Nominated by Time Magazine as one of the best movies of 2021, ”Passing” is a masterpiece. But this film is so complicated, it deserves to be explained and reviewed, hence the massive online search for “Passing Film Explained”.

Particularly, the ambiguous ending. If this wasn’t the case, “Passing film ending” and “Passing film summary” won’t be trending as much as it is.

In this review of the movie Passing, we will give a synopsis, a summary and an explanation of this masterpiece. Yes, the ending was deliberately made ambiguous and we will explain why the director made the cinematic choices she made.

Passing Film Explained and Reviewed.

Directed by Rebecca Hall, this movie boasts an amazing cast of actors and actresses. It features: 

• Tessa Thompson as Irene “Reenie” Redfield 
• Ruth Negga as Clare Bellew 
• André Holland as Brian Redfield
• Bill Camp as Hugh Wentworth 

“Passing” opens with black-and-white scenes filled with random chatter and clacking, shoed feet. These scenes seem to be gently ushering the observer into the era of the Harlem Renaissance, when the concept ‘passing’ seemed to be rife. The idea sent members of the public into a panic, especially as Caucasians regarded each other with suspicion as they tried to find out who was what. Racial lines seemed to blur and disappear; and ‘passing’ seemed to make a mockery of racial segregation and racial identity. 

The movie “Passing”, is an adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 widely celebrated novel about two childhood friends who run into each other at a 1920s highbrow restaurant in Harlem. And it is at this restaurant that we meet Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson, who is casually passing as white. When the camera shifts, we notice a light-skinned woman watching Irene intently, so intently, in fact, that her confident gaze makes the observer fear for Irene’s life. Soon, Irene (through whose eyes the observer sees everything) had perceived the ‘white’ woman wrongly, that the light-skinned woman was indeed her childhood friend, Clare Kendry.

This scene forces us to think about the flawed nature of perception and the power of racial segregation. Rebecca Hall does a good job of revealing these important themes at an early stage of this movie. As the first few scenes unfold, the observer is forced to question the validity of racial categorizations and the artificiality of racial constructs.

As the characters converse, the observer realizes that Irene and Claire have opposing ideas of racial consciousness and gender roles.

“Does he know?” asks Irene Redfield, when she realizes that Clare Kendry is married to a rich, White, racist man. 

Clare laughs nonchalantly and shakes her head no; of course, her class-conscious, race conscious husband does not know that she is Black. Her attitude suggests that her convictions about racial ethics are diabolically opposed to her desires of living a life free of racial limitations. Passing is a matter of convenience. And yet, Irene can’t help judging her friend for not sticking with her own people for breaking the racial code. Irene’s brows furrow with disapproval, confusion and fear even more when John Bellew comes home and expresses his racist views. 

  Irene Redfield is the quintessential moral black woman. It’s the facade she displays at home, on the streets and roads, when she’s hosting benefits events. She volunteers at African American fundraiser events, stays faithful to Brian, her Black physician husband, tries to protect her sons from the racist society and conceals her attraction to Claire by assuming that her feelings are shared by Brian Redfield.

Clare Kendry is the complete opposite and perhaps this explains why Irene seems to be attracted to Clare’s avant-gardism, brashness, self-confidence, and gumption.

In the movie, Clare sneers at the socially defined gender roles and carries herself with the self-assuredness and carefreeness of one who understands and acknowledges the ephemerality of life. She laughs a bit too loudly, dances tirelessly, drinks without apologies, weeps shamelessly, and confesses her longing for Harlem. In short, sad handwritten letters, Clare expresses her deep sadness and loneliness as an African American who inhabits the vacuous world of Caucasians. Irene and her husband discuss these letters and form opinions about the writer.

Irene is an unreliable point of view character. She is often groggy, knocked out or fatigued. However, her actions suggest she recognizes and accepts Clare Kendry’s nostalgia for the vibrant African American community. 

With time, Irene feels confident enough to take Claire to benefits and parties. From Irene’s point of view, everyone seems to gravitate towards Claire like gnats to a lamp. Everyone, it seems, includes Irene’s husband, Dr. Brian Redfield. 

As time passes, Irene suspects that Claire and her husband are having an affair. But the film overrides Irene’s point of view. Occasionally, the camera zoomed in to show a wildly different picture from Irene’s foggy, upside-down, and flawed perspective. Once the camera revealed that Irene’s husband was standing meters apart from Clare, not inches apart, as Irene had led the observer to believe. When Clare weeps and expresses her deepest desires, the observer deciphers that Irene’s eyes might be deceiving her, that Clare may not be happy about getting the best of two worlds.

Slowly, Irene Redfield sinks into a deep depression that worsens with Claire’s presence and absence. She lies on her bed in a drugged haze or otherwise, drops flower pots and teapots and anything she desires to get rid of as she tells her friend, Bill the novelist. These scenes show the observer that Irene isn’t as innocent or safe as she seems. She’s passing as conventionally harmless, when in fact, she is not. Her penchant for dropping and smashing unwanted things foreshadows the climactic event at the end of the movie.

This climactic scene unfolds naturally as the climactic scenes of great movies are wont to do. Claire, Brian, and Irene are at a party when John Bellew charges in ranting and raving about what a wicked and deceitful woman his wife had been. And just as he made to attack her, Claire slipped over the window and fell to her death. 

The movie is ambiguous about the cause of her fall. It’s difficult to decipher if Clare had been pushed by either the unsafe Irene or the racist, vengeful John Bellew or if she had jumped to her death because she couldn’t handle the repercussions of exposure. Three rounds or rewinds and replays of the scene of Clare’s revealed nothing specific. Perhaps it all goes back to perception. The observer is invited to construct or reconstruct Clare’s dying moments, to perceive what’s real and what’s hiding in plain sight.\

Wrap Up On Passing Movie Explained: A Review Of The Film Adaptation of Nella Larson’s Harlem Renaissance Novel.

The point of the movie was clear. Passing 1920s New York was a dangerous affair. Everyone knew this. And perhaps, Clare perceived and took her chance to exit life in the most glamorously ambiguous way possible.

The post Passing Film Explained: Review Of The Movie Adaptation Of Nella Larson’s Novel. appeared first on Creative Writing News.

