motion.

One resists what one cannot understand. I believe that statement to be true, especially when it comes to interactions between Northerners and Southerners in Ghana. Like any minority-majority relationship, the minority tends to know more about the majority, than the majority ever does about the minority, generally-speaking. The ironic thing here is the fact population-wise, the North and the South in Ghana are pretty balanced. So what kind of minority-majority relationship am I talking about? Access to resources and development. Some people might say that Northerners are not entrepreneurial enough, or that the Southern communities of Ghana were able to develop on their own, so Northerners should be able to do so too IF they really want to. I seriously beg to differ. Any Ghanaian who knows anything about Ghana's history knows that Ghana's development was fed largely due to its experience with colonisation. Due to the fact that Ghana's southern states are located close to the Atlantic, the colonists had easier access to these communities and for a great length of time, did not even venture to the Northern parts of Ghana...hence the initial development base of Southern Ghana took place ages before the 'white man' finally set foot in Northern Ghana. Does this mean that Northern Ghana couldn't develop without the intervention of the West? No. Back in the day, Northern Ghana had strong kingdoms and systems of governance just like the strong Southern kingdoms did. The thing however (which many people seem to miss), is that once these kingdoms were given secondary importance in favor of a NATION comprising both the South AND North, then the development of both is the concern of the ENTIRE NATION aka Ghana.

There seems to be many misconceptions concerning who Northern Ghanaians are, what they are about etc. And honestly, I don't blame anyone. What I do not endorse however, is the fact that Ghanaians continually feed into these misconceptions. In many ways than one, Northerners are regarded as second citizens in Ghana. And I'm not just saying this for the sake of saying it. It's the truth, and I have experienced it personally since primary school. Many people would find it surprising that my English was actually good, or that I excelled in school, or that I was even a Northerner and Muslim....because I "don't look like a Northerner." Pray tell me what a Northerner looks like! Trust me, until we take a stand to get to know one another in Ghana, we're gonna remain in the canker of ignorance that feeds underdevelopment. The disregard for Northerners is however not something recent. Although the ancient Ghana tribes had their scuffles here and there, the level of contempt for one another that exists now (although it is less "in your face") did not exist. How did it come about? Colonization. The colonial masters fueled disagreements between the various ethnic groups in order to advance their objectives. The "divide and conquer" methods used all those years ago, are STILL serving their purpose.

If you live in the South of Ghana like I do, its pretty easy to forget about Northern Ghana. Heck, even a bus trip to Tamale takes approximately 10 hours, add the messed up roads and it might take eons. Why should EVERYONE be bothered about Northern Ghana's development? Because at the end of the day, when the World Bank, UN, IMF etc draw up those statistical tables and rank development in various countries, they won't be listing Northern and Southern Ghana separately. They'll be listing Ghana. This is also another reason why its important for the Northern regions to receive their share of the national cake. Our government receives aid and what-not taking into consideration the underdevelopment in these areas, yet they don't even so much as ensure that basic systems are in place?

Let's look at Malaysia. A lot of Ghanaians know that Malaysia and Ghana have similar economic and historic backgrounds, but the actual comparative study on the subject of why their development levels diverged so much is yet to be done (Hence my interest in conducting the study). Ghana gained independence from the British on March 6, 1957 while Malaysia gained independence from the same colonists in August of the same year. Ghana's per capita GDP (total income) was slightly higher than Malaysia's and most people expected Ghana to advance beyond Malaysia, mainly because Malaysia had racial tensions which were lacking in Ghana at the time. Now, well, Malaysia's total income is 13 times that of Ghana, Malaysia is a leading producer of palm oil (which it got from Ghana and other W/A countries in the 1960s), and living standards in Malaysia are generally higher than that of Ghana. One might wonder how this is so, and there are many reasons. The most interesting one to me (and the most relevant to this article) is the fact that right from the get-go, Malaysia worked at resolving its INTERNAL TENSIONS. Malaysia's population consisted mainly of its native Malays and expatriate nationals like the Indians and the Chinese. The first attempt of ensuring that there was racial harmony was the "Bargain of 1957" which created a dual system of leadership with the Malays handling government affairs and the expatriate nationals dealing with the economy. Soon enough however, it was necessary to re-examine this structure since the native Malays felt like they were not getting their share of the national cake (hence, they were generally poorer) There were riots in 1969 due to this discontent and subsequently, Malaysia came up with it's very first development policy, the New Economic Policy (NEP), which aimed at redistributing the national cake and reducing internal tensions.

