creative writing:creating unique writing style 

1 Introduction 2.Objective 3. Main Content 3.1 The Story 3.2Plot 3.3 Characterisation 

Publishing 
Any creative writer looks forward with eagerness to the day s/he will see his works in print. The joy of seeing ones works published is inexplicable. Unfortunately, the objective of writing differs from one writer to the other. Some writers write because they want to share with the readers their perspectives on certain social issues. Some others simply want to make money. Agreed, writers are expected to earn some money from their works. Actually, there are full time writers who earn their living through their writings. Economic consideration is therefore important in creative writing. In that case, you must ensure that you 68 produce qualitative works that can sell and also can be relevant at all times. These are hallmarks of good works. Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again and Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People deal with corruption in Nigerian politics. These books were written many ago back but the issues treated are still relevant in contemporary Nigerian politics. The economic crunch has forced a lot of people to write. This crop of writers, write whatever they have in mind, with little or no consideration to literary devices or grammatical rules. They rush to state Ministries of Education (Curriculum development units) and push these works into the list of books for students. Self publishing has become the order of the day. Consequently, there are many substandard works in our markets. Some of them are hawked in buses and streets. Here, we advise you to ensure that you write well, do not be in a hurry. There are novels that took years to complete. When you conclude your work, revise it very well and send it to a publisher. Your manuscript may be rejected but do not give up, try other publishers. Many of the renowned writers suffered rejection by publishers but they persevered. However, some of the manuscripts are rejected because they are badly written (Maxwell-Mahon Introduction 2). Send your manuscript to reputable publishers. Some of the publishers may ask you to pay fully or partly for the publishing perhaps because they are afraid that it will not sell. If you can afford it, pay but insist that your work be sent to an evaluator. The evaluator’s report helps the writer to effect some corrections. At the end of this unit, I will include the evaluators report for one of my plays Whose Fault to give you an idea of what an evaluator’s report looks like. You can, before sending your work to the publisher, give it to someone who is knowledgeable in the area to assess for you. If you write a play, look for an opportunity to put it on stage. There is this general saying that a play is not a play until it is seen ‘live’ on stage. Try also to align yourself to a creative organization like Association of Nigerian 69 Authors (ANA). This association has branches all over the country and they organize reading sessions for their members. During these sessions, you could present your work and get objective criticisms and suggestions on how to improve your work. Below is the evaluator’s report. WHOSE FAULT: A REVIEW 1. Theme Whose Fault is a play that questions the source of man’s adversities. Is it the potency of traditional gods in an age when science and Christianity have done much to sustain a contrary point of view? Is it man’s unbridled surrender to dirty passions of various kinds that plague humanity in contemporary times? A thematic statement of the play could be that any discourse on the source of man’s adversities is inconclusive. Put more bluntly, in apportioning blames for man’s calamities, one has to be very cautious for man’s ruin emanates from reasons that are personal, sociological, political, religious, cultural as well as fatalistic. Is it Beka’s refusal to be Udo’s priest that ruins him? Is it his wife’s adulterous relationship with Bassey, an act which she proudly protects, ostensibly to sustain the loitering economy of a once prosperous family that precipitates Beka’s predicament? One is even reluctant to consider Adaku’s (Beka’s wife’s) adulterous relationship with Bassey as part of Beka’s punishment for refusing Ude priesthood. This is because immediately we meet her in the play, she cuts the figure of a nononsense, insatiable wife who drives her husband very hard. Nor is one very ready to consider Kene’s death in a car crash. In the same regard for even the boy believes that people die when and how God (not gods) wills. These are enigmatic aspects of the play that keep 70 the audience contemplating the real cause of Beka’s fall. Ultimately, the play contains the story of a prosperous man who dies (for insanity is a kind of death) after a tortuous fall from grace to grass. The play also touches on the issue of government’s insincerity in instituting and using the results of celebrated inquiries, the national economic crunch that discourage youths from marrying and the Christian’s resistance to superstition. But these are not major concerns. ii. Plot and Structure The play opens as two women, Osodi and Oyidi are returning from market. There are four movements in the play three of which are divided into parts. The use of movements is adequate especially as lights will be used for scenic delineation. The women discuss first the prevailing immorality in their village, Umuogom and later settle on the “beer-parlour” business