CREATIVE AND EFFECTIVE WRITING by Eneji Matthew
Let's begin with creative, creativity involves doing something in a refreshingly new/novel way or manner. There is an aspect of writing called creative writing, it's an entirely different kettle of fish and it's very broad, we won't be going into it.
We'll be looking constructively at a creative AND effective way of writing, and not a creative (writing) and effective writing.
Too many times, a lot of people consider themselves as not creative or not creative enough. The former is a lie and the latter is true, at least sometimes. But the good news is you can always improve your creative power through studying.
To prove to you that everybody is creative, is there anybody here that has never told a lie in his/her life? If you're such a person please indicate. Now, the mere fact that you told (lied) of a thing that never happened (at least, not to you) shows that you are creative i.e. you created something that has never existed before.
Now, lying is not a virtue, so nobody should go and be using their creative powers in creating lies o😂😂
How many of you noticed in the Bible that Jesus is one of the most creative beings to ever exist?
There was no other preacher in the Bible that told stories like Jesus (I know you people only like to call it parable 😏). Jesus so loved stories and told them so often that the only people he ever spoke plainly to were his disciples. (You can add the concealing of kingdom secrets to the equation too 😁)
We will be using one of the parables and from it learn the principles of effective writing.
The Story of the Greedy Farmhands (Matt 21)
33-34"Here's another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits.
35-37"The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. 'Surely,' he thought, 'they will respect my son.'
38-39"But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. 'This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him.
40"Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?"
41"He'll kill them—a rotten bunch, and good riddance," they answered. "Then he'll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it's time."
42-44Jesus said, "Right—and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles:
The stone the masons threw out
is now the cornerstone.
This is God's work;
we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it!
"This is the way it is with you. God's kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life. Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed." (MSG)
PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE WRITING
1) Build images in the mind of your readers: note that Jesus began the story by telling them about a man, this will automatically bring to your mind a picture of a gender. Now, this man was a farmer, did this bring to mind the image of a haggard dressed man? Well, this man is not just a farmer, he's a wealthy farmer. Did the image change?
The farmer planted a vineyard, he did not leave it open, he fenced it. He dug a winepress and then put up a tower. Doesn't this create an image in your mind? One can see almost all the farm now 😁. Now that Jesus has painted a picture in the mind of the listeners he proceeded.
2) Create conflict: the farmer sent a servant to claim what was rightfully his, then an unexpected thing happened — conflict. The first servant was beaten up, the second killed and the third stoned. Now, emotions are stirred in the minds of the listeners, some of them are probably angry. How can it be? These men don't even own the slightest amount of this farm, who gave them the right to beat talk more of killing the servant of the owner, are they mad?😠😡
3) Escalate the conflict: here was the patient farmer, he thought to himself, there must be a mistake somewhere, these men may have mistaken my servants for imposters, let me send my only son, they'll most certainly respect him. So he sent his only son and they "rubbed their hands in greed. And said, 'this is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' " Now, you can expect the average listener to be boiling with anger. What is wrong with these men? Are they possessed? How could they kill the ONLY SON of the farmer?🤷😠😡😠😡
4) Create a dilemma and a climax: the next question on the mind of everyone now is, what will the farmer do? What method of killing must he use? Clearly this men deserve the worst kind of death. Note that Jesus never told the people what the farmer did, he left it to the imagination of the people, sometimes, it's best to do this.
5) Create a puzzle to get the people thinking: just when the people are aroused emotional Jesus dropped a puzzle, "the stone that the builders rejected..." Anyone who is familiar with emotions know that people never think clearly when high on any emotion. This makes it more intriguing, this imprints the message deeper.
6) Link it to a moral lesson, then give them one more puzzle to brood on: just when the people are emotional high, confused and don't know what to do, you the writer should do the thinking for them, drop them a moral lesson. In this state people will believe whatever you tell them. And before they recover to think clearly drop them another puzzle — "Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed."
Just when everyone is wondering what just happened, sign off in style and leave them in suspense.
The End😁
About the Author.
Matthew Samuel Eneji is a graduate of the prestigious Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He is a Barrister in view, a public speaker, leader and a writer whose impact has been felt by many. He has a very strong passion for reading and writing which have driven him to write several published articles and stories (both fiction and non fiction), Etc. While on Campus he held several positions at distinct levels, just to mention few: He was the Editor in Chief of the publication unit for two years, the editor in Chief of the Creative Writers Club, ABU Zaria Chapter, He was the immediate past FCS Kongo Campus ABU Zaria President for 2018/2019 Spiritual Session, after which he served as the ELCOM Chairman that brought in the present FCS central Exco. He is the current editor in Chief of the Well of Excellence (WEx) Global.
Other Works by The Author:
But by My Spirit by Eneji Matthew
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