Have you been struggling to write your personal statement or SOP? Reading some good statement of purpose examples and MFA personal statement samples can make your application season easier and less stressful. Also, it helps to read practical advice by professors who have sat on MFA in Creative Writing Admissions Committees, particularly professors who know what makes a good MFA personal statement.

This article will take you through the process of writing an SOP. Attached, herein, are 10 statement of purpose examples (or 10 MFA Personal Statement examples, if you like), contributed by writers who gained admission into fully-funded MFA in Creative Writing programs. We’ve also shared tips from creative writing professors on how to write a personal statement. 

The purpose of this article is to help you write a personal statement that will wow the admission committee members in the English, Literature and Creative Writing programs you’re applying to. 

What is a Statement of Purpose or a Personal Statement?

A statement of purpose, in the context of applying to a graduate writing program, tells an admission committee about who you are, what your work focuses on, why you are applying to their program, and what you will do in the future.

Writing a statement of purpose is akin to attending an audition or an interview or a workshop. You need to stamp your suitability and prospects as best as you can.

Owing to this, a statement of purpose or personal statement should do more than what it is called. It has to show your purpose.

Before you start the process of writing your graduate school essay, take note of the following:

Focus on your Interest.

Know what you are interested in as a creative person, or what your work focuses on. For example, if you are interested in Memoir writing, Travel writing, or Speculative Fiction, or Historical fiction or Ancient Greek poetry, you should be able to write a few words regarding your approach to that area. 

Many writers cannot really point a finger to what they are interested in because of their fecundity. And that’s okay.

In fact, writing tutor, Daniel Galef, with his untrammeled imagination wrote in his SOP:

“It’s difficult to describe what kind of fiction I write, because I’m not sure there is a kind of fiction I write. No two stories I’ve written have been alike. One of them is alike, but none of the others are.”

Research the Programs you are Applying to.

Read widely about the programs you are applying to and note your findings systematically. There is no escaping from this exercise because you need to know about the schools of your interest. In turn, that knowledge needs to reflect on the pages of your SOP.   

This will tell the admission committee that you care about their creative writing program and that your SOP is not generic.

For instance,

• Who is on the faculty of XYZ arts program?
• What are their specializations?
• Have the faculty members published any books or stories or poetry collections?
• If yes, what works have they published?
• What fascinates you about their English and creative writing program?
• What are their acceptance rates of this MFA or PhD in Creative Writing Program?
• How does their funding work? Does the MFA or PhD program provide full-funding for students who want to study creative writing? 
• How many years will it take to complete the MFA program? Do they allow students to run an MFA and PhD joint program?
• What is the workload like?
• Where are they located?
• What are your general thoughts of their Creative Writing program?

Knowing these will help you decide whether a grad school program is best for you.

This article has been broken into four parts with headings of no consequence.

(Note: The headings mean nothing. They are just to stimulate understanding. You should not break your SOP into headings. Very few, if any, creative writing programs will be impressed with a segmented statement of purpose or personal statement.)

We’ll Call The First Part ‘The Open Window’

The initial part of your SOP should make a commanding entry with the essence of your being. It should offer little windows into you, and reveal profoundly what you are about as a person, and as a creative, taking into consideration where you are from.

This is that place you afford the admission committee a brief uncensored moment about your ‘who’. It should be so transparent that they can look through it and see your world.

One of the most transparent “window” statements I think I have heard about oneself is from Shane Patton in the movie ‘Lone Survivor’. At the tail end of his speech, Shane, while trying to join a band of war brothers, says with gusto,

”

Pardon the asterisks. Your SOP does not have to be Shane-Pattonesque. However, it has to have some art-mosphere. It must be written in a style and voice that are unique to you. However, your SOP should employ the ‘story approach’.

Important Questions These Statement Of Purpose Samples Address.

This guide will help you to address the following questions in your personal statement or letter of intent:

• What kind of a storyteller or poet are you?
• Where are you coming from?
• How has your socialization/environment/formative years/job experience informed the way you view the world?
• What are your motivations?
• Also, what feeds your imaginations?
• More importantly, what inspired you to start writing in the first place?
• What has sustained it? 

Here, Okwudili Nebolisa gives us a perfect window statement in this sample statement of purpose. Here’s how he opens his grad school essay:

It’s one of the most insightful MFA personal statement examples I’ve read in a while.

From the foregoing, Okwudili created a short background of himself and gave an idea why he had first chosen a path outside the art. It’s one detail many Creative Writing admission committees would be interested in.

He went further (though, not included in this article) to tell the committee how he found his way into the arms of poetry.

Here is another statement of purpose example that has a compelling window ‘personal’ statement:

Simply put, this MFA applicant talks about her approach to writing fiction, speaks of how it has become a tool in her hand against societal norms, mentions her writing influences, and states what draws her to them.

Note: You should be able to say who and what influences you, and clearly express the ways in which they do.

This sample statement of purpose opens with a vivid and memorable story.

Here’s another opening statement from another MFA personal statement example or letter of intent. It also exemplifies the important point I was trying to make. It says:

We’ll call the second part ‘the Briefcase’

Here, you supply the gist of your educational experience. You may add your professional interest and inform the admission committee about relevant activities you have been engaged with recently.

Assuming you work as a content writer/creator, how has it helped your craft? The same thing applies if you work in any other endeavor outside the literary sphere.

For example, an applicant says in this MFA in creative writing personal statement sample:

Note: Non-writing related jobs and experiences are important. Think about the many ways they can give you insight about your craft. They are worth the mention in the sense that they set you apart because of the experience you must have had, and add to what your craft can gain.

Here’s how a teacher explained her experience in her MFA statement of purpose example. It can also work in a teaching statement:

Going further, you may emphasize on your literary achievement and recognition here. Here’s another good example of a statement of purpose. Here’s how this MFAyer stated his/her literary achievement:

Note: you may say one or two things about your publishing history.

Let’s call the third part “the Knock”

You must exemplify clear-headedness here in talking about why you are seeking this degree now.

In one of the grad school statement of purpose examples we received , one MFA in Creative Writing applicant wrote:  

.

Another sample statement of purpose for an MFA in Creative Writing Application put it this way:

Write About Your Dreams, Hope and Intentions

Next is to inform the graduate committee on why you are knocking on their doors.