and its results exemplified especially in the ruin that has overtaken the family of Bekanma Emenike. When the play ends they are again on their way to market and are discussing the same issue. Perhaps the suggestion here is that the major part of the play is a flashback that reveals the reason, for the initial story the market women were telling. The women hurry home when hasty movements of strong men suggest that something unusual has happened in the village. The unusual thing, we discover later, is that Beka is mad and is being sought by the strong men of the village. This is the end of the first movement. In the second movement, Beka refuses the entreaties of the traditional village council that he should become the new priest of Udo. Beka feels that this office will reduce his chosen life style in 71 the city. It is also against his Christian faith. But his community, his friend, Obiora and indeed his father, Enuka bring a lot of pressure on him to accept the priesthood. Beka and wife insist and ask the community to leave them to face the wrath of the gods. In the third movement, neighbours are consoling Adaku and are pondering over the fire that razed Beka’s store, the first in his woes. A policeman arrives, and, contrary to everybody’s anticipation, he announces the death of Kene, Beka’s second son in a car crash. Many months later, Adaku is piqued by the dwindling standard of living of the Beka family into proposing that she would start the beer parlour business. Unknown to Beka, his friend, Bassey now Adaku’s lover, makes satisfactory arrangements for the take-off of the business. Adaku’s beer parlour attracts many customers. Some discuss the sponsorship of Adaku’s business and one of them informs Beka of Adaku’s infidelity. Bassey is foolhardily thirsty for romance with Adaku when Onyechi (I suppose the author means Beka, p. 79) moves into the beer parlour and fires a pistol at him. A bullet hits Beka’s son, Okey instead. Bassey runs away. Fourth movement begins with a comic scene in which a drunk customer gives more details of Adaku/Bassey affair. Comedy derives from the fact that the customer is talking to Adaku in her beer parlour while insisting that he was going to Adaku’s beer parlour to talk to her. Obiora confronts Bassey in Adaku’s beer parlour. Bassey runs aways and brother-in-law, Obiora, and sister-inlaw, Adaku engage in a heated discussion on the fate of the Beka 72 family. Each tries to apportion blames as they try to answer the title question, whose fault? Adaku will not return to the village to help her mad husband. She will not show her son, Okey to anyone. Okey had escaped death from his fathers bullet. She insists that her family should be left to face the Udo, an expression of the fact that Udo is not responsible for her predicaments. In part II of this movement, Bassey is in a love prattle with Adaku when Beka rushes in, tries to strangle him and drags Adaku into the inner rooms to forcefully take her to bed. She is saved early enough by two policemen who handcuff Beka. Bassey is still alive and is carried to hospital. In part III, Umuogom village women are going to market. Osodi and Oyidi discuss Beka’s madness that has defied treatment by all reputable herbalists around. While Oyidi believes that Beka’s lot is a consequence of his refusal to be Udo’s priest, Osodi argues to the contrary. The play ends with nobody being able still to ascertain whose fault Beka’s predicaments are. iii. Characterization The author displays a good knowledge of characterization. Characters are plausible, consistent, convincing and well-motivated. The protagonist develops. There is nothing for which any character could be faulted. As will be expected in a play, a few major characters like Beka, Adaku, Bassey and Obiora carry the story while many others are used and quickly dispensed with. 73 iv. Technique It has already been pointed out that movements 2 and 3 and in fact 4 are flashbacks that reveal the reason for the Eyidi/Osodi story about Beka’s family in movement I. An interesting feature is that at the end of the play, the women are still telling the Beka story. Movement I is an interesting exposition that intimates the audience with sociological details, important characters as well as the important issue of succession to Udo priesthood. The transition from one movement to the other is logical and the plot is coherent. Conflict, for example, arises when Beka refuses the priesthood. The climax of the play is the movement 3. Movement 4 is essentially a resolution. Even part I of movement 4 which could have been less relevant carries the weighty information of Beka’s madness and Okey’s safety. In all, there is a well-knit plot that flows to the end. There are no conscious efforts to create beautiful figures of speech. Dialogue is interesting but the author loses his initial intention to differentiate status of characters by their language. Muoneke’s speech on p. 19 is exemplary in its carriage of traditional speech patterns. Osodi and Oyidi, the market women regrettably lose their traditional speech patterns as they suddenly speak the language of university graduates. (compare language on p.1 and p.7). Many spelling, punctuation and other errors exist. A few examples will suffice. All identified errors have been indicated and corrected in the manuscripts. Run (p.37, line 16) is written for ruin. Please (p.2, line 26) is written for pease, greated (p. 12, line 4) is written for greeted; especially (p.26, line 