Creativity in Action
Nifemi Aluko, the author of Press Play, shares his entrepreneurial approach to writing.
Despite writing and publishing, Press Play: Music as a Catalyst for Change, Nifemi Aluko doesn’t consider himself “a writer.” He believes that “we are all creative,” and as a serial creator — an engineer, entrepreneur, musician, and now author — he is proof of the power of that belief. So how does someone who doesn’t consider themselves a writer write and publish a book?
Set Writing Goals and Hold Yourself Accountable to Them
Nifemi initially set out to create a beat mixtape, which sparked an idea for a novel set in a dystopian future where automation is used against people. After years of trying to pin this fictional story down, he enrolled in the Creator Institute. Professor Eric Koester, Founder of Creator Institute, meets with all the students to discuss their writing goals. Contrary to what you might expect, Professor Koester is not a Creative Writing Professor; instead, he is an award-winning Professor of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Georgetown University. The Creator Institute’s entrepreneurial approach to writing a book resonated with Nifemi, himself the Founder of a company.
Press Play centers musicians from Africa and across the African diaspora, many from Nigeria, Nifemi’s home country. The Creator Institute sets clear deadlines with writers, which he found helpful: “It stops you writing for ten years, trying to make it perfect.” The combination of professional editors' support and the accountability of clear deadlines provided a structure that meant he wrote, edited, and published Press Play in less than a year. New Degree Press, the institute’s publishing imprint, publishes and prints the books of students who complete the bSchool program. Nifemi plans to collaborate again with New Degree Press to write and publish the dystopian novel that initially inspired him to write Press Play.
The A.I.S. Method
The A.I.S. (Ass in Seat) Method is what Nifemi dubbed his strategy for beating writers’ block. Every day he spends at least fifteen minutes either making music or writing. Building this into his daily routine means that “there is nothing special” about sitting down to create. He often finds he “has the momentum” to carry on writing for longer after fifteen minutes, but if he doesn’t, that’s okay, too. “Creativity happens in action and practice,” he said, laughing that he doesn’t wait for flashes of divine inspiration to descend on him. “Get your ass in the seat and write,” he tells himself. At 9.00 pm every day, a habit tracker pops up on his phone to ask him: “Have you made music or written for at least fifteen minutes today?”
Test, Iterate, Repeat
Creator Institute aims to teach people how to create a book rather than ‘just’ how to write it, meaning there is a heavy emphasis on producing your book for others to consume. Part of the process, Nifemi shared, is creating a “crowdfunding campaign.” Crowdfunding means you immediately “get beta readers.” These early-stage readers provided invaluable feedback on his initial draft that shaped his final version. It also added “another level of accountability,” he reflected, because once people have kicked in money, “you have to ship the books at that point.” Unlike traditional publishing, publishing through New Degree Press means that the author owns all the book’s royalties. Nifemi described working with them as “hybrid publishing,” as authors receive professional support to edit and market a book. Like self-publishing, authors have to fund the publishing costs and do not receive any advances for their book from New Degree Press.
Press Play focuses on the power of sound, so creating an audiobook version felt like a natural next step after publishing the book in print. He narrated Press Play in four-hour sprints in the middle of the night to avoid background noise interfering with the recording. “Books are evolving,” he reflected, adding that “voice can capture a sentiment that the page can’t give.”
Our full conversation is available to watch on YouTube. You can follow Nifemi Aluko on Medium, Instagram to learn more about his writing journey. Press Play: Music as a Catalyst for Change is available for purchase on Amazon.
This blog aims to demystify the writing process and share my personal takeaways from conversations with authors. I would love to hear your thoughts and questions about writing in the comments.
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