By all means, it would seem like Malaysia's internal tensions were on a larger scale than Ghana's especially since theirs was across racial lines and not merely ethnic lines. What did Ghana do once it gained independence? Well for one, little or no attention was paid to ensuring that all Ghanaian citizens were on board for the new era. Additionally, Ghana went ahead to "sack" all its expatriate/foreign nationals, for fear that they would take over the economy (and from the news these days, it seems the government is leaning towards the same mistake it made 50-something years ago!).

You might say that these accounts are all good and dandy, but will probably not have any disastrous effect. Please, for heavens sake, don't be blind to whats going on in our own backyard! For one thing, the NPP and NDC use the Northern regions as their pawns whenever its election time, because they need the votes. Yet after they are in power, virtually no attention is paid to the very people who made it possible for them to win the election! The whole issue with the late Ya-Naa is another time-bomb that is waiting to set off. The old king was murdered in 2002 -- 7 years ago! And the culprits have not yet been found? And of course, this is another platform for campaigning when it comes to political parties. As much as it saddens me to say this, if ever Ghana was to have intense civil unrest, it would probably come this issue. And trust me, if war ever breaks out in Ghana, we will be set back many years development-wise. So why not cut our losses, deal with the issues at hand, develop BOTH the north and south of Ghana, and advance the development that we've all been waiting for for ages?! I honestly cannot comprehend Ghanaian politicians, and what is even more surprising is the fact that the citizenry lets them get away with most of their nonsense. Any Northerner can campaign for development in Northern Ghana, but until our Southern counterparts join that campaign, we are going to be labeled as empty barrels who are just dissatisfied.

How many of you have actually been to any of the Northern regions? And I don't mean going to Paga, or Mole park or any of that. Aside from Tamale and most of the Northern regional capitals, the state of living that our fellow Ghanaians have to go through is simply saddening. And please, don't tell me that Northerners themselves are not prepared for development. Do you think so many Northern porter girls (Kayayo) would head all the way to Accra to go through the stress, disregard, sexual and physical abuse that they go through if they weren't trying to feed their families? If you think Northern Ghana has nothing to offer to Ghana, then you seriously know nothing about Ghana. Shea butter is one of Ghana's key exports. Where do you think it comes from? The beef kebabs you love munching on come from Northern herdsmen, and so much more! Sure, political parties might not think a Northerner fit enough for the Presidency, but in whatever capacities many Northerners find themselves, they work hard. Whether its as the Vice-president, a Minister (as in the case of the late Hawa Yakubu), or your watchman (Where would you be without the security he provides so you and your family might sleep at night?) . It's time we Ghanaians quit playing blind mice and deal with the issues in front of us. If we really and truly do want to advance development, this is something that needs to be addressed head on. Please feel free to leave comments etc, and for what its worth, try to get to know someone from Northern Ghana and re-examine your perceptions. Peace.

Hi People!

I hope the summer has started off great for all of you. Its slowly creeping into S.Hadley...the sun seems not to have gotten the memo yet. Anyways, I took a short hiatus from writing development articles, but now I'm back! (You didn't think I'd be away too long, did you?) And there'll be quite a number of changes coming to Circumspecte. First off, our URL has moved from http://mysterieuxe.blogspot.com to http://circumspecte.blogspot.com. Secondly, Circumspect is in collaboration with another great GH site, http://lifestylzgh.com ! You guys need to check out that site for the latest and most relevant information on rising Ghanaian youth in music, fashion, philantrophy, business etc. There'll also be interviews with amazingly creative and entrepreneurial personalities, and profiles of organizations that are making a difference in Ghana. PLUS, yours truly is on board with the Lifestylzgh team so you can access your favorite Circumspect articles on there as well, in addition to some interesting feature articles on Ghanaian culture and lifestyle. Go right ahead and check it out, and pass on the links to your friends!!! See you around.

