Adedokun does not merely exhort, he provides a practical, step-by-step framework for identifying compelling book concepts, overcoming writer’s block, perfecting one’s craft, navigating the publishing landscape, and ultimately launching a supplemental literary career.
Elders from the East say that “Whenever a man wakes up is his own Morning.” But, sometimes, it will take an already-awake neighbour to rouse him from slumber. That neighbour is what Niran Adedokun’s latest literary offering is to all journalists and writers who have not authored their own books.
Every Journalist Should Write a Book is Niran Adedokun’s clarion call to his peers in the field of Journalism, both print and broadcast, to put down their pen and microphones, for a moment, and birth the book within them.
Simply described, this book is roadmap for journalists everywhere to transmute their storytelling prowess into the realm of book authorship.
Spread across eleven insightful chapters, this remarkably concise yet comprehensive work alternates between a passionate rallying cry and an actionable guide laced with Adedokun’s hard-won wisdom.
A celebrated columnist who has penned multiple acclaimed books, including biographies, short stories, and essays, Niran Adedokun holds nothing back in his effort to share with his comrades in penmanship the very strategies that have allowed him to flourish as an author.
In my reckoning, what elevates Every Journalist Should Write a Book is Adedokun’s deft fusion of motivation and methodology. He recognises the innate strengths that journalists possess in research, attention to detail, and narrative flair, arguing that these very skills prime them for book-writing success.
Yet, Adedokun does not merely exhort, he provides a practical, step-by-step framework for identifying compelling book concepts, overcoming writer’s block, perfecting one’s craft, navigating the publishing landscape, and ultimately launching a supplemental literary career.
He suffuses the book with many examples – classic and contemporary – of people who successfully did what he encourages his colleagues in the profession of journalism to do, interspersing it with his own personal experiences.
Adedokun’s latest book is a powerful and pragmatic retort to any cynic out there who may bristle at the notion of “just writing a book.” The work impresses upon the un-authored journalist, very instructively, that beyond leaving a legacy through the written word, book authorship can open up to him/her new income streams that will reward his years of fidelity to the craft of writing and knowledge dissemination. It is a stirring call that is grounded in economic realities.
Niran Adedokun’s beautifully crystallised manifesto exhorts its readers to wield their words into literary accomplishments – and imbues them with the tools to actually make it happen. It is an invaluable resource that deserves a coveted spot on every writer’s bookshelf.
Whether you’re a journalist seeking reinvention or any aspiring writer yearning for an empowering mentor, Every Journalist Should Write a Book is a must-read for you.
Long may the ink flow.
Isaiah Kumuyi, a corporate communications professional, writes from the University of Lagos.
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