Writing

Inspiration is habit based.

May 11, 2025 jacquelineobyikocha2 Comments

Writer’s block occurs when we lose the habit of writing waiting on inspiration to hit us so that we can come up with a blockbuster and an unputdownable creative piece. I have come to understand that it is simply not so. Writing is like every other skill and craft that requires practice. The more you do it, the better you become at it. Waiting on your writing muse to visit you with creative thoughts might mean waiting forever and the longer it takes to work on your skills, the further away you are from your writer’s dreams.

Just as we need to make time for those things that are important to us, we equally need to make time for our crafts, if we have any aspiration of it/them becoming a worthwhile venture. My biggest struggle has always been creating substantial time to get to work on my various writing and art projects ‘cos working fulltime and balancing other aspects of my life especially the creative part is most definitely not as easy as one would expect.

By the end of the day, I am mentally exhausted that the thought of putting thoughts on paper or computer seems almost herculean. Being a morning person, my first waking up hours are spent trying to get in some snatches of exercise, prayer and hurrying off to work, then my break time/lunch time is used up tried to quickly curate a video or two for my social media platforms. Sometimes, I wonder if I am ever going to find that wonderful chunk of time on a daily basis that would help me to cultivate a stable writing routine.

This post is an attempt to put my thoughts into words.

On the other hand, with the plethora of AI apps popping up every single day and with people resorting to AI to generate eBooks, this and that, what do you think the future looks like for writing professionals?

Writing

Restless writer.

January 19, 2025 jacquelineobyikocha5 Comments

Can anyone tell me why even after all these years in my life, it is still a struggle for me to get any reasonable writing/blogging work done at home, in spite of the fact that I have the space set up to be able to do so.

For some reason, I always find every excuse in the book to lie on the couch, go to the kitchen, open the fridge 500 times to seek something to nibble, go into the bedroom for an unknown reason, go into the bathroom, recollect chores that needs to be done and so on and so forth.

I will end up sitting for 15 minutes and faffing away 5 hours over nothing. I have tried different strategies, and they work for a little bit only for the cycle of parading around the house being busy doing nothing kicks in again.

Yet, when I go to the library or a cafe, the reverse is the case. I can sit for 5 hours straight getting stuff done. The challenge is that where I live presently is some distance away from the libraries and the cafes around me are not so conducive; I often end up buying and eating snacks that I could do without eating.

How do you get your blogging, writing work done? Would love to borrow ideas from others.

Welcome to my brainbox…

July 27, 2023 jacquelineobyikocha1 Comment

You are starved. Famished for words to satisfy your hunger. Mishmash, mumbo-jumbo, incoherent and sensible words tumble around.

A meaningless mess of words that I don’t know what to do with, all attempting to fall out in no sequence whatsoever.

A search for thoughts. Scratching the surface of the mind, several impressions leading to rabbit holes; where Alice in Wonderland is waiting for a visit, where the wizard’s cauldron bubbles with mischief, where sanity beckons to peace, where desire meets passion, where laziness meets the propensity to procrastinate, where nothing becomes something and something becomes everything. Where…

Welcome to my brainbox. Where fun stuff and nonsense often happens.

Inspiration - Motivation · Writing

Unlearning…

June 10, 2023 jacquelineobyikocha1 Comment

One poor writing habit that I am working hard at unlearning is the habit of waiting until I have something profound to talk/write about and waiting until the feeling to write grips me before I do so.

Waiting for such fine moments emanates from that underlying need for control and perfection, which is basically impossible. There is no right time and no other time can be righter than now. This scenario applies to millions of us who sit around waiting for the right partner, waiting for the right job to pop out of the woodworks and offer itself, waiting for the right time to exercise, to adjust our lifestyle, to start that course we are interested in, to start travelling, waiting, waiting, endlessly waiting…

@beyondexisting.j
No matter the circumstances, you are blessed. #fyp #foryoupage #joy #abundance #quotes #positivevibes #blessed
♬ I Know Who I Am – SINACH

We don’t have 100 years left on this earth to get around to doing those things we want to do and sometimes, I wonder why we are quick to get upset over minor delays that will save us not more than 2 minutes, yet keep waiting for the right time and are reluctant to make those changes that impact our lives more?

