I have been on the giving and receiving ends of courses and sessions on writing. They teach you a lot. It’s not enough to have ideas. You need the skills to bring your ideas to life. Writing courses provide technical know-how. You need to learn the rules of language; to acquaint yourself with the styles that work for the different forms of creative writing.

There’s a side to writing, however, that cannot be taught. The conception. Creativity. It is rather experienced, grown, and nurtured.

A story is first conceived as an idea. At this point, there is little or no reference at all. It’s just in your head. This is a crucial point in the making of a story, because if you cannot find the art, the beauty, and the creativity in that idea, then you cannot make a good story out of it. It is almost impossible to convey something that you have not felt.

You must be able to tell where the creativity in your piece lies. You can decide to rewrite an old, popular story, one that everyone knows. This is an idea, but it’s not a good one yet till you have to answer the question of where is the art.

You can choose to write it in Nigerian settings. You can decide to delve deeper into the characters, making interesting backstories that aim to justify their actions. You can write in a stronger or more subtle language, or write from the first or second person’s point of view. This is when you can say your idea has been fully conceived and the techniques can come into play.

In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Visit, she writes about Nigerians as though we run a matriarchal (rather than patriarchal) system. In my opinion, she aims to highlight the ridiculousness of patriarchy by simply turning the tables. This was the idea. Everything that came into developing the story was secondary.

This is why creative writers are called artists. We must first be able to spot the creativity in other people’s writings. It is impossible to be an artist and not appreciate art. Then we should be able to conceive original ideas of our own. Be it in prose or poetry, we should seek inspiration from the happenings around us. These ideas, with the right skills, can then be born into a piece. But without original ideas, one’s place as an artist is in question. Such a person is perhaps only a writer (without the creative) or an appreciator of art.

How do your ideas come to you?