The Writer’s Voice….and a Backpack

It’s been few days into the New Year and the Harmattan suddenly disappeared. (Well, good riddance). Instead, the weather has become somewhat hot, and high. I bet the sun has made New Year resolutions too.

I have been writing some bad poetry recently. I am more into writing short poetry and shorter ones.

Like these ones…..proudly photoshopped on African print cloth.

I have been searching for my kind of writer’s voice. I have been trying new ways of writing. Last year was a good writing year to the extent of having my debut play staged. I’m so blessed.

I am hoping to try spoken word. My voice is not the smooth, soft type and my voice over gadgets sounds like something else. Maybe, I need to sip more water before talking over gadgets.

My creative writing journal is almost full, and I am planning to use an old notebook to continue writing. Now, I carry my journal everywhere, so I use my backpack more often.

I need to go out more often and explore the living life and write about them. I am hoping to share my works with you online and be more creative and write more creative content and share more creative content. I want my blogs to have more creative content, not just news and how to do certain things.  I want to write things that we all relate to.

This semester would be a busy one. The year 2017 would be a very busy one, from this month till December.

Here’s to the year of writing more and staying out and becoming more creative in every aspect…even in fashion.

Let’s chat: What have you planned with your writing life, or what do you want to read from me?

The African Writer vs. Me

Everyone expects the African Writer

To wear glasses

To have a mass of natural hair, or dreadlocks or tie her hair in scarf

To wear African print and beads always

To have a certain accent

To speak big grammar

To study abroad

To talk about Pan Africanism

Or Afropolitan Dreams

Or our ancestors

To write about calabashes and palm wine

And laughter under the trees

And bringing the cattle home

To write about the hips and dance of a princess

To talk about kola nuts

And to have the most local name ever

But

I write

I am African

But I don’t have a mass of natural hair, because I think it’s painful, so I perm my hair. (lol)

I sometimes tie my hair in scarves, so that’s a plus.

I have loads of trousers and miniskirts, not made of African Print

I do wear jewelry, the gold colour ones, the silver ones and some beads.

I do have an accent.

I don’t speak big grammar, my English is even not good

I don’t openly talk about Pan Africanism

I don’t talk about my ancestors. I put them in my family history records

I don’t write about calabashes and palm wine

I talk about kelewele and sobolo and CHO-CO-LATE

I did not study abroad, I studied right here

I don’t have the most local name ever. My name is Marietta DeGrant, not Afua Afi Bronya, so you are allowed to have a little bit of doubt that I am African.

But seriously, I am African.

So, does that mean, I am not an African Writer?

The Other Side of a Writer

I recently finished reading one of Roald Dahl’s books; The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More and it made me fall in love with his writings more. The first Roald Dahl book I read was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I was amazed at how he could make our imaginations travel.

In Lucky Break (How I Became a Writer), which is part of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, he described a writer he met; C.S. Forester. He wrote

………..there are two distinct sides to a writer of fiction. First, there is the side he displays to the public, that of an ordinary person like anyone else, a person who does ordinary things and speaks an ordinary language. Second, there is the secret side, which comes out in him only after he has closed the door of his workroom, and is completely alone. It is then that he slips into another world altogether, a world where his imagination takes over and he finds himself actually living in the places he is writing about at that moment. I myself, if you want to know, fall into a kind of trance, and everything around me disappears. I see only the point of my pencil moving over the paper, and quite often two hours go by as though they were a couple of seconds.

I wanted to scream at Roald Dahl and tell him YOU ARE SOOOOO RIGHT, ROALD!!!! Because what he wrote was very true. You see writers as ordinary people who wear ordinary clothes and live ordinary lives in an ordinary neighbourhood, in an ordinary house and speak an ordinary language.

But, let him be in his room alone. The room where he writes, and give him a pen and paper. He is completely in another world. Words are floating around his head, but you cannot see it.

I experience that a lot. When I get overdose of inspiration, I fall into that trance.

Any other writer who has experience that?

P.S. Don’t forget to vote (Details on the image below)

Fan Fiction: The Scene

If you have been following me on Twitter, you should have seen this tweet.

My fan fiction spirit has awoken. So, enjoy the short fan fiction I have for you today, starring Samini.

