All of us have favorite authors, favorite genres, and favorite subjects we enjoy reading. One thing that determines or influences our tastes is the writer’s style of writing. This includes his choice of words, his sentence structures, his type of organization, his motivation or purpose, and of course, his personality which plays an important role, too.
During my many years of teaching, I taught many kinds of writing—creative writing, such as poetry and short stories; letter writing; essays; research papers, various types of expository writing, resumes, and even the proper way to write email and technology type messages. Thus, when I started writing my book, I was very aware of how important it was to choose just the right form and just the right style. I decided before I wrote the first word exactly what I needed and what I wanted to do.
First, I dreamed that not just Americans and Egyptians would one day read my book but people from all over the world, so I carefully selected words that could be translated into Arabic and other languages with as little difficulty as possible. I wanted these words to express precisely my passion and emotional connection to Egypt and my new Egyptian friends. I wanted them to be cheerful and optimistic expressions of my heartfelt love for Egypt that would bring smiles to my readers’ faces as they read them. I wanted my sentences to be grammatically correct but at the same time appear somewhat conversational and informal so the readers would feel relaxed while reading. Many of my readers including book critics have indicated that this was the effect my book produced as they were reading and enjoying my book. Obviously, hearing this has brought many appreciative smiles to my face.
Secondly, I wanted the storyline to be fun and entertaining but not so philosophical that it would create problems in understanding my story for international readers. I did have important messages or new insights that I acquired, but I planned to try to make them obvious to the reader. I interspersed these concepts with the discussion of my life philosophies and the lessons I always tried to teach my students both in the United States and in Egypt. These were messages, such as “Believe! Don’t dream big; dream bigger! The sky is the limit so reach for the stars!” (copyrighted in my book) and “If you do not believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you either.” Sometimes, it is absolutely essential to take some risks if you want to succeed and fulfill your dreams. Thus, I always encourage those who have dreams like me to find the courage and the means to fulfill them. “Nothing is impossible if you work hard and believe in yourself.” Finally, I wanted the readers to discover from my experiences of living in an Arab country predominantly inhabited by Muslims that the media does not always depict the true story, and therefore, we must judge for ourselves what is real and what is not.
Third, I wanted to show a new culture alien to me and to introduce the people I befriended in a loving and positive way, but I also needed to protect their privacy as much as I could. So I chose not to describe their personal lives unless they were related directly with mine. I feel I was successfully able to do this. No one has expressed any negative comments about this, and all of the friends portrayed in my book seem to be pleased with my characterization of them which has delighted me, of course.
Finally, I was not trying to create a great literary work. I simply wanted to preserve my memories and share some of them with readers around the world. I did not want it to be a travel journal or a story just about a woman who survived a revolution or a tale just about an American teacher who went to a foreign land to teach. I wanted to portray an ordinary American woman who went to a foreign country, learned to live there successfully, had an amazing adventure, embraced her new life, and then came back to her home in Georgia enlightened and reborn in a way. I wanted my readers to feel as if they were sitting beside me while I was retelling my adventures or even better than this to feel as if they had actually experienced these events with me while I was in Egypt. I wanted to show the true picture of Egypt now. I wanted in some special way to help Egyptians with my book. Since the completion and publication of my book, I am finding many other ways to help, too, including Youtube videos; blogs; some new Egyptian projects (my new school in Cairo called Rise Up and Project World Peace Forest (Africa) which will one day reforest needed areas in Egypt and other African countries with the help of international university students); and inspiring poems I am now composing for a possible second book. My book was just the beginning of a career in writing for me. The power of the word is even more important to me now than it was when I was teaching, so I must find more creative ways to spread my words now and to encourage people around the world to try to understand people and cultures different from their own. With God’s help and with much patience and hard work on my part, I hope to achieve this next future dream and goal. I always DREAM BIGGER!!
Randi D. Ward
May 28, 2013
