Writing Good Stories; Learn From Two Of Africa’s Best Recent Books.

Both books were first published in 2015 in Nigeria and within two years, reached the hands of readers in three continents and counting. A year after release, both were among the finalists Shortlisted for the $100, 000 NLNG Prize for Literature and one of them won. One of the books is translated to French, the other to German. The authors and their books were on various reviews by global newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, the Guardian, Deutsche Welle (DW) and many more. The books were on some reviews, referred as highly promising literary talent of contemporary Africa. Elnathan John’s ‘Born On A Tuesday’ and Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s ‘Season of Crimson Blossoms’ are the books in reference. I have a good comprehension both and as an aspiring writer, dug a little deeper to seek a better understanding of what made them successful both in terms of acceptance and the ingenious art of creation.

Here are some of the things I discovered; 1. Risk: A great Deal of it.

Risk to me, is part of the main forces that strengthen story themes and raises the stakes.

The theme of Season of Crimson Blossoms isn’t unique, but the story world is. Northern Nigeria is a region known for its Islamic conservatism where explicit discussions of illicit sex in some instances are forbidden. So to write of such a society a story of a certain woman’s sexual escapades sometimes graphically expressed, takes guts. That’s a huge risk, especially that the author is a Northerner himself. The author’s reputation could be on the line. So also his safety. But that didn't seem to be a deterrent for the author.

Born on a Tuesday bravely walks us into a very sensitive but vaguely understood realm: Islamic sectarianism. As a topic, the conflict between Islamic sects (and any other religion for that matter) is never dying hence the unceasing Cold War between them. It’s a topic the world is nowadays interested in discussing (and probably keen to understand). Been a Northern Christian, the author could be labeled by some sectional Islamist as bias even with the glaring fact that the story is a product of impeccable research.

So risk dares authors to go raw on very sensitive issues in ways that make stories unique and worthy of a reader’s time.

Remember the book Da Vinci Code? Author Dan Brown asked himself the question, ‘what if Jesus isn’t really the son of God? What if his story isn’t what actually happened?’ He knew these questions might infuriate billions of Christians and provoke harsh reactions, but he dared the odds, took the risk and wrote Da Vinci Code. Yes, he got all the backlashes and hate speeches and even physical assaults, but the book went to sell over 40 million copies and got translated into 44 languages. If Brown hadn’t taken that RISK he wouldn’t have made it that big.

2. Good Beginning I don’t know about you, but I find novels with good beginnings ‘turn-ons’. When I say ‘good beginning’, I don’t mean a nicely sugar-coated, maybe poetic rendition of proud author’s stunt for show-off; I mean a beginning that gives you reason(s) to stay for at least a dozen more pages or even more. Both books have beautiful beginnings that gives little ideas about the themes. Born on a Tuesday starts with the narrator telling the reader how ‘the boys who sleep under the Kuka tree in Bayan Layi like to boast about the people they have killed.’ That statement is captivating. The author (through The narrator) gently walks the reader into tension and then more tension until the end of the first chapter where he gets readers wondering what would happen in the next. Season of Crimson Blossoms achieves that in a brilliant way. In just about four lines, he indulges the reader to wonder how does a 55- year old woman finally becomes ‘born’- as in, rediscovering the taste of deep sexual pleasure having been sexually deprived for a while- just when a rogue scales her fence and landed ‘boots and all, in the puddle that was her heart’. That was deep!

As the story goes on to the end of the first chapter, the reader is somehow pulled in having been hinted again at one time, that there were ‘touching’ and ’impious’ thoughts by woman who hasn’t been with a man for decades.

The next point is Narration, coming up in the next post.