Time passes so fast, this much we know, and we can never, ever get back those days spent waiting unnecessarily. Waiting for writing inspiration is a fool’s game because inspiration can be slippery and may never come in expected ways. The longer you spend waiting for the writing genie to turn up, the further it slips away. I know that staying consistent is the key and that when we start writing regularly, with or without inspiration, inspiration eventually finds us between those words and sentences that we manage to squeeze out.

Writing

My venture beyond self publishing…

May 30, 2023 jacquelineobyikocha8 Comments

So, early this year I thought I could try to break the mold of self publishing my books and try approaching publishers to see how things can proceed forward and to find someone interested enough to want to publish my 3rd poetry book, collection of short stories and the novel that I am still trying to beat into shape.

I approached just a couple of independent publishers (here in the UAE) ‘cos I thought that would be an easier way to break into getting published by those whose business it is to run such things.

I wouldn’t say that I was disappointed in the least. I got a favourable and quick response after they had reviewed my materials, but I must say that I was startled out of my shoes at the exorbitant cost that they included in the publishing contract couched under the term ‘contributory fees.’ Maybe I am too naive about what it truly entails to publish, promote etc. and such found the quote a bit shocking to say the least.

If I had the said amount, would I go ahead with the proposal? I suppose so for various obvious reasons that I can’t even begin to delve into right now but most especially on top of the list is to see my book published and marketed professionally and see how it moves.

On the other hand, even if I had the funds, how on earth would I recover the amount invested, not to talk of making any sort of profit from the whole venture, or are we not expected to make proceeds from our endeavours? The sale of the book has to be in huge numbers to break even before you can talk about profit.

Hmm. There’s no easy way out there. As I don’t have many nickels to rub together right now, much less pay a publishing outfit a king’s ransom to get my books published, I guess my desire has to be dampened till further notice. However, knowing that the opportunities are out there was a good outcome in my opinion.

What are your thoughts? Have you ever tried using an independent publisher for your books? What was the experience like?

@beyondexisting.j
There’s always something better waiting to happen in your life. #fyp #stayfocused #staypositive #deepthoughts #inspirational #dontquityourdaydream
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Short Stories Series · Short story · Writing

Sweet Meats…

April 6, 2023 jacquelineobyikochaLeave a comment

white ceramic plate — Photo by Viktor Tasnadi on Pexels.com

The semi-circle slow turn showed off the graceful flow of her jalabiya, albeit she wasn’t satisfied with the way her rolls stayed prominent. Reema harbours a love and hate relationship with her abayas. They did their best to conceal the bulge of indulgence, yet constantly reminded her of her ever-shifting shape that spread like butter left out in the Summer sun.

Flopping down on the pink sofa, she flipped through the pages of The Weekend woman, sighed in resignation and popped another sweet meat into her mouth. Delicious and warm, the taste of the succulent morsel gave her joy.

Maybe she should go shopping, she thought. Retail therapy of buying pretty things always made her happy for a little while. How did she let her weight get out of control? Would she ever lose it and look trim again? She didn’t trust Khalid with the help especially the new one Nadia – many a times, she caught him casting lascivious looks at Nadia’s bubble butt that tended to quiver with each step she took. Reema’s musings tumbled over each other and chose to zoom in on her husbands’ recent fascination.

Nowadays, his slumberous thick-lashed dark eyes held a mischievous glint in them and her assumptions of what it meant was giving her sleepless nights. Biting into another piece of spicy meat, she hoped that his attraction to Nadia will not be as fatal as his previous tryst. She truly abhorred driving to the desert to dump a lifeless body.

Blogging · Writing

When the sun sets…

February 16, 2023 jacquelineobyikochaLeave a comment

When the sun sets, it naturally reminds me not only of the end of a day, but the promise of a new dawn and I love them. Back in my home country Nigeria, we used to have very gorgeous sunsets especially where we lived, which was nice sleepy town located around the hills of Enugu.

However, living in these parts, it gets too hot in this horizon of the UAE that most times, I find myself running away from the sun instead of running towards the sunset.

Occasionally, I have stumbled across a lovely sunset here, unfortunately, I don’t think that I have ever managed to capture a great photograph of it.

The best that I have seen so far was around Jumeirah beach, close to the Burj Al Arab and it was truly beautiful.

Who knows, hopefully I’ll get to see another truly remarkable one before I venture away from these parts.

p.s. I finally concluded the bloganuary. So slowly but surely and I have enjoyed it immensely. I has helped me reignite the need to write/blog more frequently. Hope to see you around.

@beyondexisting.j
8 Tools to apply for a more successful life #fyp #goviral #foryou #lawofattraction #howto #success #lifestyle #lifeadvice
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Blogging · Writing · writing challenge · writing ideas

Days of my life…

February 13, 2023 jacquelineobyikocha2 Comments

I can bet my last dollar or should I say dirham that I am the only person still writing Bloganuary prompts. Anyways, it’s the way things are and I have been balancing many nuts per se. Do I wish I had stuck to the prompts judiciously during the last week? Yes, I do, but unfortunately, I didn’t and I won’t beat myself over the head for it knowing all that I have been handling lately.

The thought of writing an autobiography has never been too far from my mind, though I still had to process the prompt. The need to write my autobiography is borne out of a survivors need tell their story and though it is a project that I plan to tackle during the sunset days of my life, hopefully many many more years ahead (who knows) maybe, it is time to chalk it down on the drawing board.

When reflecting on how I would title the chapters of my autobiography, I think it will be broken down in 3 main chunks – not cast in stone of course, but my thoughts twirl around:

Chapter 1: The early years of ignorance

Chapter 2: Then comes turbulence

Chapter 3: Survival and peace

@beyondexisting.j
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Parenting · Personal story · Writing

Not simply a tune…

February 1, 2023 jacquelineobyikocha2 Comments

I know that bloganuary is over, but I have every intention to finish the outstanding writing prompts that I missed out on. I fell into a mental funk which came unannounced and that caused some derailing on my part. However, I will not allow a depressive state to dictate my life. The need to rise above adversity keeps me going.

So many songs and the poems that I wrote speak to me, but a song that speaks to me so deeply is ‘we thank thee by Jim Reeves. It is not just a song but a wake up call and a prayer that my dad played on our Grundig every morning in our house throughout my growing up years. For me, this songs brings back countless strong emotions and takes me back home to when my dad was still alive, the smell of my mothers cooking, the morning routines and bustle getting ready to go to school, to go to church etc.

It embodies the wholesomeness of my family, of laughter and joy, of tears, of meals shared and plans for the future. It takes me back to my dad before Cancer, of the gentle rays of the early morning sun peeping in through the living room windows, of neighbours voices floating in through the windows, of Sunday Jollof rice and meat.

In this song, there’s so much stored for me. It became etched into the blueprint of my life from a tender age and I will love it till the day that I die.

@beyondexisting.j
Grateful #foryoupage #jimreeves #thankgod #gratitude #godsplan
♬ We Thank Thee – Jim Reeves

Lifestyle · Reading · Writing

Never played favourites…

January 23, 2023 jacquelineobyikocha1 Comment

@beyondexisting.j
Born a crime Trevor Noah #reading #hobby #trevornoah #Ilovereading #books #fypシ゚viral #passion #favouritethings #bookreview #bookrecommendations Trevor Noah’s book is a gritty, hilarious and poignant memoir that shares his experiences growing up in a racially charged Apartheid South Africa. A delightful read that evoked every emotion in me.#CapCut
♬ Commando – Mavokali

I find such questions like ‘who is your favourite author and why‘ truly mundane and it almost seems as if eclectic, voracious readers like me are strange. I had to give this a hard thought and sadly came up short in choosing a favourite fiction, non-fiction author or writer.

Again like colors’, it makes me wonder why I can’t simply be simple in my choices and just pick a name. I usually don’t sit on the fence when it comes to voicing my opinion even if it is a dissenting thought and I can be a bit too straightforward in saying what I think or feel.

I love reading and when I was pretty young, I stuck with my Enid Blyton’s and my teenage years were spent reading uncountable numbers of Harlequins, Mill & Boons, Hadley Chase, Tom Clancy, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and many more.

My reading tastes has been generally diversified and having taken an in-depth look at why this might be so, I have arrived at the conclusion that it is because I like multiple things, I see the world from multiple perspective, that I am a pluralist and many things are good and not just a singular thing.

I also see that liking different things will ultimately improves my social life and that’s fine not to fit into a mould clustering around any particular taste. Liking multiple things makes me, me.

Without trying to sound proud, I think that a wide taste in reading is a sign of intelligence, of intellectual curiosity, open mindedness, and a willingness to absorb new ideas.

Sometimes, I find that though a lot of people can be extremely intelligent but have very closed minds but the love of all kinds of literary genres implies the love of creativity, of actively seeking out new approaches and ideas and the ability to appreciate different paradigms.