Are there members of the faculty you want to work with? If yes, state why. Is it something about their academic tradition or vision? Does the school’s location appeal to you? Or is it about their commitment to diversity?

You should end this part of the statement of purpose with an idea of the project you hope to write during your time on the program. This will inform the professors that you already have an idea of what kind of book your thesis will be.

It shows seriousness. Also it shows that you’re more likely to begin once you arrive. We have more statement of purpose examples to illustrate how this can be done in your MFA portfolio.

Note: Your intended project should contain the promise of presenting something fundamentally new and important to the literary world.

For example, in her statement of purpose, this MFA in Creative Writing applicant wrote:

Here’s an excerpt from another sample statement of purpose for a graduate school (MFA) application:

We’ll Call The Last Part The Telescope

Here you have to be futuristic. Talk about the big picture. What do you intend to do with the knowledge and network you would have acquired in the MFA program? 

Do you want to go on to teach creative writing professionally, (If yes, where do you have eyes one?) Do you want to start a publishing outfit or a literary magazine?

What other career plans do you have? Do you want to go back to your job? (If yes, how would the degree help in making you better at your job?)

Note: Ensure you close your grad school statement of purpose on a hopeful note. Show preparedness to start. Exude confidence. Express anticipation on getting in. 

Hopefully, these statement of purpose examples have given you a clear idea of what a successful personal statement looks like.

But that’s not all. Some MFA Admission Committee members have shared a couple of tips on Twitter. So we’ll share more of them alongside tips sent in by some generous past and current MFA students..

Tips For Writing A Good Statement of Purpose or Letter Of Intent .

If you’re applying to graduate creative writing programs, pay attention to your writing samples first. More on this later in this article. Be sure to craft your SOP with the following tips in mind.

There Are No Hard and Fast Rules To Writing An SOP.

There is no hard and fast rule in writing an SOP. Just ensure that yours is well-knit, with flowing ideas and a fantastic rhythm. Keep it organized and clear. Stick to the manuscript formatting guidelines. As with everything else, make your submissions error free.

Here’s what MFA Admission committee member has to say:

Now, on to our next point.

Ensure That Your Writing Samples and SOPs Are Creative, Well-written and Workshopped.

Your writing sample largely pre-determines the success of your SOP. The admission committee may not open your SOP if your samples aren’t any good.

So, ensure your writing samples matter and are on the verge of saying new things. The renowned writer and professor Alexander Chee had the following to say about writing samples:

If you’re eligible, you may apply to get feedback from volunteer MFAyers at the MFA App Review.

And if you’re lucky, the MFA App Review might match you with a reviewer who will send you more unique statement of purpose examples.

More from Elizabeth McCracken who, if you don’t already know, has been a longstanding member of the admission committee at the University of Texas’ MFA in Creative Writing program.

Be Original.

Resist the temptation to copy other writers’ personal statements or statement of purpose examples and samples you might find online.

Trust your story, your style and voice. The adcoms can tell when everyone sounds the same. And they don’t like it. Here’s a quote from Elizabeth McCracken’s Twitter page:

Consider Starting With a Story 

“While your personal statement can’t be wildly creative, it is important to show your storytelling skills if you want to get into a creative writing program,” advises Elyse Hauser.

“One way to do this is to open with a story, giving you a chance to “show, not tell” your writing abilities. This also helps your personal statement stand out from the rest. [Also] admissions staff are likely to keep reading a statement of purpose that has a unique and exciting beginning.” 

Don’t Be Afraid To Assert Yourself. In Your Statement Of Purpose.

MFA programs are avant-garde compared with other university grad school and undergrad programs so feel free to assert yourself even if you feel you are without the “right” credential and publishing history.

Another tip from Matt Bell Of making your statement of purpose stellar.

What you think serve as your ‘shortcomings’ can work for you if you stir them properly. It matters so much that you have the right motive and that you show promise. Do not play small. Play confident. 

More from Matt Bell.

Employ A Memorable Tone.

“The standard Personal Essay Voice, like the droning and soporific Poetry Reading Voice, is forgettable and undermines its own content,” says Daniel Galef. “Trying for a different tone is a gamble—nothing is so unfunny as someone trying to be funny and failing—but if you can pull it off it makes you stand out.”

Comply With The Creative Writing Program’s Submission Guidelines.

Check for specific information required by the English and creative writing program you are applying to and ensure you stay within the shores of their requirement.

Get Feedback From Current and Past Students.

It is important to get feedback from people who may be on writing programs or who have extensive knowledge of graduate school application processes.

A couple of MFA groups on Facebook offer beneficial company. For example, join the MFA Draft ’25 if you intend to apply this Fall. This Facebook group offers support and advice to anyone applying to get into a writing program next year.

Wrap Up On Statement of Purpose Examples, Samples and Tips:

At this point, you’re no longer asking questions like: what is a statement of purpose? How can I write a good MFA or PhD statement of purpose that will earn me a spot in that fully-funded Creative Writing program.

The aforementioned grad school statement of purpose examples will guide you in your journey. As one of the professors advised, take a deep breath. 

The next step is to start writing that personal statement or letter of intent, because quite frankly, it won’t write itself. You can always edit your SOP. 

Please edit it. Remember, the admission committee members are also accomplished writers and writing teachers. They’re primed for spotting and frowning at grammatical errors.

While writing and editing your personal statement, take note of the admission committee’s advice above. What are they often looking for in a good statement of purpose for graduate school? If in doubt, you can always return to the great statement of purpose examples we’ve published above.

More Ressources For MFA in Creative Writing Applicants.

Wondering if you need an MFA in Creative Writing to be a writer? Then you should definitely read our take on the topic. Also, you can simply click to find the ultimate guide to understnding creative writing scholarships .

Still feeling overwhelmed? Don’t worry. Here’s a compiled a list of essential resources tailored to MFA in creative writing applicants like you. You’ll definitely find all you need to craft an outstanding application for the upcoming admission cycle.

If you’ve written a successful statement of purpose for a creatIve writing program in the past, please leave a comment below. MFA applicats are always open to adding more tips to their toolkits.

Authors’ Bios: 

Tega Oghenechovwen has published work in  Longreads, The Rumpus,  Black Sun Lit, Litro UK, and other venues. He tweets @tega­_chovwen.

