The know how on Writing

The Know How on Writing

Ohazuruike C. Michael

INTRODUCTION

This article was born out of necessity, to address the challenges to the eternal argument, why should you write? Interestingly, in today’s world, a lot of people often desire to do things like singing, acting, starting-up a business or writing but seemingly cannot justify why. We make up erroneous reasons and pockets of excuses to talk us out of our dreams and intents. As a matter of fact, we almost assume other people should and/or are in the best position to do all these things but not us. 

This article however is written for the sole purpose of bridging the gap and to make simpler the strictures to expressing and documenting your thoughts and ideas on paper. For certainly, there is no better time than right now, in this era of tweets, texts and sound bites, to fan the embers of becoming a writer or the desire to become onewho knows, you may be on the precipice of becoming a best seller if you would only move your desire one step further with definite action. 

Sitting in your chair, reading this article right now, is a marvellous creation of wonder conceived by divine prerogative to influence the world with your ideas and dreams. And one of many ways to influence humanity is by expressing your ideas through the art of writing. As it is said, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” And so shall drops of ideas come cascading down, taking multiple channels to become a college of ideas in the minds of people.

On the one hand, you should write because the world is governed by the thoughts and ideas of philosophers, theologians, scientists, psychologists, dramatist’s and the likesmen like you, with two hands, two legs, two eyes and a brain. The seemingly disparity between you and these likes is that they decided to put pen to pad, to express their thoughts and ideas in the form of text.

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, “Desire is possibility seeking expression.” This statement implies that the secret to becoming a writer begins with an unflinching desire to share your all-consuming thoughts and ideas with the world.

Writing and documenting your thoughts gives it authenticity and credibility. It makes you speak and live beyond the grave. You may end your brief earthly sojourn but your documented thoughts and ideas will transcend space and move in tandem with time.

It is foolishness to join the band wagon of people who gets buried with their ideas and dreams lurking inside of them in the grave. People who go around thinking, what do I have to say to the world? Who wants to read what I have to write? Are my thoughts and ideas worth reading? These thoughts they mutter in their minds because they’ve become self-conscious and insecure of their potential. 

A wise man famously said, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” 

Section I

A hypnotic writer thinks he can influence people with written words. If you have this believe then you have the power. 

The greatest power any book can ever command is the power to influence people to take action, particularly when such action the reader wouldn’t take. This influence however is generated by the passion, message and singularity of purpose as succinctly or elaborately conveyed by the author. 

Many articles have been written on the subject of “How to write a book” and the techniques to actualizing it. In this article, however, my intention is not so much as to reproduce the techniques of major bestsellers in the world, rather my intention is to hold you in hand and walk you through the fundamentals that are widely applied by top bestsellers.

Now that you are set to write your very first book, get ready and let’s go!   

Part A

Every good book has one idea. This one idea must be driven by passion, inspiration and emotion; and integrated into the elements of persuasion logos (logic), ethos (ethic), and pathos (emotion).

Logos refers to the logic, the words, and the rationale that buttress your writing. It is important that your idea fit together coherently from the premise to the conclusion. That is, what you are writing should cascade down harmoniously like links in a chain. The end statement on any given paragraph must explain or support the beginning statement.

Ethos refers to the ethic, the credibility, authenticity and believability of your idea. It is imperative that your idea is well researched and applicable in reality. And that you are grounded with indebt knowledge on what you are writing about.

Pathos refers to the emotional content of your idea. This element is the most important because it is when you connect to your reader emotionally that is when you can influence them.   

How to apply these three elements with example(s)

Let us look at the application of these three elements (logos, ethos and pathos) in this story. 

*Note: all techniques explored in this book are applicable to both fictional and non-fictional books.

Example 1

6:21 A.M., Good Friday 25th March 1988. The clouds collapse into fog of condensed vapour over the dark morning sky. Flash of lightening skate’s over the western horizon in sparkling exuberance, as the sound of thunder, believed to be the voice of the god Thor echoed over the skyline and reverberating on the earth surface. As in a procession, the glassy windows of heaven shattered letting out streams of tears from the divine eyes of the god Thor.

The Yellow portion of this paragraph has elements of logos (logic) and ethos (ethic). The idea in this statement is link like chains. But how? (1.) 25th March 1988 was a Good Friday in history. (2.) The portion depicts that it was about to rain. (3.) The clouds gather. (4.) A flash of lightning skate’s over the sky; (5.) The sound of thunder was heard.

The Green portion has the element pathos (emotion). But how? The portion depicts how the windows of heaven opened up letting down rain from the eyes of “Thor” (Scandinavian Norse mythology: the god of thunder).

Reread the above paragraph to see these highlighted elements yourself. 

