The Journey to Publishing
By Emily Gatwiri
My name is Emily Gatwiri. I am a budding fiction author.The pandemic period has seen me write quite a lot. I joined Writers Guild Kenya in June this year through Mr. Kinyanjui Kombani who introduced me to Gabriel after I requested him to read my novella. In Writes Guild Kenya, I was ushered in by fellow writers who went as far as reading my work. Since I write in Kiswahili, Hussein Kassim who also writes in the same language took an interest in my work. He asked if I could join him in an anthology that he was participating in and I obliged.I wrote four shairis for the Diwani ya Maradhi anthology. Then a short story for the Shaka ya Maisha anthology. In a span of two months, I was published in two Anthologies.
It was exciting to be published. It was a dream come true for me. The exhilaration saw me write even more. I went further and enrolled into the 2020 Write your passion course in September. In the course I met Professor Omwa, Lucas Wafula, Oyuga Pala, Dr. Tom Odhiambo, Ben Shiholo. From these facilitators, I learnt how to transition my work, make my story believable, tenses, coherence, the occupational hazards involved and so much more. They were the best. These facilitators opened my eyes to my writing ‘mistakes’. Today anything I write is guided by the knowledge and skills I acquired in the WYP course. I would urge any budding writer to enroll in that course as it is a good place to start.
I have always known that I can write. I have for a long time known that I am creative. I assumed that I was a great writer until I joined the writing course. Sitting in class and learning about writing has awakened feelings of confidence in me! Anyone who read my previous work notes that what I write now is more refined and skillful. This inspires a lot of confidence in me. So currently, I write from a point of knowledge. I am now informed and enlightened as far as writing is concerned. I didn’t stop there. Editing course became my next step. So I enrolled for the Global editorial course. Here again I have met great facilitators.
All in all, I am still learning and aspiring to a better writer daily. I have not become perfect but I trust the process! I have big dreams regarding writing. I am confident that I shall accomplish them!
