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In July 2006, at 24, I was made redundant as a radio presenter on YFM 96(now hot 96), alongside some of my workmates. I was suddenly, without notice, out in the streets after two years of what I considered dedicated blood, tears and sweat for an employer. It was a dark time for me, I had bills to pay, I lost fake friends, I was confused and alone, the world hadn’t prepared me to handle this at the tender age of 24!

14 years later, I am wiser. During those dark times, as I tried to find my footing, I learnt one very important lesson. ‘Never put your eggs in one basket’ Later on I would stumble upon the Bible verse Ecclesiastes 11:2 ‘Invest in Seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land’ Basically talking about having seven, no eight streams of income so that when disaster strikes, you’ll be fine.

It was a dark almost one year before I found my footing, I got an opportunity to contribute articles for the Saturday Magazine, I got to write for Eve Magazine, Act at the theatre and even when I got a big break on Makutano Junction as an actress, I didn’t stop at that, I went on to start writing for the show, that meant two salaries, for acting, writing and I still kept contributing to the magazines, as I worked on other TV shows.

My life had been turned upside down in one swoop on that fateful day in July 2006 and I vowed to myself to never ever depend on one source of income in my life. I write this from a point of sensitivity because I know some of you might have lost your income because of the pandemic or are about to lose it. Take comfort because this too shall pass and there’s light at the end of the tunnel, I was in that dark space in that season years ago, by God’s grace I got out of it.

I now see that I was fortunate to have gone through such a tough financial time in my early 20’s, I will never forget that feeling…that feeling of helplessness I went through, I learnt from it and now in my 30’s, with a family, I can rest easy and say the lessons learnt then, will be a buffer for me for several months or even a longer term despite IMF’s prediction that this pandemic will cause a far worse recession than the one in 2008.  I am working hard at fool proofing my current and new sources of income to make sure I survive this!

I am therefore sharing ideas of streams of income for writers, most of which are currently my sources of income and some, very close in the pipeline. Read below and I hope they inspire you to do the best you can to make sure you don’t go down with the pandemic.

Some of these things can happen for you now, others will wait, but the question is what will be the new normal? Will you sit and wait? You have the power within you to change your current situation. It is time to adapt, to get creative or starve.

1. Writing for TV/Film/Animation: This will still happen. People will need to watch things and productions won’t close forever, so you better be working on some great ideas and scripts to pitch some TV and Film companies or Producers. I know producers at INKTIP Magazine are still asking for script ideas pitched to them in this season. I predict a growth in animation shows and films, they all need scripts. The world is a global village, and the quarantine hasn’t stopped online pitching. Sky is the limit.
2. Writing books/comics for kids or grown-ups: I have for the bigger part of my career been writing for TV and Film, with a past in writing for newspapers and Magazines. For the past two years, I’ve been flexing my muscle in writing books, both fiction and non-fiction, which I plan to share with the world very soon. We are living in very interesting times, a time where the internet has broken the barrier of gatekeepers in the name of traditional publishers. Anyone can now Indie-publish their own book and put it up as an E-book on Amazon and other places online for close to nothing! You can also sell it direct to your email list. Indie-publishing doesn’t mean a poor quality book, you can still get an editor if you can afford it, if you can’t then get a friend or family who knows story and grammar and have a second and third eye on your book. Read as much as you can about writing, self-editing and all you need. You can also collaborate with a friend who can draw and does illustrations and do comics! With the craze of book adaptations into film and TV series, I think every writer should jump on writing a book! We are in interesting times!
3. Teaching: You can teach what you know online or in person (but with the current quarantine, physical teaching is not possible. I make a good part of my income from teaching what I know. Writing. I teach at the Multichoice Talent Factory EA, I taught at ADMI for 2 years, and I also run my kids camp every school holiday where I teach creative writing, storytelling and much more to kids and teens. That is an income lost this holiday season, but we shall recover. I’ve had offers to teach writing to Individuals and I always decline as this would mean a lot of time taken out of my own writing,  this gave me the idea to start a writing course online which I’m currently preparing and will put it up online on teachable.com, for a fee! Haha. We are talking income sources after all!
4. Writing Short Stories: This could be a quick way to make money from friends, family and friends of family and friends, Imagine writing gripping short stories of 2k words, selling them at 50bob or 100bob, having a serious cliff hanger that your fans will want to read more and hence pay another amount for book(short story) 2, 3,4,5 up to 10 perhaps. It is cheap and quick way to have cash flowing in and helping you stay afloat.
5. Writing Consultancy: You can be a creative writer for NGO work, copyrighting for adverts and much more. This is very competitive and will require some form of foot in, in the sense of a network on the inside to even know when there’s work, but when you do get in, it is a good source of income that doesn’t take up much of your time but pays well.
6. Ghost writing: You can be a ghost writer for people’s biographies, autobiographies and even books. This means you don’t get the credit for the work done but you get paid for it. I know several writers earning some good money doing ghost writing work here in Kenya. Look around you, identify individuals who could benefit from having an autobiography done, a book out and approach them. You might be in luck for some good cash flow in this season.
7. Writing for Newspapers and Magazines: I made some money in my past years from writing for Magazines such as True Love, Drum Magazine, Eve woman, Pulse Magazine and Saturday Nation Magazine. I believe if you are determined and have a great angle to life stories you might get a chance to contribute to some of these magazines, it might not be the best of times to approach the magazines because the pandemic obviously means less income for these magazines but you never know where some of these things lead up to. You can also contribute to NGO monthly or yearly Magazines. I’ve made some good amount of money contributing to NGO magazines, they don’t have to be local, again, the world, thanks to the internet, is the size of a peanut, don’t short change yourself by limiting your vision to just local, Do the best for you!
8. Getting a grant to develop your story:  A simple google search can lead you to many grants available for development of story. You could google ‘Writing grants for females, grants for African writers and so forth and see where that leads. I know some writers who live from one grant to the other.

