The Phases of Life and My Writing Journey
The journey of life is in phases. There is always something that sets the ball rolling for the space we eventually find ourselves occupying later in life. For me, it was a challenge from my brother. I took it, and it changed the course of my life.
From Past Activities to Present Skills
It is interesting that the activities we engaged in, in the past, become useful skills in the present: reviewing submitted manuscripts at my place of work, writing synopses and crafting titles for the novellas my company published, doing newspaper interviews and turning them into feature stories, etc. I didn't know they were all going to culminate into services Zayzee Limited now offers clients.
Two Decades in the Publishing Space
How do I explain that I have been on this writing journey, in the publishing space, for more than two decades? I can only do so in stories, and indeed, they are a compilation of them.
Learning and Growing
Between the joys and pains, I learnt and grew on the job to perfect what I do today. There are so many people who helped me get here—people who challenged me and opened doors for me to walk through—and I am still on the journey...
Introducing My New Book
Meet my new book, The Path I've Been On. Coming in August.
Introduction
I am now familiar with the astonished expression people have
when they meet me for the first time and learn that I have been working in this
field for more than 20 years.
It is true that when you’re doing something you love, time
seems to fly by and the last thing on your mind is stopping. Instead, you will
find more ways to keep doing what you love all while having fun. For me in the
mid-2000s, that was blogging.
I cannot remember how I discovered blogging but I soon found
myself in a community of Nigerian bloggers based in different parts of the
world. We called this community, The
Naija Blogville. It is from this community that Bella Naija and Linda Ikeji
emerged. They saw a gap that needed filling and recognised the opportunity to
transform their passion for blogging into a business, while most of us
continued to use our blogs as public diaries. Some bloggers used theirs to
inspire others by blending in their own stories.
When I started blogging, my content consisted of my stories
that had been published in the newspapers―interviews and features. This
provided me with a steady supply of material. As time progressed, I began
sharing my experiences and personal reflections. Essentially, blogging became a
medium for expressing myself. Doing this consistently, alongside working as a
journalist, significantly contributed to the development of my writing skills.
The Path I’ve Been On
depicts my journey in honing this skill, capturing the preparation and tutelage
that I have gone through to date, which has given me the audacity to call
myself a writer, an editor and a publisher.
Ever since I started offering ghostwriting as a service, I
have emphasised the importance of documentation. Previously, I truly didn’t
understand its essence. Today I advocate “We need to document our stories.” It
doesn’t matter whether we feel these stories and experiences are significant or
not. We might not recognise the lessons from our daily experiences, but over
time, when we reflect on them, we realise the value packed in our journeys and
how they’ve prepared us for the present and the future. We also determine
whether we have strayed from our desired path and need to retrace our steps or
if we have successfully transitioned through phases.
Blogging was my documentation tool at a time when
documentation didn’t fully resonate with me. Back then, it was more about
posting regularly, growing my readership base by visiting other blogs, reading
and leaving comments to ensure visibility for my blog, and checking how many
people read and commented on my posts as well as the different countries from
which traffic flowed to my blog. It was also about projecting a certain image
to my readers; an image that I hadn’t attained but which I aspired to.
In the first few days of January 2024, since I hadn’t
officially resumed work for the year, I sat down with my blog and read through
my posts over the years. They brought back memories and refreshed some lessons
that I had forgotten.
As I read through my blog, it occurred to me that I had a
book in my hands that could be instrumental to someone. It was this realisation
that prompted me to compile, edit and adapt some of my posts from years of
blogging. I have also included new, never-before-published articles to
illustrate the journey I have been on for more than two decades.
You might view The
Path I’ve Been On as another form of entertainment or a way to relax.
Nevertheless, I hope you come away with some valuable life lessons and find
inspiration as well.
Zayzee
For more insights on writing and publishing, explore older posts. To learn more about the services offered by Zayzee Limited, visit our services page.