Chioma Iwunze-Ibiam is a lecturer in Cornell University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Mukana Press Anthology of African Writing, MTLS, Fiction 365, Asterix Journal and elsewhere. She tweets at @chiomaiwunze_

Interested in writing for Creative Writing News? See our Write for Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

The post 10 Statement Of Purpose Examples: How To Wow The Admission Committees Of Fully-Funded MFA Programs With Your Personal Statement (Guide + Samples +Tips) appeared first on Creative Writing News.

Have you always dreamed of running your own literature magazine? Maybe it’s something that you’ve never really intended to do, but you’ve spotted a gap in the market. And you’ve, at some point, wondered how to start a literary magazine.

If you’ve decided that it’s something that you want to do, you need to start thinking about how to execute it. An online magazine is easy to run in this age of the internet, especially compared to publishing a print magazine. 

You can easily create a digital version of your print literary magazine, or even publish content as posts on your site.

What Steps Should You First Take When Wondering How To Start A Literary Magazine?

Below are some important steps you should consider taking when planning to launch your online literary journal. Take note of the common mistakes you should avoid as well.

Plan Your Magazine To Ensure That It Becomes One Of The Best Literary Magazines In the World.

Before you can start doing anything, you need to have a plan. There are various ways to approach an online magazine, including what format you want to deliver it in. 

You could run it like a blog, making new posts for the writing that you want to showcase. You could also create a digital magazine that can be downloaded or viewed online. 

Are you going to give it away for free or will you be selling it? If you sell it, are you going to offer a subscription option or sell each issue as an individual product? 

You should also think about who you need to work with, including an editor and proofreader. If you aren’t sure about what you want, then take the time to study the best literary magazines online. Find out what they’re doing well and see what you can learn from them.

Image from Pexels – CC0 License

Create A Website For Your Online Literary Magazine.

If you’re serious about figuring out how to start a literary magazine, you need to give serious thoughts to your website.

A website is essential for your magazine, and there are a few ways you could set one up. It’s important to know how you want to set up your literary magazine before you create a website.

It’s important that you get not just the right look but the necessary functionality. To make things easier, you might consider a website builder like Squarespace. 

If you already know a little about building sites or you’re willing to learn, WordPress might work for you. You need to consider what you want your site to look like and how you want to be perceived.

Building the right website is an important step in the process of fulfilling your dream of starting your own online literary magazine.

Call for Submissions.

Once your site is ready to go, you need to put out a call for submissions. There are many ways you could find people to submit to your magazine. 

You could let some writing blogs and websites know, and they can tell their visitors. You could use Google Ads or another platform to promote your site. 

Social media can also be a great way to find people to submit to your magazine. Consider whether you want to set a theme or a prompt for people to respond to or if you just want to let people submit whatever they want. Also, ensure that your call is clear about what kind of author’s bio they should send alongside their stories.

Image from Pexels – CC0 License

Manage Submissions and Other Content

When people submit to your magazine, you need a way to manage their submissions. A document management system like the one found at https://www.templafy.com/ could work out for you.

 It will help you to keep track of everything and allow anyone on your team to access all of your content when they need to. It’s important to have the right tools to stay organized.

Launch A Podcast.

Podcasts have become a great content marketing strategy for most of the best literary magazines. It will help you to reach a much larger audience than you would have reached if you stuck with only an online literary magazine.

So while exploring ideas on how to start a literary magazine, think about the prospects of launching a podcast for your lit mag. You could publish broadcasts of your authors reading the stories you’ve published on your online literary magazine. 

You can get ideas from some of the most inspiring podcasts that writers prefer to listen to. This will give you a good idea of the right format to use in your literary magazine’s podcast.

Wrap Up On How to Start a Literary Magazine.

Launching your own online literary magazine is a fun idea. It can allow you to get involved in what you love and maybe even discover some amazing writers.

So don’t be scared. Take your first step towards accomplishing this dream of yours. And let us know how it goes in the comments section below.

Have you started a literary magazine at some point in your life? What challenges did you encounter? And how did you overcome them? Please share your experiences in the comments section. Your ideas will go a long way to help those who are still learning how to start a literary magazine.

The post Starting Your Own Online Literary Magazine: A Guide To Launching A Lit Mag appeared first on Creative Writing News.

Recently, I reached out to six of the most amazing poets on the Nigerian literary scene at the moment and asked then how they deal with editing, rejections, and books they’ll recommend.

These poets are: Sillerman Book finalist Nome Emeka Patrick; Brittle Paper Award winner for poetry and author of Sky Raining Fists JK Anowe; the editor and curator of Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry and author of The Arrival of Rain Adedayo Agarau; winner of the 2019—2020 Hellebore Poetry Scholarship Award Michael Akuchie; author of Gospels of Depression Pamilerin Jacob; and CAAPP finalist Wale Ayinla.

Considering that editing poetry is not an easy task, here are their responses on editing, rejections, and books they’ll recommend.

What’s the process of editing a poem like for you? Is there a process?

Pamilerin Jacob: For me, the editing process entails a lot of free writing, rephrasing, experimentation with form, letting the poem lie fallow for a while, and reading aloud (to an inanimate object: chair, mirror, or moon).

In my poems, half the work is in finding new mental pathways for language to wobble through. And this comes with its own frustrations, which is why I relish the fallow period and free writing sessions.

Often, amidst all these, I step away from the computer to go gaze at the banana trees in the backyard, even tracing the leaves with my hands. It helps center myself.

There’s no precise order to the process though, but these are the major components.

Wale Ayinla: Writing is an art, and editing is the disruption of the art. It is the most important, and most tedious, process of making a poem look like the poem it is.

Editing involves all senses to be at work. The nose to smell which part should be replaced, the ears to hear a word that does not fit, the eyes to see through the lines, the brain to serve as the blade that opens the poem and puts it back after the writer (editor) chooses to take a break.

Editing never ends. It is a continuous process. You edit till the draft reads like a poem. Just like writing is an atmosphere, editing is an atmosphere of chaos. You show no mercy, but pure artistry.

Michael Akuchie: Well, this question happens to be timely. At the moment, I am editing a packet of poems written between January and March this year. The packet contains twenty nine drafts. It’s not safe to address them as poems especially when their direction is highly uncertain.