17) is written for especially. As for grammatical errors here are a few examples. “He dare not” (p.9, line 74 9) is written for “He dares not”. “If I were chosen, I will – (p.36, line 16) is written for “If I were chosen, I would … There are other grammatical errors which have been identified in the manuscript. v. Publishability This play is publishable. It provides an interesting reading and I dare say production will be easy and entertaining. The theme is relevant as well as philosophical. It can be a good addition to your titles especially for the interest of the general reader and drama students. Please publish when some editorial work has been done. When your work is being sent out to an evaluator, your name and all indicators to you as a person are erased. This is to enable the evaluator to give an unbiased and objective assessment of your work. In the same way, the publisher gives you the evaluator report without the evaluator’s name and other information about him/her. 4.0 CONCLUSION You are a novelist, a playwright or a poet because you have something worth saying and have an idea of how to say it. Some people have the talent to write but may not realize that they have it. It is not only those who read English are creative writers. Cyprian Ekwensi for instance was a pharmacist. Each writer has his/her own style but there are basic devices/techniques that are expected in a good literary piece. The basic aspects are the theme, the plot, the language, characterization and the setting. However, each genre has its own unique characteristics. So before you write, arm yourself with the basic requirements of the genre you have chosen.

Setting

Setting is the environment where your characters operate. Your setting or background or environment for your story could be imaginary or realistic. In choosing your setting, choose an environment that you know very well personally. It is difficult to situate your story in an environment you are not familiar with through personal experience. You will be in a better position to create a more convincing story by drawing on the things you have heard and seen. According to Maxwell-Mahon, there are three important things any good writer must remember while locating a story. a. The setting must be located as quickly as possible and with minimum words. 66 b. The setting must be factually and temporally credible c. The setting must form a unity with both character and action so as to produce the overall effect or idea that you want to convey to the reader (7). Assuming that you want to set your story in an environment you are not physically familiar with but have heard so much about, you should visit the place. If for instance you have heard so much about the wild life park in Jos or Tinapa in Calabar and you want to set your story there, you cannot give an accurate account of the environment until you have visited the place. You need more information the setting or present incidents that take place in that venue because you will find it difficult to give accurate account of for instance, which roads leads to it, the guides, and many other things. If you are writing a novel, you may need to give a vivid description of the scenery in and out of the place, the animals, events and the people you encounter there. Did you stay in a hotel, or stayed with a friend or a relation? In answering these questions, you may find some interesting incidents or event that you could incorporate in your story. 3.5.1 Physical Setting The physical setting as the name implies is the physical environment where the action of the story takes place. Whether your setting is imaginary or real, you must endeavour to reflect the physical environment. This includes the scenery, the prop, (drama), the houses, the roads and other physical aspects of that environment that help to situate your narrative. In case you want to use a realist setting, you must include notable landmarks like names of towns or locations in the towns. A very good example of such realistic setting is found in Ola Rotimi’s Hopes of the Living Dead and Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, and also Fetus Iyayi’s The Heroes. Sometimes the names of characters and interjections of vernacular in the forms of exclamations, phrases or 67 dialogue are useful pointers to the physical setting in your work. You should therefore take this into consideration while writing your own fiction. As stated earlier, read the works of the literary masters to help you improve on your style in the literary genre you wish to write. 3.5.2 Historical Setting Historical setting refers to the time frame or possible date/period/year when the events of the story take place. The historical setting can be discerned in your work in several ways. You could insert specific dates as we find in Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man. It could be through historical incidents as we find in the same play or in Festus Iyayi’s The Heroes and other novels that deal with the Nigerian Civil War. In this novel, for instance, his characters are fictitious but General Gowon’s wedding is mentioned, so you may decide to include specific historical events. However, you may decide to discard specific historical events and concentrate on some incidents that could happen at any time. When you set your story in the past, please check your facts very well to ensure the authenticity of your setting. This is very important. When you are not sure of a particular setting, discard it.