Best,
Jemila

Okay, here we go with module 1.

If you wanna develop your writing skills, there's another skill that you should probably think about developing at the same time: reading skills. You don't have to love reading, and you're not even expected to read an entire novel or two a day, but you do need to cultivate this habit. Why? For a number of reasons, including:

- It helps you develop your grammar
- You pick up on new vocabulary AND you get exposed to the various *contexts* in which they can be used
- It helps you identify what style of writing you like to read...which could also be helpful in figuring out what kind of writing you might be inclined to
-You become more adept at sieving through data and retrieving relevant information: which will help you prevent long-winded explanations etc in your own writing
- It offers you a chance to identify with the characters (if its a novel) or the author
- Great source of inspiration and creative ideas
-It's a great hobby

Personal story:
-----------------
Before I actually started writing, I did a ton load of reading first. I would literally read anything. Labels on food products, newspapers, an encyclopedia that my family owned, my parent's teaching manuals and psychology books, novels (of course) etc etc. This not only exposed me to different forms of writing -- eg. concise yet explanatory (on labels and in the encyclopedia), technical (psych books and manuals), fiction (novels)-- it also helped me develop grammar and most importantly, the *context* in which words could be used. As far as Ghanaian English is concerned, I've noticed that we tend to use difficult or 'big' words - even in ordinary day English. Now, this is not a bad thing...except of course, where the word being used doesn't actually make sense. It is important to not only expand one's vocabulary, but to know the various scenarios in which the word can be used. Hence, widespread reading.

My passion and inspiration for writing actually came about as a result of reading. Like I said, I would read virtually anything I could get my hands on. One day, as I was cleaning out the storage room at home, I came across some of my dad's essays from graduate school, and I read them. It not only exposed me to a different side of my dad, it also ignited in me a desire to learn to write like he did. Hence, reading served as a great source of inspiration and allowed me to identify with the author (my dad).

That being said, it is important that you take note of your reading style as well. Are you a slow or fast reader? Do you read best in the evening or morning? Do you get easily distracted while reading? If you can figure some of these things out concerning your reading style, you have a better chance of paying attention to the writing style in books you're reading and grasping other things. Reading at the appropriate time is definitely important. As much as I loved reading (and still do), I sometimes got into trouble for it, as was the case in Class 6 when I was reading a novel in class...while the teacher was teaching. My mum happened to walk past the class (she was a teacher there as well) and saw me reading my book under the table, and she walked in, and called me out on it. Not a good look lol.

Vocabulary:
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When I was younger, most of my teachers suggested we have vocabulary notebooks where we would jot down new words we came across, and check their meanings later on in a dictionary. It might sound cliche, but it really does help, so I would highly recommend it. If you do a lot of reading online, a good website is http://www.dictionary.com .

Also, try to use the new words from time to time so that it gradually becomes a part of your vocabulary, and so that you get a feel for its meaning. You can develop different techniques for remembering the meaning of new words, and I'll probably go into that later on.


Module 1 Suggestion:
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I would highly suggest everyone try to do some reading. Particularly during these first couple of weeks, when I'm just sending out general pointers. That way, you not only get indirect exposure to being a writer (through another writer's eyes), but you can also start thinking about what kind of writing project you would want to do once you get round to it. You don't have to read an entire book. A couple of chapters, some articles, magazines etc should all be fine.

If you're not sure where to begin, I would recommend reading Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist". It has a great storyline, very simple sentence structure and his writing style in general is simple (which I adore). You can read it online here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7575389/Paulo-Coelho-The-Alchemist , and maybe you'll find other stuff on the same website: http://www.scribd.com .

Do let me know if you have questions, comments, suggestions etc. And if I don't have your email yet, still waiting. Ok, have a lovely day people. Stay blessed.

Best,
Jemila

*Image URL: http://library.utah.gov/programs/youth/images/CSLP2008_bugposter_000.JPG