There are more ideas out there, I Hope these ones I’ve shared inspire you to keep going and keep writing! If you know other ideas of how writers can make money, hit reply and share with me. I’d love to know more ways!

Please share this article with another writer to inspire them! TIA

Happy writing and Happy creating!

In these times of never-ending negative news due to the Corona Pandemic, it is becoming increasing difficult for most of us to focus, schedules have been disrupted, income sources for most of us are becoming uncertain. I am however, a hopeless Optimist and I chose to look at my glass as half full and not half empty.

I would urge you to take on the same attitude and encourage yourself that this too shall pass.

If you are goal oriented like me, I know you had lots planned out to achieve in your writing career in this year. It doesn’t need to change, as long as we try our level best to stay healthy by staying safe during this season and what better way than to stay indoors as much as possible and do what we love doing best. Create!

To get to our goals for this year and the future we need to cultivate some habits.

Here are a few habits I’ve compiled after observing my own habits that have led me to a successful career path, and those habits of other writers I look up to. Read below and get inspired to be the best that you can be!

1. They write every day; and not just in the dreamy sense where you gaze into the horizon thinking of all your great ideas. No. What I mean is butt in chair, pushing the word count and page count, outlining stories and seeing characters coming alive…on paper.
2. They read every day; Words are your tools of trade. If you are not reading, where are you getting your words from? Successful writers read a wide selection of material from poetry to non- fiction, to fiction, to historical/Period pieces. Successful writers are hungry for information and knowledge which helps them fill up their well of knowledge.
3. They never stop learning and unlearning; never stop learning and unlearning things, if you don’t evolve then you will have trouble in this constantly evolving industry. Walk with geographical eyes: Don’t just walk or drive about. Walk and drive about taking in life and observing everything. Ask yourself ‘What if’ Questions from things you observe.
4. They watch for learning; once you join the industry of film and TV your first responsibility when watching anything, is to learn from it. On the occassion that you find you watched something and completely forgot to learn from it then that’s the kind of work you need to go back to and analyse thoroughly, what was it about the show or film that took you in so much?
5. They have thick skin; Rejection is part of this game, your work will get criticized, by people who are genuine, and others who are simply haters. You need to know how to quickly move on from criticism, don’t let it destabilize you, cry if you must, then move on. The more you put your work out there, the more it is criticized and the more you develop thick skin. You must be your best cheerleader.
6. They set deadlines and stick to them: The thing that sets successful writers from unsuccessful ones is the honouring of deadlines. Successful writers are disciplined enough to stop binge watching series’ and get to their projects, hence beating deadlines. They beat deadlines for both paid projects and their own passion projects.
7. They tap into a higher source; I believe in God, I believe He is the giver of ability. Just look at this world He created and see just what an artist He is. Beyond the earth into the Solar system…how majestic. This is the source I tap into for great creativity. If He gives me a little of His genius, I am sorted! When you recognize that the genius idea didn’t come from you but is a gift from God, you are able to stay humble, and the humble artist goes far.

Here’s hoping you all the best in your journey to becoming a successful writer!

Happy Creating and Writing!

This is a short Excerpt from my upcoming book on Writing! You can get more  of the excerpt when you subscribe to my email list. Click on my sign up button on my FaceBook writers page. Damaris Irungu O- Writer’s page. And confirm your email address, the PDF excerpt of more on writing will be sent straight to your inbox.

In these times of the pandemic and uncertainty, I choose to remain optimistic that this too shall pass. My glass is half full! Let’s stay positive and safe! It is possible. So below the excerpt and remember to go like my FB page and sign up to get more free tips on writing!

This is an excerpt from my upcoming pocket guide book for writers!

copyright@ Damaris Irungu Ochieng’ – Do not reprint this without the express permission from the author.

WHAT IS STORY?

S.T.O.R.Y- A five letter word that brings about excitement and bouts of panicky sweat all in the same breathe for us writers, as we wonder if anyone will like the story we’ve worked on, the film idea, the pitch.