Language
creative writing:creating unique writing style-language

In creative writing, you try to send a message to your readers. You can only do that through communication. We all know that communication is at the core of literature. You may wish to write in vernacular, English or pidgin. Most writers 65 use English, some mix pidgin with Standard English sometimes to delineate characters. Pidgin is becoming popular among literary artists. The reason is twofold: firstly, they intend to reach a wider audience and secondly, it arouses humour. Whichever medium of communication you choose, ensure that you write coherently, accurately and beautifully. Ensure that you comply with rules of grammar in the language you have chosen. Apart from the rule of grammar, you could write beautifully if you have a “rich vocabulary and the capacity to put it to effective use, utilizing the figures of speech and other devices characteristic of the language (Ike 18). In this case you will not over- use certain words and expressions. You will be in a positions to use the right words or expressions in the right places. Apart from good dictionaries, the computer is very helpful because you can check the synonyms of certain words as you write (if you are writing straight with the computer) and choose the most appropriate words. However, always refer to a regular dictionary where you could get the exact meaning of the words before you use them because some synonyms could be misleading. Also avoid using clichés.

creative writing:creating unique writing style-characterization
Characterization
In our outline, we mentioned Mr. Bayo. Mr. Bayo is a character in the story we intend to write. But he alone cannot carry our story so we need to create other characters. I already mentioned his cousin, his staff and his children. These are all characters. You may recall that we said that as a creative (fiction) writer, you use your imagination to create an imaginary world. This world is inhabited by imaginary beings who, through their interactions and inter-personal relationships, present an imaginary story. You have the power to create virtuous and vicious people in your story. To a large extent, your reader’s interest in your work depends on “how much he can identify with the characters in the story” (Ike 58). When you are watching a film or home video for example, your interest is mainly on certain characters, what they do or what you anticipate them to do, the consequence of their actions in relation to other characters and on themselves. So in your fiction, you should try to create credible, authentic and life-like characters to give your story the desired “slice of life”. 62 As a budding artist, you should try to structure your story around one character and make your characters as few as possible. The guiding principle in characterisation is to “…exclude anybody who does not contribute to the central idea of the story” (Maxwell-Mahon 4). It is usually better to introduce the character around which your story revolves early so that the story unfolds as he develops. You must try to develop your characters very well. Before you create a particular character, ensure that you know him/her very well. Remember that although in real life, we may not be able to decipher the inner workings of a person, in fiction you must present both the external manifestations and the inner lives of your character if he/she is well-drawn. For your character to be real to your reader you must know and reveal everything about the character. You must therefore, arm yourself with a “thorough understanding human nature and human behaviour” (Ike 58) especially the characteristics of the particular character you are creating. We have chosen a bank manager. He is not just a bank manager but a hypocrite and tyrant. Have you worked in the bank before? Have you encountered a hypocrite before? Have you worked with tyrant before? If you have, you will have more insights into his character. This insight will help you to create characters that are consistent and whose actions are well-motivated. In his case, you would check his background, he could have come from very lowly background, so is prepared to grab what does not belong to him. He may have come from a wealthy background or have friends who are very rich so strives to keep up with their level (to keep up with the Joneses). These are part of what may have motivated him to embezzle the money. As you move about and interact with people, you will come in contact with different members of the society. Your relationship with them or their relationship 63 with others help to expand the scope of your knowledge of human nature without any conscious effort. Just as you draw an outline for the plot, you need a character sketch. First of all, list the major characters, name them