Greetings
to you all. A few months ago I started a whatsapp group called Writers Clinic. I
am really honoured to be spearheading this project from which I hope both
upcoming and growing writers will benefit. I’m particularly excited that we are
all writers drawn from various genres of literature. But from my experience
with editing and reviewing books, I have discovered that the underlying skills
of writing are similar and in our discussions on the whatsapp platform, we focus
more on subjects that benefit us all.
Writers
Clinic is a professional international platform for established and growing
writers specialising in fiction, poetry and motivation (inspirational). Its
core mandate is to develop a spirit of excellence in our writing.
While
we deal a lot with fiction and poetry, I’m particularly interested in
motivational writing because this genre – sometimes referred to as self-help
books – presents new challenges. What are the parameters? How do we make them
realistic? We really must “own” this genre even as we also draw insights from
elsewhere. What I have noticed with some young writers in this genre is a
tendency to “shoplift” experiences such that the work won’t sound authentic or
ring true to the reader.
One
major challenge is that writers from all genres are releasing rushed work –
whether it be a novel, poetry anthology or motivational book. My first novel,
The Haunted Trail (2007), was published by Longman Zimbabwe and it took exactly
one year from the time I submitted the manuscript to the time it was finally
published. The editing process was thorough and rigorous as the novel was
polished to perfection. I am worried with writers who present scripts for
editing when they have already set the launch date – maybe just a few weeks or
a month away.
My
third novel, The Latter Rain, was first written as a draft in 2007. Over the
last eight years I have been working on it. It’s important to make sure your
work is up to standard because this is what determines how far you will go as a
writer and the respect you will command in literary circles.
The
fact that most established publishers in Zimbabwe are no longer keen on fiction
(preferring textbooks which sell faster) have seen many authors resorting to
self-publishing and this enterprise has come with its own risks – particularly
lack of thoroughness in editing and proof reading.
Many
upcoming writers tend to go for sophistication in their writing and that often
leave their work in a mess. The primary purpose of writing is so that you can
communicate clearly with your readers. In Journalism there is what is called
the KISS Concept. This is simply an abbreviation for Keep It Short and Simple.
It is a time-tested tradition in the history of writing which allows the writer
to communicate effectively without any ambiguity.
Lastly,
if you’re writing motivation, have you also read other established authors in
that genre? The same applies to novels, poetry or spiritual books? You can’t
expect to have people read your work if you don’t read other people’s work.
I
will end here. Thank you.
Phillip
Kundeni Chidavaenzi