So how exactly do we define this word ‘story’?

Story has many definitions. The one I came across that really resonated with me and helped me in my writing journey is; someone wants something badly and is having difficulty getting it. It might look like such a simple definition but if you look at it closely you will see that it’s packed with such important content. Let’s break down this definition.

Someone- Is the main character, the person whose life we follow, the one who is most affected by the story. The one we root for. In professional terms, the story’s protagonist (We will discuss more on the protagonist shortly)

Let’s now look at

Wants- This is what they desire and sometimes what they need.

Badly– Something is at stake if they don’t get what they want. They are going to lose something big. It’s going to cost them, in short, something will give, if they don’t get what they want badly. Or they will gain big if they get what they want. So, something is at stake. A big gain or a big loss.

Difficulty- This means the obstacles in the way of the character. The obstacles brought about by the antagonist who opposes your protagonist (main character) or other types of antagonistic forces. Obstacles can also be in the form of your main characters’ fatal flaw, a weakness that gets in their way as they go for their goal.

Once you nail down this definition of what story is, then the rest of the things you need to learn fall into place.

Happy writing and creating!

With the Corona lock-down, in most Countries, and In Kenya things being on a go-slow.  I know many of you have been taken out of your routines and are now finding yourselves with so much time in your hands, or so you think. To avoid having Corona lock -down over, and you wondering what you achieved from this, I have a few tips to guide you to stay productive.

I have been working from home on most days, since 2007, except for the occasional TV show brainstorms, meetings and the once in a while popping in on filming sets, before going back to my lone desk at home. And I have been super productive in not only beating paid work deadlines, but on working on my passion projects. So today I share some of the tips I’ve applied to help me get things done from home, hopefully if you follow some of these, by the time the lock down is done, you’ll have a script,  a story idea fleshed out,  A TV series mapped out or whatever else you hope to achieve.

1. Create a Routine: This is the number one tip to productivity, it’s been talked about a lot and many people take it too lightly, those who take it seriously often end up succeeding in meeting their daily goals. If you are working from home for the first time, you need a routine or time will just fly out the window. So identify and plan your day out, what will you do when you wake up, when will you sit down to work, when will your break be, lunch break and when do you end the days’ work.  This will vary for those with kids and those without. If you have young kids like me, you might want to wake up earlier so that you get some serious work done before the kids wake up and you have to attend to them.
2. Schedule in your days target: It’s one thing to have a routine and show up at your workstation, it’s another thing hitting the targets.  How many words have you planned to write today? How many pages of a script? How much character development are you going to get done? You have to know where you are going so that you plan accordingly on how to get there.  For example if I know my word count for a book is 2000 for the day, I know I need at least two hours for that(Yes  book writing is a muscle I’m currently flexing) If I know I need to write 15 pages of a script, then do I have an outline yet, if not how will this slow me down? I am a writer who has to have an outline before writing, there are writers who don’t, know thyself and know how an outline works for you or against you, this will only come with more writing. Once you’ve scheduled your days target then focus on that till you get it done!
3. Switch off notifications: Be it social media, emails etc. As a writer you need to discipline yourself to a focused deep time of writing.  This deepness won’t come in if you keep getting distracted by the latest on social media or checking emails.  It is so easy to go down a rabbit hole when a notification comes through, you read that, then it leads you to some other notification and before you know it, an hour is gone. So have the discipline to focus on the task at hand, leave your phone in another room, switch off the internet for the hour or two that you need to focus. Personally, I do one and a half hours of uninterrupted focus, where my internet is switched off and I focus hardcore for 90 minutes before taking a 15 minute break then back on focus again, then I do my hour break for lunch and so forth. There’s so much going on with reports of Corona every minute that if you don’t switch it off, the lock down will be over, and you won’t have gotten much done!
4.  Fill up the creative well: With the lock down, most people have more time in their hands than they know what to do with. It is also a great time to dust off those books you bought and have never come around to reading, if you read online, get the kindles and reading apps running and do some reading.  As a creative you need to constantly refill that well or you’ll run on empty. There’s the temptation to binge watch stuff and there’s a place for that, but for writers, words are our tools of trade so let’s discipline ourselves to interact more with words.  Perhaps its time to read up on that shows’ or film scripts that you’ve wanted to read but didn’t have time to. If you’re looking for a script to read. Go to simplyscripts.com type the name of film or TV show and download it, for free and get reading scripts too.
5. Stay Positive: With all the bad news around us, of deaths, more corona infections, it’s easy to let that energy suck you in, I know from my experience that when I’m down emotionally, I’m not at my best creatively, so guys, lets focus on the positive, there’s lots of people getting healed, vaccines being tested and so much more. If you pray like me Pray and leave it all to God. Let’s keep the energy positive so that we can be creative and get great stories written to be seen in this world in the near future.

I hope this helps get you back on the band wagon if you’d fallen off. Happy writing!

Please share this article with some friends. TIA!

Happy writing!