and assign roles to them. After that, give some essential details like profession age and physical attributes to each of them. In doing this, bear your story/plot in mind so that the characters can fit in very well in the story. e.g. Bayo – Mr. Bayo Olufemi. A chattered Accountant, has worked in the bank for fifteen years, and has risen to the rank of a Managing Director. Age 40 He is talk, light in complexion, clean-shaven, handsome and over-bearing. Always in well-cut suits At this stage, the characters are like clay in the hands of a porter. You can create your characters to be pretty or ugly, educated or illiterate, rich or poor. The important factor is that each character should act within the ambits of his/her status and temperament. Please resist the temptation of depicting a character to be exactly like someone you know in real life. Use your imagination and creative ability to create unique characters to suit specific roles in your work. If you are writing a novel or a short story, this outline will help you in the description of your characters as the novel, progresses. Remember that these descriptions are inserted appropriately so that they will not be out of play or cause an unnecessary distraction. These descriptions about a character are sometimes given in bits to explain certain actions of a character. The reason for Okonkwo’s sternness and overbearing attitude in Things Fall Apart is because he is afraid of being considered weak or of being a failure like his father. 64 …his whole life was dominated by fear, The fear of failure and of weakness…it was not external but lay deep in himself. It was fear in himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father (12 -13) Earlier in the novel, Achebe tells the reader that when Okonkwo walked “his heels hardly touched the ground and he seemed to walk on springs, as if he was going to pounce on somebody… He had a slight stammer and when he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists (3-4). This shows that he is a hot tempered man. He is also impulsive unlike Obierika who Achebe tells us was “a man who thought about things” (113). It is necessary for you to cultivate the habit of reading good novels, plays and poems with renewed interest. As you read, pay more attention to the issues we are raising in the course materials on creating writing. They will help you in your own writing. Learn from the masters but do not copy from or ape anybody. In the course material, Creative Writing I, we dwelt mainly on motivation and consistency. Ensure that you create characters whose actions are properly motivated, and are consistent in their behaviours. Let us take Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart, his hidden sense of insecurity, his “restlessness, over abundance of nervous energy, vile temper, fierce emotionalism and the predisposition to violence we discern in his character” (Palmer 54) are motivated by his fear of failure and weaknes

points of view in telling a story or givin a report
 First Person Point of View In presenting your story, and you may decide to relate it in such a way that your reader will feel that you are presenting your personal experiences. It must not necessarily be a story of your real life – an autobiography. In this point of view you will use the first person pronoun ‘I’ and this ‘I’ in the story is called the narrator. In the first person narration, the story is viewed as authentic and reliable especially where realistic landmarks and dates are mentioned. The only constraint is that it has its own limitations because the narrator can only relate the incidents he/she witnessed, or state his source of information. In multiple narration, the story is told by different characters in the novel. In the letter narration also known as the epistolary like Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter is 51 presented in form of a letter. The narrator, Ramatolaye starts the novel with “Dear Assiatou” and ends it with “Ramatolaye”. She recalls the incidents that are familiar to both of them and narrates the ones her friend, Aissatou, is not aware of. Other advantages of this point of view is that it is the most personal point of view as the reader identifies easily with the narrator. It conveys the impression of a firsthand account and through it the author reaches the reader in an informal yet more intimate manner as though the reader was sitting beside him and seeing the story unfold. (Ike 91) Telling the story through the same person (often the hero) also helps to hold the story together. 