Example 2

Meanwhile, somewhere in 14th Freedom Street, Ajegunle, Apapa, Lagos; a woman heavily laden with child who goes by the name Mrs. Patricia was on her matrimonial spring bed. She uttered litany of prayer to the gods with her eyes fixed to the sky she exclaimed, as the gently pattering rain descended onto the ground, “O gods of our land the mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high...

The Yellow portion of this paragraph has elements of logos (logic) and ethos (ethic). But how? The portion depicts position of a pregnant woman. (1.) 14th Freedom Street Ajegunle Apapa Lagos exists in reality. (2.) It is fact that most pregnant women spend part of their time in bed. (3.) The idea is link with each other.

The Green portion has the element pathos (emotion). But how? The portion depicts a woman screaming and agonizing in pain. (1.) The woman was praying to the gods screaming on top of her voice.

Reread the above paragraph to see these highlighted elements yourself. 

Part B

In order to ensure credibility of your work, first, you must endeavour to do a thorough research on the subject matter, that is, the idea you’re communicating is and should be in the public domain. And the second, you must systematically convey this idea to your audiences.

To effectively implement the above, you must have these two things on ground:

Source of idea

Technique(s) for conveying this idea. 

Source of idea: the idea could be personal experience. It could come from observation, books, tapes, video and documentation from the fields of psychology, religion, management, entertainment, sport, history, culture and philosophy just to mention a few.

Technique(s) for conveying this idea: it is imperative to know that every author has his or her own unique technique when it comes to writing. So in this book I will be sharing my own unique technique with you that you can use as a basis for a start and/or as a beginner. This technique is the “SQAS.” And it’s applicable to both fictional and non fictional books.

SQAS is an acronym, which stands for Statement Quote Anecdote Statistics.

The beauty of the SQAS technique is that it incorporates and embeds logos, ethos and pathos into its structure to form a syllogism.

The idea is that on a given paragraph, at least two of these four elements (SQAS) must be present. This is very important and noteworthy! 

How to apply the SQAS technique with example(s)

Example 1

In our world today, many a company men and women, youths as well as middle-aged people, whom I’d refer to, in this book, as the younger generation, fail in their attempts to discover who they really are because they’re too busy chasing dreams. In the grand design of the intelligence that sets this world in motion, the younger generation were not designed to chase dreams, rather they were designed to discover who they are and pursue visions, while the older generation were designed to dream dreams. This great truth is expressed in the statement: “...Your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions."

The Yellow portion of this paragraph has the element S: statement which is the logical deposition of an idea. The idea in this portion above is plausible.

The Green portion has the elements A&S: anecdote and statistics which is the collection of facts or observations in the form of a story. It has tincture of ethics within its context. The idea in this portion above has information conveyed like a story.

The Teal portion of this paragraph has the element Q: quote which is a statement attributed to someone else to corroborate a certain view. The idea in this portion above is a quote by a seer, Joel.

Have a second look at the above paragraph to identify each highlighted element.

Example 2

Helen Wilmans said it best when she remarked: “Discover self! If search be short or long, I say, discover self! Then, know thyself, and then record a solemn vow and let it be, I canI willI dareI do.”  Consequently, to discover you, you must persist on this quest as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day light arise in your consciousness.

Put somewhat differently, discovering you entails intentionality, deliberation, focus and above all knowing your source, without which you may never experience the light on this subject matter. 

The Teal portion of this paragraph has the element Q: quote which is a statement attributed to someone else to corroborate a certain view. The idea in this portion is a quote by Helen Wilmans.

The Yellow portion of this paragraph has the element S: statement which is the logical deposition of an idea. The idea in this portion above is plausible.

The Green portion has the elements S: statistics which is the collection of facts or observations. It has tincture of pathos within its context. The idea in this portion above has plausible information.

Have a second look at the above paragraph to identify each highlighted element

This technique incorporates in no specific order the elements SQAS into a given paragraph. That is, any of the elements can be introduce at any place in a given paragraph. 

The idea is this: write a Statement, corroborate this statement with either a Quote or Statistics and use Anecdote (story or experience) to express the idea in the statement.

I know this book was helpful in jump-starting your adventure as a writer. Explore and try the SQAS technique today! See you at the top!! :21 A.M., Good Friday 25th March 1988. The clouds collapse into fog of condensed vapour over the dark morning sky. Flash of lightening skate’s over the western horizon in sparkling exuberance, as the sound of thunder, believed to be the voice of the god Thor echoed over the skyline and reverberating on the earth surface. As in a procession, the glassy windows of heaven shattered letting out streams of tears from the divine eyes of the god Thor.