Yeah, the Batman Samini guy.

I know. I love him too.

Enjoy!

The Scene

There he was, at the left side of me, Samini. The almighty Samini. OMG!!! I could not believe it.

It all started like this. There was an audition for new actors, I went through and got the role.

That’s it.

So, now here I am, sitting three seats away from Samini. I can sing all his songs, and his life too. I know everything about him. I mean, ask me any question about him. His date of birth? December 22. His hometown? Wa. How many music albums? More than 5. How many awards? More than 10, and still counting.

Enough of the biography written by me without authority. Let’s focus on the movie we are acting together.

So fortunately, I am given a role to be someone very close to him. Unfortunately I am not acting as his significant other. I am just his little sister in the movie.

Hmmm. I jealous the girl who will be his significant other, but it doesn’t matter. I still get to touch his dreads, and see his perfect teeth.

“Take your places everyone”, the director called. I glanced at Samini, who also glanced at me. I smiled, but he was distracted by his personal assistant. We were getting ready for a scene where we were both at home, and there was a little chit chat. I quickly skim through my scripts, took in a deep breath, and repeated my mantra in my head. You can kill it, Marietta. You can kill it.

I laid on my stomach on the sofa, and was holding a fashion magazine. I was wearing a simple white tee with black shorts.

“Lights ready. Camera ready. And action!” I heard the clapper board, then jolted nervously.

Yao: Hey Ami, you are up already. (Ami was my movie name. Samini is Yao.)

Ami: Hmmm. [Ami raffles through the magazine, then smiles at a picture of a dress]

Yao: [Takes his gym bag from the sitting room floor] Why are you up so early? It’s only a few minutes to 5.

Ami: [Rolls her eyes] I can’t sleep again oo. And what are you trying to say? Don’t I look like someone who can wake up early?

Yao: [Shakes his head] Not at all, little sis. Not at all.

Ami: [Frowns at Yao, and glares at him] Whatever.

Yao: [Smiles at sister]: Hey. Michaela is coming over.(Michaela is Samini’s girlfriend in the movie). I want you to help me tidy up the house, cook dinner and make my bedroom romantic. I have already bought the rose petals, the candles—

Ami: [Jumps out of the sofa] Wait oo. Let me get this straight. You want me to enter your room, just because your new catch is coming over? [Rolls her eyes and drops her arms beside her] Unbelievable.

Yao: [Smiles] Of course. [Walks closer to Ami and pats her short hair]…………..

Hold it! Pause time please.

Samini pats my hair? It’s unbelievable. My favourite person puts his strong hands on my head. That’s why, I have paused the time. I have to take a picture of this. I wish I could touch his dreads too, but that was not in the script. Maybe, I could accidentally touch it. After all, acting is being natural, and I could touch it playfully. If I was his girlfriend in the movie, that would be so much easier.

Now, back to the scene…….

Yao: [Smiles] Of course. [Walks closer to Ami and pats her short hair] after all, you are my sister. You can enter into it anytime.

Ami: [Looks at Yao skeptically] since when? Because you never wanted me to enter your room. For once, I thought it was a shrine, a forbidden place.

Yao: Well, forget about that. Just help me for today. [Gives Ami a bear hug]………..

Pause this! Pause this!

He hugged me. Yee-haw. I don’t have to hug my pillow at night again. He smelt good too.

All right, let’s continue the scene.

Yao: Well, forget about that. Just help me for today. [Gives Ami a bear hug, then puts the strap of his gym bag on his shoulder]. I’ll be back in two hours’ time. See you later. [Walks out the door]

“And cut!’’ the director called. “That was brilliant, Samini. Brilliant! I loved it. We’ll take another shot of the scene again after our 20 minutes break.”

Wait, what about me? Didn’t I do a great act? Just because Samini is a superstar already, he gets all the credit. Hmmm.

I walked to a table across the room, took a glass of water, and sat down slightly angry at myself, the director and everyone else.

I felt someone sit next to me. I didn’t care to look at who it was.

“Hey.”

I reluctantly turned to see the person next to me. Samini.

“You know something? You are a fantastic actress and you are the one who made me act so natural. I hope to continuously work with you.”

I stared at him blankly. I could not believe what was happening right now.