3.4.2 Second Person Point of View This point of view makes use of the second person pronoun, you. It is really difficult for someone to tell another person (2nd person) a story by saying “you did this, you did that…” The argument here could be that, there is no point for you here (the narrator) to tell me (2nd person) what I have done and what I have not done. It does not make sense. The insertion of dialogue in this point of view is difficult I have not read any novel that is written in this point of view but I have seen a short story that is relayed effectively in the second person point of view. Here is an excerpt from Akachi Ezeigbo’s “Fractures”. Wetness is to winter as dryness is to harmattan; winter spawns snow as harmattan hatches dust, two climatic conditions you detest. Dry leaves falling to litter the earth, everything brittle, breaking to the touch, trees shedding their leaves, naked and dying to the world. Features common to both seasons in varying degrees. You exchanged the harmattan for winter because you wanted to, nobody forced you and you cannot claim persecution drove you 52 away as so many exiled souls. You have asked yourself time and time again why you chose this as your country of self-imposed exile. You have learnt to live with the cold and get on with your life. The job you are doing is not the best but it is a job you are lucky to have and keep. The holiday was a bonus you received with gratitude. But things did not quite go the way you expected. They ended in an anticlimax You ask, “why do things go wrong at the time one is happiest”? This question creeps into your mind because you are suffering. You are in pain; you have lived with pain for twenty-four hours. You are sitting in the waiting room, in an orthopedic hospital, waiting for the surgeon to see you. One thought dominates your mind and it is not a happy thought. You feel you have fractures in your knee. The pain is unbearable and you think only a fracture could produce so much pain. Extremity in anything is morbid, so you allow hope to curl up inside your heart like a green snake, whispering that you might be wrong, that you are wrong. Should there not be some swelling if a bone is fractured? You cling to this hope, as you train your gaze on the paramedical staff engaged in getting patients ready to see the doctors. One of them has scrutinized your papers, your insurance cover and taken other details from you. 3.4.3 Third Person Point of View You may decide to use the third person point of view, in which case you will use the third person “he/she” or the character’s name in the third person narrative, we have the omniscient point of view and the objective point of view. The omniscient 53 narrator sees and knows everything that happens in the story. This means that the author knows what each character is doing at any point and when necessary presents a character’s innermost thoughts and feelings. It is the most popular form of narration. Most novels you read are in the omniscient point of view which is also referred to as ‘the Eye of God”. Objective point of view is also told in the 3rd person but unlike in the omniscient narration, the objective narrator does not intrude in the story, does not try to describe the characters, probe their inner feelings and thoughts, or comment on their actions. The reader is left to interpret the characters words and action and draw conclusions or make his/her judgment. Since, as the author using this point of view, you would not comment on or interpret actions, you will need to inject a lot of action in the story which is realized mainly in dialogue for it to be successful. One episode leads to the other, consequently, the story tells itself in a dramatic form. The advantage here is that the story moves at a faster pace. The disadvantage is that the scope is limited to only the words and actions that the reader can hear or see physically. The reader is not exposed to the thoughts or motives of the characters and so may not be able to understand a characters growth or transformation or unravel some complications in the plot. Sometimes this objective point of view forms part of the omniscient point of view. 4.0 CONCLUSION Creative writing is an imaginative art that is presented to entertain, to inform and to educate the reader. The artist chooses the genre to write and chooses a particular medium to relay his/her message while at the same time entertaining the reader. Each genre of literature has its own peculiar mode of presentation and it is 54 important for you to learn the different modes of presentation to enable you choose the best one for your work. 5.0 SUMMARY In this unit, we have exposed you to various ways of writing your creative piece. We used some illustrations from renowned writers to make our points. You cannot be a good writer if you do not read wide. If you intend to write a novel, start reading as many good novels as possible. Try to spend at least an hour a day on the genre of your choice. You will benefit from the masters but please do not copy what someone else has written.

