“So, your main character is Ghanaian”
By: Kojo Nyatepe
Tags: Ghana, Ghanaian Literature, Creative Non Fiction

So, your main character is Ghanaian. But what kind of Ghanaian is your character. Should we wait till later in the story to discover that your Ghanaian is middle-class and spends weekends with other middle-class Ghanaians at middle-class spots? Or is your character lower on the economic scale? Maybe it’s better if your Ghanaian is the “average Ghanaian” with a myriad of debt issues and eternal submission to the grace of God. No, wait, perhaps your character is a wealthy upper-class Ghanaian, with a swanky foreign accent matching multiple visa stamps and passports. Maybe you shouldn’t tell us what type of Ghanaian your character is. Maybe that spoils the story. Maybe that’s you trying too hard to write a Ghanaian story. Maybe don’t start by telling us what type of Ghanaian your Ghanaian is.

Okay, so your main character is Ghanaian. What really would you have in mind about this Ghanaian? Maybe they have a particular standard Ghanaian complexion? Oh but wait, you want to be careful to not exclude some naturalized Ghanaians. So let’s put complexion aside. Let’s go for the lowest hanging fruit; a name. Perhaps you have a name in mind. Let’s go with Ama or Kofi, or better still, Kofi or Ama. How old is this Kofi or Ama? Wait. Remember Kofi or Ama can’t be too old, else you’re going to have to call them Uncle Kofi and Aunty Ama. So let’s go with Kofi, a young Kofi in his twenties. Good.

So, what’s Kofi doing in your story? Remember he’s in his twenties. Is he out of university yet? Is he past National Service and now truly employed? Yes, of course, we’ll get to his love interests and his entertainment preferences in a bit. Okay, so maybe Kofi is employed at a bank. Is that typical enough? Okay, good. What more? Oh, Kofi has a girlfriend. Nice, you’re going to have to decide how much this girlfriend matters for the story. Oh right, you already have a name. Wait, don’t tell me just yet. Maybe you should name her Ama for simplicity’s sake. Kofi and his girlfriend Ama. There, now you’re doing good. You have two Ghanaian characters: Kofi and Ama. See, we didn’t leave out Ama afterall.

Let’s check a few more boxes. Kofi speaks pidgin with his boys-boys, and sometimes with his older big-brother superiors at the bank. He speaks Twi with trotro mates and taxi drivers. When he’s out with Ama, he speaks English to waiters, attendants, and uber drivers. Maybe scratch out the trotos, taxis and ubers. It’s okay to have Kofi be in his twenties and own a car. Good. Did you have any physical features in mind? No? Nothing about his height, the size and shape of his head, or any facial features? Okay. That’s alright. Okay, so Kofi owns a car. Do you want to give him his own apartment or does he have to live with his parents? Oh, single room self-contained, right! Okay, so Kofi is in his twenties, owns a car and rents this single room self-contained place. Good.

Well, since nothing about physical features come to mind, how about mental features. He has to be smart to be a banker, right? Good. So Kofi is a brilliant young man in his twenties who owns a car and rents a single room self-contained place and has a girlfriend called Ama. Let’s add that he likes netflix shows and is conflicted about Sarkodie versus Shatta Wale. Progress! We still don’t know what Kofi looks like, but that’s okay. Who knows what a Ghanaian looks like anyways, right? Right!

Okay, let’s settle this last important bit. What’s going on with Kofi in your story? Is there some inner character conflict? Do you think you can create some office drama? Maybe, he’s planning to quit his job to pursue a career in the arts. Or wait, maybe he’s going to get sacked because he gets a new boss who hates him for no reason. What do you think? No? Okay. Let’s try again. Let’s not forget Ama. She can fuel the drama and suspense. Okay, so let’s say Kofi and Ama are having relationship issues, this will affect his work input, and affect his relationship with his boss. He’ll drive his car to meet up with his boys-boys to vaguely talk though his love life in pidgin. Make sure there’s one friend who’s the funny one who never takes things serious. You need that one friend for a Ghanaian character like Kofi, trust me.

Okay, so the advice from his boys-boys will not work. Gosh! The plot suddenly thickens in its thinness. He’ll get sacked from his job. He’ll lose Ama. He’ll lose his single-room self-contained place. Oh, of course he can keep the car. He’ll just have to move back to his parent’s home. His mother will be happy to see him, his father indifferent. You can give us a little history of his relationship with each of his parents, but you don’t need to. He’s a Ghanaian character in his twenties, there’s little left to our imagination. Congratulations! Your main character is Ghanaian, so?