Just imagine this. You are sitting right by the man you admire. You are working with him in a movie. The director did not compliment you, but you are getting a compliment from the man you admire and are working with.

Pinch me. Is it a dream? This is, like the best dream ever.

He stretched out his hand for a handshake with a smile. “I’m Samini.”

I smiled, then took his hand. I mean, who doesn’t know Samini. “Marietta.”

“Nice meeting you, Marietta. I hope to see you frequently. You want to grab a drink?”

Who would say no? “Sure.” I smiled at him.

So, let me ask this question. Are we now friends?

THE END

Other fan fiction stories
Elikem + Pokello
Stonebwoy

Editor In Chief

I always dream of this: the title.

Does this photo make me look like girlboss?

Editor in chief?

Chief Executive Officer?

It was my dream and it is still my dream of working for a magazine company, whether a popular one or my own magazine company.

That’s one of the reasons why I started this blog; TheMarietta DeGrant Blog is like my magazine company and I am the CEO and editor in chief.

I always imagine the life of someone working in a magazine company.

Having planners with events and duties

Abundance of cameras and studio equipment

Cute notebooks of ideas

Reviewing and rejecting articles (ouch)

Working on drafts

Photoshoots

Interviewing ordinary people and celebrities

Selfies at work pictures

Editorial conferences

Sending newsletters

Website and social media updates

Typing and editing

Designing magazine covers

I will work there. Someday.

Getting Ready For NaNoWriMo

Hello guys! How are you doing today? I hope you are feeling great. If not, then get well sooner!

You know that November is set aside for NaNoWriMo which stands for National Novel Writing Month. It is an annual internet-based creative writing project that takes place during the month of November. It challenges participants to write 50,000 words, (which is the minimum number of words for a novel), from November 1st 00:00am to November 30th 23:59 GMT.

Participants write either a complete novel of 50,000 words or simply the first 50,000 words of a novel to be completed later. See more details about NaNoWriMo here.

Last year, I challenged myself to join NaNoWriMo 2015, but from the look of things, it seems I cannot participate fully because of my school load. Though, I won't be a full participant, I would try to do a little more than 30%.

This is the book I'll be using for the project. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Are you going to be a part of it? What are your plans?

Or maybe, you have done it before. How did it go?

Serial Review: Pep Talk

It's amazing how you get to meet people with incredible talents.

Meet Awo Dede, a lady whom I was in the same secondary school with, and in the same boarding house. I knew she was doing General Arts, but never knew she had a creative imagination. Anyway, I don't blame her. It's not her fault. She's just like me, we write, then hide it, lol. Awo Dede, I totally understand.

Awo Dede has started writing a blog. Yay! Yoo-hoo! This blog has a serial in it. The title is Pep Talk. The write up is beautiful, amazing, weird and fantastic. I love it. Read episode 1 here and episode 2 here.

The story is about a girl who has reincarnated. I love the imagination of the spirit world. I have never imagined the spirit paradise that way. She used a bit of local dialect too and underneath the story, she wrote the translation of the sentence for those of us who don't understand. Really, Awo Dede is Talent. (I do not mean, talented. She is talent itself)

One thing I didn't like about everything is, there are no images. Apart from that, everything is amusing and arrrhh-mazing. I even bet she can write vampire stories. Tell me, Awo-dede, if you are reading this. Do you like vampire /werewolves stories?

I can't wait to read the continuation, if there would be one. How would it continue, how would it end? I don't want to spoil the fun, so bookmark her blog and follow her on Twitter for more information.

Stay sweet.

You Know Marietta DeGrant Is A Writer When.....

You know MARIETTA DEGRANT is a Writer when.........
.....she writes down a list of titles for her stories and poems
.....cries when she writes an emotional scene
.....you see lots of books (all kinds) on her desk
.....she gets excited to a sight of novels in bookshops
.....she carries a notebook and a pen with her
.....she buys lots of colourful journals at the stationer's
.....she constantly tells you she writes
.....she cries that her poems are not worth it
.....she constantly talks about a movie she loved(Hint: La Bamba)
.....she smiles without a reason (There's a story forming in her head)
.....she buys lots of pens
.....she finds it weird not to keep a diary
.....she tells you she'll write her autobiography one day
.....she secretly imagine being in a movie