creative writting:how to tell your stories, Dialogue, Monologue,The Persona, Point of View

1.0 Introduction 2.0 Objective 3.0 Main Content 3.1 Dialogue 3.2 Monologue 3.3 The Persona 3.4 Point of View 3.4.1 First Person Point of View 3.4.2 Second Person Point of View 3.4.3 Third Person Point of View 4.0 Conclusion 5.0 Summary 6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment 7.0 Reference/Further Reading 1.0 INTRODUCTION In the last unit, we tried to take you through the process of creative writing. You were taught how to plan, start and complete your story. In this unit, we will introduce you to how you would present that story. Who will tell your story – your point of view and why you should choose a particular point of view. 2.0 OBJECTIVES By the end of this unit, you will be able to: • Identify the various points of view; • List different genre of literature; • List various modes of presenting your creative work for each genre; 44 • Identify the most appropriate perspective for your writing; • Apply perspectives appropriately. 3.0 MAIN CONTENT In creative writing, you tell a story or relate an experience. It is necessary for you to know how to do that. You need to decide whether you will tell the story by yourself or you will tell it through somebody. Each genre of literature has its unique characteristics which influence the way it is presented. 3.1 Dialogue Dialogue is a conversation between two people. It is the ultimate medium of presentation of action in drama. However, it is used sparingly in poetry prose where it is used to inject action but in drama the action is presented through dialogue. In whatever genre, you should need Hamlet’s advise to the players in the “Mouse Trap”. “Suit the action to the word and the word to the action”. For effectiveness, dialogue should be tight and move swiftly. Dialogue is used to convey information, to reveal character, to crystallize relationships, to propel the plot and “precipitate revelation, crises and climaxes” (Oakley 94). It means that dialogue should not be static but must be moving forward in such a progressive manner that it should lead to a change of heart or plan or a resolution of an action. You should bear in mind that you must take pains to consciously create dialogue that is as close as possible to everyday speech. Avoid irrelevances, you should play down on the use of obscenities even when it is used to depict particular environment or people. Excessive use of profanities tends to bore the audience. Try not to use slangs in dialogue except when it contributes to the depiction of a character. 45 In creating your dialogue, try to be as concise as possible and ensure that your dialogue expresses one thought at a time and try to keep the lines short. Lengthy dialogue tends to slow down action, while short ones make the action brisk, racy and lively. In prose fiction, try to keep your dialogue minimal but at the same time it should be able to give the reader enough hints, information to fill out ensuing scenes from his/her own imagination. Dialogue should be informative but not propagandist except for special effect. You should not turn your characters to preachers of specific ideologies. Your character’s dialogues must sound convincing and true to life and must conform to the characters as presented in the work. Realistic dialogue does not mean “copying down everything you might pick up with a tape recorder at a social gathering” (Maxwell – Mahon 36). You should be able to prune the superfluous aspects of everyday speech from the dialogue and present only the “sense and sentiments” that carry your plot through its stages of development. That notwithstanding, you should reflect the real-life mutual conversation that involves lots of interruptions as the speakers butt into each other’s argument with noises of approval or disapprovals or cut-ins with counterarguments. Sometimes, normal conversations are disjointed, so try to reflect this disjointed nature of everyday dialogue especially at the emotional crisis moments in your work. Let us look at the dialogue below and see if it reflects some of the characteristics we discussed. Matron: Back! I said go… Inmate: (in Edo) Ikhian ya sa amen ye ete vben. Matron: What was that? Nweke: He wants some hot water for his sores. Matron: Not now, Sorry. 46 Nweke: (to patient, in Edo) Yato ta. (Meaning go and sit down) (Patient returns sheepishly to his mat). Matron: Now, would anyone care to explain what all that merriment was about? Nweke: We had just finished choir practice, Madam. Since we still had some time left before curfew, we were only keeping ourselves..er…keeping ourselves going. Matron: With drumming and dancing! Where do you think you are? Editor: (with malevolent calm) In the hospital. The General Hospital of his Imperial Majesty King George V of England; situated in the land of Port Harcourt, in the Colonial Territory of Nigeria, West Africa, the World. Matron: Is that supposed to be plain rudeness or a display of high intellect in geography? Cat: It’s neither. Matron: Beg you pardon! Cat: you asked a simple question, and he gave you a simple answer. Matron: (curtly) No one is seeking your opinion. (turns again to the Editor) In the first place, I was addressing him… (indicates Nweke) Since when did you become the spokesman for the … (restrains herself from describing the group) Or who do you think you are? Cat: Another question 47 Editor: Leper, madam. I am a leper – like the rest…of them. …(with a sweep of the arm taking in the entire inmates) lepers, lepers all – at the mercy of the hospital authorities. Matron: You could be – She is cut short by a querulous appeal from an inmate still in dance tableau. Dancer: (in Ibibio) Ami ndi da ke utom mi tutu idaga nke? (meaning: For how long am I supposed to hold this position?) Matron whirls round reproachfully: for the first time her calm is visibly rattled. Cat: The fellow wants to know how much longer he is to remain like that…(raises his eyes over the newspaper to glance at Inmate: he chuckles, and suppressing the rest of the impulse, adds)…Like a smoked he-goat. Matron does not respond, starts pacing about. Editor: Well, how long? Matron: Till the Senior Medical Officer himself comes to witness the extent of your latitude. Hannah: (breaks off her tableau) Well, we can’t wait forever! You hear? (in a frenzy)The night watchman you sent is too slow for our pains. Go yourself quickly and carry the SMO here on your back. Matron: (shocked beyond belief) Miss Hannah! 48 Hannah: Don’t Miss Hannah me! What’s the matter! Don’t we have a right to live in this land – just because we are like this? (displays her body) Everything we do – (crosses from inmate to inmate releasing them from their tableau) Sit down! Relax, all of you. The SMO? We can wait for him sitting down You can see the fast pace of the dialogue above. In prose fiction, you could start your novel with an exciting dialogue instead of in a narrative for. The exposition presented in dialogue is usually more dramatic and effective that it could have been done in a narrative form. Self Assessment Exercise – Study the dialogue above carefully and note the emotional crisis generated in it. 3.2 Monologue Dialogue is a conversation between two people while monologue is a one man conversation. We talk of monologues more in drama where it is referred to as dramatic monologue. However there is monologue in poetry especially in the 19th century English poetry perfected in the narrative poetry of Robert Browning and others. Dramatic monologues help to give more information on action and character. Soliloquy is a type of monologue but soliloquy is like thinking aloud so the character is oblivious of the audience. In dramatic monologue on the other hand, the character is aware of the audience and in actual sense, speaks and dramatizes to the audience. A very good dramatic monologue is the one we have in the opening scene of Althol Fugard’s Sizwe Bansi is Dead. 49 Get the play, read it and compare the monologue with the one presented below from Efua Sutherland’s Edufa. Seguwa:(Returning) This is what we are living with. This weakness that comes over her, and all this meandering talk. Talk of water and of drowning? What calamitous talk is that? When will it end? How will it end? We are mystified. How wouldn’t we be? Oh, we should ask Edufa some questions; that is what I say. You should all ask Edufa some questions. (She goes to the fire, throws in more incense, and withdraws from it as if she hates it) I wish I could break this lock on my lips Let those who would gamble with lives. Stake their own. None I know of flesh and blood Has right to stake another’s life For his own. Edufa! You have done Ampoma wrong. And wronged her mother’s womb Ah, Mother! Mother! The scenes I have witnessed in here, In this respected house. Would make torment in your womb Your daughter, all heart for the man She married, keeps her agonies from you Ah, Mother! Mother! Edufa has done Ampoma wrong Tafrakye! Some matters weigh down the tongue But mother, I swear 50 Edufa does Ampoma wrong He does her wrong. (She returns angrily to the incense burning). 3.3 The Persona Persona is the voice used mainly in poems. However, persona means the person the artists fronts in presenting his or her work. It is the writer’s mouthpiece. The writer may be a man, an adult but presents his work through the experiences of a child. The persona is like a mask which the writers wear to camouflage him/herself to make the experience presented vivid and more realistic. In “Abiku”, Wole Soyinka uses an Abiku child as a persona. 3.4 Point of View We talk of point of view in the novel and the short story. Basically, there are three types of point of view – first person point of view, second person point of view and third person point of view.

also see points of views in telling a story