The Yellow portion of this paragraph has elements of logos (logic) and ethos (ethic). The idea in this statement is link like chains. But how? (1.) 25th March 1988 was a Good Friday in history. (2.) The portion depicts that it was about to rain. (3.) The clouds gather. (4.) A flash of lightning skate’s over the sky; (5.) The sound of thunder was heard.

The Green portion has the element pathos (emotion). But how? The portion depicts how the windows of heaven opened up letting down rain from the eyes of “Thor” (Scandinavian Norse mythology: the god of thunder).

Reread the above paragraph to see these highlighted elements yourself. 

Example 2

Meanwhile, somewhere in 14th Freedom Street, Ajegunle, Apapa, Lagos; a woman heavily laden with child who goes by the name Mrs. Patricia was on her matrimonial spring bed. She uttered litany of prayer to the gods with her eyes fixed to the sky she exclaimed, as the gently pattering rain descended onto the ground, “O gods of our land the mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high...

The Yellow portion of this paragraph has elements of logos (logic) and ethos (ethic). But how? The portion depicts position of a pregnant woman. (1.) 14th Freedom Street Ajegunle Apapa Lagos exists in reality. (2.) It is fact that most pregnant women spend part of their time in bed. (3.) The idea is link with each other.

The Green portion has the element pathos (emotion). But how? The portion depicts a woman screaming and agonizing in pain. (1.) The woman was praying to the gods screaming on top of her voice.

Reread the above paragraph to see these highlighted elements yourself. 

Part B

In order to ensure credibility of your work, first, you must endeavour to do a thorough research on the subject matter, that is, the idea you’re communicating is and should be in the public domain. And the second, you must systematically convey this idea to your audiences.

To effectively implement the above, you must have these two things on ground:

Source of idea

Technique(s) for conveying this idea. 

Source of idea: the idea could be personal experience. It could come from observation, books, tapes, video and documentation from the fields of psychology, religion, management, entertainment, sport, history, culture and philosophy just to mention a few.

Technique(s) for conveying this idea: it is imperative to know that every author has his or her own unique technique when it comes to writing. So in this book I will be sharing my own unique technique with you that you can use as a basis for a start and/or as a beginner. This technique is the “SQAS.” And it’s applicable to both fictional and non fictional books.

SQAS is an acronym, which stands for Statement Quote Anecdote Statistics.

The beauty of the SQAS technique is that it incorporates and embeds logos, ethos and pathos into its structure to form a syllogism.

The idea is that on a given paragraph, at least two of these four elements (SQAS) must be present. This is very important and noteworthy! 

How to apply the SQAS technique with example(s)

Example 1

In our world today, many a company men and women, youths as well as middle-aged people, whom I’d refer to, in this book, as the younger generation, fail in their attempts to discover who they really are because they’re too busy chasing dreams. In the grand design of the intelligence that sets this world in motion, the younger generation were not designed to chase dreams, rather they were designed to discover who they are and pursue visions, while the older generation were designed to dream dreams. This great truth is expressed in the statement: “...Your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions."

The Yellow portion of this paragraph has the element S: statement which is the logical deposition of an idea. The idea in this portion above is plausible.

The Green portion has the elements A&S: anecdote and statistics which is the collection of facts or observations in the form of a story. It has tincture of ethics within its context. The idea in this portion above has information conveyed like a story.

The Teal portion of this paragraph has the element Q: quote which is a statement attributed to someone else to corroborate a certain view. The idea in this portion above is a quote by a seer, Joel.

Have a second look at the above paragraph to identify each highlighted element.

Example 2

Helen Wilmans said it best when she remarked: “Discover self! If search be short or long, I say, discover self! Then, know thyself, and then record a solemn vow and let it be, I canI willI dareI do.”  Consequently, to discover you, you must persist on this quest as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day light arise in your consciousness.

Put somewhat differently, discovering you entails intentionality, deliberation, focus and above all knowing your source, without which you may never experience the light on this subject matter. 

The Teal portion of this paragraph has the element Q: quote which is a statement attributed to someone else to corroborate a certain view. The idea in this portion is a quote by Helen Wilmans.

The Yellow portion of this paragraph has the element S: statement which is the logical deposition of an idea. The idea in this portion above is plausible.

The Green portion has the elements S: statistics which is the collection of facts or observations. It has tincture of pathos within its context. The idea in this portion above has plausible information.

Have a second look at the above paragraph to identify each highlighted element.

This technique incorporates in no specific order the elements SQAS into a given paragraph. That is, any of the elements can be introduce at any place in a given paragraph. 

The idea is this: write a Statement, corroborate this statement with either a Quote or Statistics and use Anecdote (story or experience) to express the idea in the statement.

I know this book was helpful in jumpstarting your adventure as a writer. Explore and try the SQAS technique today! See you at the top!!