That, my friend, is the purpose of editing. Whenever I have my heart set on editing, I usually have music playing softly in the room. I eat a lot so snacks have to be available. I question the structure of the draft. I visualize what I must have felt, the kind of feeling(s) I harbored as I drafted, and I begin work.

Last year, Wale Ayinla, a loving writer friend, showed me how to make the middle line the opening line and vice-versa. He showed me how to make my poem anything I wanted as long as it appeared a perfect fit. Now, while editing, the primary goal is not to check punctuation or spelling mistakes but to make clearer an idea, a line, an expression.

I like to think of editing as an activity that pimps the draft and draws out a clean, fluid piece of writing. I am by nature a loner so I don’t have to worry about anyone walking in and disrupting my thought process. The music is my recognized company. Nothing else.

Adedayo Agarau: My editing process is to edit as I write. Not every writer has mastered the concept of patience, to give a work the time it needs.

I actually go back to works when they have been rejected. Sometimes, I do not touch them. The miracle of poetry is that it bears witness with our spirit upon perfection.

JK Anowe: Is there? I’m not sure there is, at least not in the conventional sense of the word. I’m not a very deliberate poet.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m deliberate in my reading, whether of books or of the world around me, & there’s a certain level of control I imbibe when I write, or rewrite (I do agree with the person, whoever they’re, that said much of writing is rewriting) but this isn’t at all encompassing, this deliberateness.

I call to mind the child-genius in the movie “The Kindergarten Teacher” & how one minute he could be building LEGOs & the next he’s pacing about reciting remarkable poetry that suddened upon him from within himself. I relate to that character because that is how poetry, which is for me something akin to a calling, happens to me.

I do not write with a linear stream of consciousness, something I’ve come to refer to as “Schizo-Poetry”, i.e. moving rapidly from one thought process or train of thought to another without finishing or expanding on the one prior.

And because my work is obsessed with the existential as it relates to the psyche, to the self & everything else outside & between, not to mention my own struggles with mental illness, it seems rather appropriate, doesn’t it, this unlineal rendition of my thought process? Which is to say, most times, the editing is in the writing, the editing is just as continuous as the writing itself.

I spend months making notes & waiting to stumble on that junction where language meets experience. And since I’m primarily an autobiographical poet, much of my writing, & rewriting, is accomplished in waiting; long, sometimes tiresome bouts of waiting.

Nome Emeka Patrick: I believe editing has a process. Normally, editing can be a conscious examination of the syntax, semantics, and aesthetic flaws of a poem.

I think one of the steps towards editing, for me, is leaving a draft for a while before going back to it. It helps me identify the loopholes in the form, the style, the tense, the application of metaphor, imagery e.t.c.

Editing, like many say, is hardwork. But for me, it all just depends on what I am working on. Some poems come out just great without changing anything; while some others take a day, a week e.t.c. And, I must add this, some get deleted.

How many times is a piece rejected before you give up on it, or do you keep polishing and sending it out still?

Adedayo Agarau: I don’t know but I think I stop sending a set of poems out once I have new sets. But if I believe in a certain work so much, I will keep sending it out. And yes, rejection sometimes reminds me to polish the work.

Nome Emeka Patrick: Honestly, if I don’t trust a work, I’m never sending it out. One thing I do is send works that have gone through rigorous editorial process. Though, not at all times—especially during contests. I also make simultaneous submissions; it is rare for five different magazines to reject a pack of poems, but when this happens, I know there is something that needs to be done.

I hardly polish rejected poems. Did I send them as drafts? NO. Which means they are already polished works. For instance, my work on POETRY magazine got rejected six times elsewhere. I should have withdrawn it right? But I just felt, a polished work is a polished work. No need polishing what is already polished. The magazine doesn’t like it, that’s why they rejected it.

If a magazine wants your poem, they would accept it. Then they’d point out errors they notice(d) before they go ahead to publish it.

If I believe in a work, I’d keep sending it out.

Michael Akuchie: Well, say four to five times. You must note that different magazines have varying aesthetic tastes and some poems will not find a place, not because they are bad poems but because where they are submitted to isn’t the right place. Editors’ tastes are subjective.

Though I tend to revisit a poem if it is rejected four to five times. I tend to look for loopholes, a loose end, something I didn’t quite do justice to. I like to look for what appears to be hidden. It takes patience and wit to deal with some rejections. Especially the ones you were certain to receive an opposite response for.

Pamilerin Jacob: Not going to lie, it depends. Wary of over-polishing, I only ever adjust titles or the poem’s form after a rejection. Rejections are super exhausting, but they also instill endurance. So I don’t really fall out of love with a piece even if it gets rejected multiple times. By the tenth time though, I leave it in the unpublished stash, for the time being.

Wale Ayinla: Writing is subjective, and you cannot determine which journal or editor will love your piece before sending. If only we know, there will be less rejection emails. But it is not so. I believe that most times, rejection of a particular piece doesn’t devalue you or your work.

Some journals would even drop several notes and suggestions to make the piece work. For me, the first thing I do after getting a rejection is look back into the batch of poems. I’ll read and read again with an open mind. If it needs a little more polishing, I do that. Art is timeless. Writing is an art.

JK Anowe: I think the day I give up on a poem just because it was rejected by a publisher or literary journal is the day my hands should be severed, albeit figuratively, from writing altogether. And this I can say because I am greatly aware of & have determined the kind of poet I am.

I believe to be able to write a poem, one must first become the kind of poet that can write & be worthy of said poem. I mean, most of these journals do not even offer concrete feedback, mostly due to the number of submissions they deal with on a daily basis.

They tell you it’s not a good fit & that is that. Now, that’s an awfully sorry reason to give up on a piece, don’t you think?

Recommend some poetry books (you could also include some on writing poetry).

Nome Emeka Patrick: I would always recommend old poets. And these: Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry, edited by Adedayo Agarau; 20.35 Africa: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, edited by Ebenezer Agu; The January Children by Safia Ehillo; Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar; Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky; Night Sky With Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong; Stag’s Leap by Sharon Olds; Unfortunately, it was Paradise by Mahmoud Darwish; There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé by Morgan Parker.

On writing/understanding poetry: In the Palm of Your Hand by Steve Kowit; The Poet’s Companion by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux; The Art of Daring by Carl Philips; The Sacred Wood by T.S Eliot (I haven’t been able to finish this since I started because of its complexity).

Michael Akuchie: On writing poetry:  In the Palm of Your Hand by Steve Kovit; The Art of Daring by Carl Philips; The Poet’s Guide to Life by Rainer Maria Rilke; Long Life by Mary Oliver. Poetry collections: Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic; Chris Abani’s Sanctifictum; Kaveh Akbar’s Calling a Wolf a Wolf; Logan February’s Garlands.

Pamilerin Jacob: Ok, I think these are lovely lovely books: Red Bird by Mary Oliver; Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry, edited by Adedayo Agarau; The Heresiad by Ikeogu Oke; The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief & Healing, edited by Kevin Young; Here is Water by ‘Gbenga Adeoba; The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets by Ted Kooser; The Arrival of Rain by Adedayo Agarau; Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke.

Wale Ayinla: Letters to a Young Poet by Reina Maria Rilke and A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver. When it comes to books that I like and return to often: Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong; Kingdom Animalia by Aracelis Girmay; Bestiary by Donika Kelly; Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky; Pastoral by Carl Phillips—among others.

Adedayo Agarau: My current read is Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s Oceanic, which is an amazing read. Gripping, urgent, yet subtle in the way it drives you through.

JK Anowe: Contemporarily, I return to Kaveh Akbar’s Calling a Wolf a Wolf and Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky with Exit Wounds. These books, especially the latter, literally saved my poet life. I’ve been reading the works of Franz Wright (and also the works of his father, James Wright), currently on his Pulitzer-winning collection, Walking to Martha’s Vineyard, & it is nothing short of glorious.

I love Hala Alyan’s The Twenty Ninth Year, she’s such a wise poet, & everything by Ilya Kaminsky. I think every poet should be a disciple of Mary Oliver. Any poet who can capture language at the barest minimum as she did is a genius. She was a genius.

Less contemporarily, I’m obsessed with Rilke, The Complete Works of Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath’s Ariel & Baudelaire’s Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil) which I was introduced to in my undergraduate years studying French. As for books on writing, there were aspects of Francine Prose’s Reading Like A Writer that I found helpful, even though it limited its scope to prose writing.

Carl Phillips, whose style of poetry I greatly admire, has a wonderful book, The Art of Daring: Risk, Restlessness, Imagination, on the craft of writing poetry. Ben Lerner’s The Hatred of Poetry was and is still a wonderful read. Finally, Ondaatje’s The English Patient and Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous are prose works that I return to for their elevation of language.

Read: On How Best To Handle Rejections

Author Bios:

JK Anowe, Igbo-born poet, is author of the poetry chapbooks Sky Raining Fists (Madhouse Press, 2019) and The Ikemefuna Tributaries: a parable for paranoia (Praxis Magazine Online, 2016). He’s a finalist of the 2019 Gerard Kraak Award. He lives and writes from somewhere in Nigeria.

Wale Ayinla is a Nigerian poet, essayist, and editor. He is a Best of the Net and Best New Poets Award nominee, and his works appear or are forthcoming on Guernica, Ruminate Magazine, McNeese Review, Waccamaw, Poet Lore, Palette Poetry, and elsewhere. In 2019, he was a finalist for the Brittle Paper Award for Poetry, and his manuscript, Sea Blues on Water Meridian was a finalist for the inaugural CAAPP Book Prize. He is @Wale_Ayinla on Twitter.

Michael Akuchie is an emerging interviewer/poet of Igbo-Esan descent who lives and studies in Lagos and Benin-City, Nigeria, respectively.  He is a final year undergrad of English and Literature in the University of Benin, Nigeria. Michael is a recipient of the 2020 Roadrunner Review Poetry Prize and The 2019-2020 Hellebore Poetry Scholarship Award for his chapbook manuscript, “Wreck”, forthcoming Fall/Winter 2020.

Adedayo Agarau’s chapbook, Origin of Names, was selected by Chris Abani and Kwame Dawes for New Generation African Poet (African Poetry Book Fund), 2020.  He is a human nutritionist, documentary photographer, and author of two chapbooks, For Boys Who Went & The Arrival of Rain. Adedayo was shortlisted for the Babishai Niwe Poetry Prize in 2018, Runner up of the Sehvage Poetry Prize, 2019. Adedayo is an Assistant Editor at Animal Heart Press, a Contributing Editor for Poetry at Barren Magazine and a Poetry reader at Feral. His works have appeared or are forthcoming on Glass Poetry, Mineral Lit, Ice Floe, Ghost City, Temz, Linden Avenue, Headway Lit, The Shore Poetry, Giallo and elsewhere. Adedayo was said to have curated and edited the biggest poetry anthology by Nigerian poets, Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry. You can find him on Twitter @adedayo_agarau or agarauadedayo.com.

Pamilerin Jacob is a Nigerian poet whose poems have appeared in _Barren Magazine, Agbowó, Poetry Potion, Ghost City Press, Elsieisy, Feed Lit Mag, Rattle_ & elsewhere. He was the second runner-up for _Sevhage Poetry Prize 2019_, co-winner _PIN Food Poetry Contest 2018_. His poems also appear in _Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poets, 2020_. Author of the chapbook, _Gospels of Depression_; he is a staunch believer in the powers of critical thinking, Khalil Gibran’s poetry & chocolate ice-cream. Reach him on Twitter @pamilerinjacob.

Nome Emeka Patrick is a blxck bxy; he graduated from University of Benin, Nigeria, where he studied English Language and Literature. His works have been published or forthcoming in POETRY, Poet Lore, Black Warrior Review, Strange Horizons, The Malahat Review, Beloit poetry journal, The FIDDLEHEAD, Notre Dame Review, Puerto Del Sol, McNeese Review, FLAPPER HOUSE, Gargouille, Crannóg magazine, Mud Season Review, The Oakland Review, Up the Staircase Quarterly and elsewhere. A Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and Pushcart prize nominee. His manuscript ‘We Need New Moses. Or New Luther King’ was a finalist for the 2018 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets. He writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

*

The post 6 Amazing Poets Share Ideas on Editing, Rejections, and Books appeared first on Creative Writing News.

Sustainable energy has become a topical issue as the world continues to grapple with a variety of environmental challenges. There are many sustainable energy tips for writers to explore.

Many writers are beginning to explore themes of sustainable energy and climate change in their stories, poems, films, and other forms of storytelling.

Read: 5 Effective Ways To Increase Your Productivity As A Writer

Almost everyone agrees that sustainable energy is the way to go, but how to make the transition has generated a lot of debate for writers to research.

While some people advocate for a radical shift to sustainable energy—others like Douglas Healy caution of the dangers of such a move. Investigating the various schools of thought will generate exciting topics for writers.

Some writers have been busy exploring the production, distribution, storage, and use of sustainable energy and making people aware of the issues associated with them.

But many people are still not conversant with sustainable energy, and writers must bring the issues to the public domain.

The following are some sustainable energy ideas that writers can explore in their works.

Solar Energy

At the center of our solar system is the sun. Life on earth will be impossible without the enormous amount of energy the sun generates.

The energy from the sun is sustainable energy because it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We get power from the sun by using solar cells to catch the radiant energy and converting it to electricity or heat.

The application of solar energy to improve the various aspects of our lives is limitless. It is, therefore, an excellent topic for writers to focus on their works.

Wind Power

The wind is another good sustainable energy source for writers to explore. The wind is everywhere, and sensitizing people on how to make the most of this natural resource will be an engaging expedition for any writer.
People will naturally want to know what wind energy is all about and how it compares with other sources of energy.

Geothermal Energy

Unlike solar and wind, geothermal energy is only available in some areas of the world. But it is still an interesting sustainable energy source to write on.

We get Geothermal energy from the heat trapped in the earth’s crust. Some natural events sometimes make the heat to escape from where it is stuck.

The escaped heat can be captured and converted to energy. Although it is not a common source of energy, it, however, has a vast potential to be tapped by people and energy investors.

Because very few people know about this source of energy, writers have a huge role to play in educating people on the potentials and limitations of geothermal energy.

Waves

Wave is another source of sustainable energy that is not as common as wind and solar. For landlocked countries, getting power from the ocean is almost out of the question.

But for those countries bordering the ocean, the abundant energy they can get from waves can transform peoples’ lives.

Writers need to expose the feasibility and potential of wave energy to people looking for cleaner and more sustainable energy.

Biomass

Biomass energy or bioenergy is power gotten from the natural decomposition of organic matter. All over the world, people produce tons and tons of refuse and other organic matter daily.

Most people have no clue what to do with them. But biomass is still an untapped source of sustainable energy that writers should focus investigate.

Wrap Up

Finally, if you are interested in writing about sustainable energy, there is no shortage of ideas on the various technologies, benefits, policies, and business involved in it.

The aforementioned sustainable energy tips for writers will go a long way to help you write stories about climate change.

The post 5 Sustainable Energy Tips And Ideas For Writers. appeared first on Creative Writing News.

You can learn how to write a novel, if you work hard at it.

Writing a novel isn’t rocket science. It can be learned. Yes, you can learn how to write a novel from start to finish. And that’s what this comprehensive book writing guide will teach you.

Study this guide, if you are open to learning:

• everything accomplished novelists have to say about the novel writing process
• from writers whose expertise has come from experience and learning
• how to write a novel like the award-winning writers you admire

The lessons here were gleaned from the Aké Festival Novel Writing Workshop at the Ouida Book House, Lagos on the 25th of October 2018. It was facilitated by renowned British Author and Screenwriter, Ben Aaronovitch. The course was geared towards:

• helping young writers learn how to write a novel.
• teaching writers to stay creative and to overcome writer’s block
• Giving aspiring tutors a teaching guide they can use to instruct emerging and professional writers.

Are you ready to read all the novel-building tips and tricks I learned from Ben Aaronovitch?

We’ll be discussing the novel writing process, step by step, in a minute.

This guide will be broken into subtitles. Each of these will enumerate the most important things every writer should know about designing, building, and writing a novel.

Kindle Your Desire To Write A Novel.

If you truly desire to write a novel, nothing on earth can stop you. Not even the travails that dog the trail of everyone who tries to start writing a book.

Desire is the major qualification for writing a novel. It is an ‘open sesame’, a gust of possibility. A strong desire kills doubt and procrastination.

• What story do you desire to tell?
• Are there issues that bother you? What are they? Would you like to portray these issues in your book?
• What themes do you want to raise awareness about, albeit in a fictitious way?

Get a (working) title. Go for the story. Grab it.

A Comprehensive Step by Step Guide On How To Write A Novel.

Without much ado, here are the steps to writing a fiction book from start to finish.

Summarize Your Novel Into A 30-Second Elevator Pitch.

One easy way to write a novel is to draw up a summary. Or a 30-second elevator pitch.

Yes, you may want to begin by writing a summary of the story you want to tell. It is important to write this down, no matter how short it may be.

Here’s an example of a novel summary: Jack meets Jill (Where and how did they meet? Why call them Jack and Jill?) Then, Jack and Jill decided to go up the hill (Why a hill?

Which hill? What time of the day?) After three days, Jill comes down from the hill alone, eyes focused on nothing at all (My God? What happened to Jack? Oh! Poor Jack).

Query Your One-paragraph Story.

What are Jack and Jill wearing when they first meet? Who are they? How do they react to each other? Who sees them climbing up the hill? Is Jill wearing the same dress when she climbs down? Is that a streak of blood on her left cheek?

The more you query, the more you acquire juicy material, fuel and food for the journey.

Regard the one-paragraph story as the skeleton of the novel you intend to write. It is what holds everything else together.

Flesh Out The One-Paragraph Idea Of Your Novel.

When you start stringing words together in order to flesh out your one-paragraph idea, you might experience various stages of despair (it is part of the process). You will feel mired in the process.

But if you really care about the story, if you believe that it needs to be told urgently, you will not be deterred. You will wrestle on. You will hang on until the end.

Create A Character Profile.

Unless you drafted a character profile beforehand, you might not know your characters until you have written about them. The more you write about your characters, the more they’ll take on lives of their own. They will begin to astonish and lead you in tremendous ways. Some of them will teach you how to do secret things.

Important tips on characterization:

• Ensure your characters are plausible and fully rounded.
• It is important that you give your characters agency. Do not make them passive or just receptive. They should always be doing things that move the narrative forward especially if those things are interesting.

When people are doing routine stuff, we do not want to see them.

A house-cleaner becomes interesting when he or she has the habit of…. (Selling other people’s houses behind their backs? Tell us)

If it is important to take your character to the barbershop in the dead of a November night, let the barber turn out to be a…. (Well. You almost got it. Query more.)

Most importantly, create characters your readers will care about.

Create Internal and External Conflicts In Your Developing Novel.

When deciding how to write your novel, It is advisable that you show the conflict between what characters want and what they need.

—Girl is running. She needs to be on a train that leaves for Martian Island? In (how many?) seconds (Why?) The girl halts when she hears the enchanting tooting of a flute, turns around to see…. (Who?).

She so much wants to listen until the music fades…. (Could the music be…? Does she get on the train?)

Conflicts should be able to arrest your reader’s attention and to make them lean over.

• Let the conflict be very important. Make the stakes as high as they can possibly be.
• Always create obstacles for your characters.

There are two main obstacles. First, internal obstacles (or conflicts): Flaws, mistakes, habits, explosive passions, and so on. These are often part of the character’s personality.

The other. External obstacles: nature, government, police, a broken-down toilet, a faulty elevator, gadgets, other people, and so on. Pitch them against each other to create a beautiful cocktail conflict.

Start Writing Your Novel.

Start your novel at the point that is most convenient for you. Begin with the idea that is boiling in your head.

For example, if it hits you that there is going to be a murder on top of a certain hill, and you do not know who will be on that hill or who will be killed (Assuming, you have not conceived the idea of Jack and Jill yet.).

You can start writing the murder scene on the hill. Think of blood. Spilled blood. Caked blood. Warm blood. Think. Get a red pen (or open a word document) and start writing the bloody scene.

Before long, the story will snap into focus and your rounded characters will start to take shape. You’ll be stunned by how things will fall into place on their own.

You can always rewrite later, remember. What matters most is that you start writing your novel.

Switch Off The Voice Of Your Internal Critic.

Never allow yourself to be held back by the initial shape and form of the story. Just write. Yes, don’t be deterred from starting your novel.

Many writers agonize over their sentence structures or their spellings, or even the fonts they use. They go back to put a comma here and there, or to correct spellings.

This is unhealthy for the creative process. Story portals close up on writers who are bent on making the work perfect before they even write the words on the page.

You can always return to your sentences or your passages to tweak them after your first draft is done. When you’re just starting, turn off your internal editor. Just allow the story flow undeterred. Listen to the creative storyteller’s voice in your head. Turn off the editor’s voice.

Develop and Fix Your Plot While You Write Your Novel.

This element of fiction often forces writers to wonder how to begin a novel. And this anxiety is understandable. The most creative novels have intelligent plots.

So what makes an excellent plot?

A decent plot must follow a cause and effect sequence. X does this because of Y and so XY happens.

The plot of a novel is not separate from the characters or themes in that novel. Characters act out plots. Hence, plot is characters acting out and dealing with their emotions and/or circumstances.

Outlining Your Novel: Tips For Crafting the Beginning Of An Outstanding Fiction Book.

Some writers painstakingly plot every part of their story. This is popularly known as outlining the novel. Workshops are often agog with writers who argue that it is good or bad to outline the novel before the writer starts writing.

Is outlining a good way to start the process of writing a novel? The jury is still out on this one.

However, pro-outliners do character analyses and draw detailed outlines before they commence. Other novelists develop the story in their heads for centuries before they write.

Once upon a time’.

Anti-outliners, however, choose to go with the first blaze of their feelings and face the empty page.

My job is not to argue for or against outlining.

However, every writer must know that creative processes differ. Know what works for you and stick to it. No technique is better than the other, so long as the option yields good results for the writer.

How To Overcome Writer’s Block During The Novel Writing Process.

Writer’s block is whatever you make of it. But the easiest way to overcome this plague is through reading and listening to podcasts.

A lot of us write ourselves into corners where forward motion is not possible. This is often referred to as ‘the terrible middles.’ Another trick to getting out of the bind is by cutting out the words that led us there.

Sometimes, you have to destroy beautiful words (Chimamanda Adichie says, kill your darlings). The goal is help the work-in-progress progress culminate into a fruitful completion.

.

Know What To Cut From Your Novel.

Cutting is sculpting. It is like taking your work to the gym. Every word must sing and count.

Do not throw all you cut away. Open files for them and store them there. You may recycle them in future projects.

However, cutting isn’t something you might want to consider while you’re trying to overcome the challenges of learning how to write a novel.

Rewrite The Opening Paragraph Of Your Novel.

The first lines are usually the most important part of a novel. They are what give the reader either a green light or a red one. They must be deliberate, appealing, and inviting.

Every writer knows this and that’s why they agonize over the question, how to start a novel. Where is the best place to begin? They wonder.

But guess what? They must not be the first to be written. You do not even have to write the first chapter of your novel first. You should only consider rewriting after you’ve written the last sentence of the book.

More Important tricks (a teaching guide) On Novel Writing. This will help you figure out how to write a novel.

• Be deliberate about creating a conducive space to write in. Anything that isn’t tied to your project is a potential distraction. Get in your creative space and write away.
• A lot of people will think your writing is not important. You must ignore them. Your writing truly matters.
• Writing a novel is a question of commitment and hard work. It is a question of perseverance and pushing until you hit the finish line. You must have faith in your creative abilities.
• You must trust your creative process. Every stroke on the paper (or every punch on your keyboard) affords you a chance to get better.

• Writing can be a painful, lonely, gritty, funny, dark process. Connect with those on the same journey with you.

Collaborate with writers who are trying to figure out how to write a novel. It helps to ease the pain. It adds to the fun. Right company is light.

• Keep scrapbooks, journals, and diaries. They are important and are the fountains from which ideas flow.

They are the scaffolds you need to climb into the worlds of the novel you want to write.

• Discipline yourself. Nothing can substitute discipline, not even a fecund imagination.
• Reading feeds your imagination and dresses up your mind. