ASIDO Campus Network Publications Team Writing Workshop
The Publications Team of the ASIDO Campus Network held a writing workshop themed ‘Stories for Mental Health Awareness; Doing It Right’ on the 30th of July, 2022. The session, held virtually on Google Meet, commenced at 10 am and ended by 12.15 pm.
The first speaker, Mr Theophilus Alawonde, a graduate of the University of Ibadan and a renowned marketer, started his lecture on Content Distribution and Publicity Strategies at 10:20 am.
He spoke about the need to set realistic, SMART goals whether as an individual writer or as an organisation and went further to explain the importance of having an identity as a brand and aligning one’s goals with that identity. He also spoke about having a target audience with the right demographics, using the right channel, and checking what works for you via analytics, and concluded with the importance of CTAs (Calls to Action) and aligning them to the set goals. His session ended at 10:55 am.
The second speaker, Dr Olayinka Egbokhare, a writer and lecturer in the Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan and who also trained as a mental health advocate, then took over to deliver an insightful lecture about Developing Contents Using Stories.
She started by emphasising the need to know your audience. She also emphasised the need to conduct thorough research before writing mental health-related content. She explained that writers should be factual, but should not sacrifice creativity on the altar of facts, reminding us that our readers aren't there for lecturing. She emphasised the need to render facts in an engaging and creative medium.
In her lecture, she raised the fact that getting people to produce health-related stories can be so difficult because issues about health can be so depressing to converse. She also made it known that while engaging in a mental health story, the negative shouldn't be the centre of the story — the positive should be just as represented.
She also discussed the need to avoid a depressing tone when writing a mental health story. She mentioned that mental health stories should be creative, factual, interactive, and include dialogues. She also spoke about building characters for stories and mentioned that mental health stories should give hope, not end on a bad note. She also talked about introducing conflict into a story to keep readers interested — it’s not just about introducing conflict, however, but also coming up with conflict resolution at the end of the story.
Lastly, she talked about the importance of vocabulary building and advised writers to be wordsmiths. She also emphasised the importance of reading as a writer, that writers should read in chunks irrespective of genres. She made it known that no grade is given for finishing a book; if all you can read is a page at a time, then, do so. She reiterated that the more you read, the more words you have in your arsenal and the less you have to struggle with finding the right words as a writer.
She mentioned that writers should learn to separate characters' personalities from their mental health disorders, and concluded her session with the quote, “You are not a writer unless you write”. Her session ended at 11:35 am.
The third speaker, Mr Titus Adeolu, a final-year medical student at the University of Ibadan and multi-award-winning writer, spoke about Writing: Idea Generation and Style Guide. He started by pointing out that the most powerful weapon a creative possesses is the mind. He went ahead to explain that the mind works based on what it is fed, likening the mind to a bank account such that if enough money is deposited into it, one can be found at the ATM cashing out from time to time but if nothing is deposited into it, one would not be found at the ATM. He also mentioned that the greatest gift anyone can give their mind is information and imagination.
He then highlighted a few tips on how to develop ideas:
- Think before you search.
- Learn to abandon projects.
- Learn to be quiet.
- Take a break and celebrate small wins.
- Share your work with others.
- Jump on trends and seasons.
- Make mistakes.
He also talked about paying attention to detail, listening more, and being open-minded and nonjudgmental as a creative. He mentioned sharing works with others as a writer and not being wary about feedback and reviews. He talked about seizing opportunities by writing about what is trending in our geographical location at any time, and it was also pointed out by him that reading can make you a better writer but it does not alone make you a writer.
Mr Titus Adeolu finally concluded that the mind is not a black pair of jeans that could be worn for weeks without washing — the mind must take periodic breaks and rest well.
The session was brought to a close after the moderator, Blessing Opeyemi, made a presentation about ACN Publications Team.
Reported By Ayodele Oke Emmanuel and Akinbami Mariam.
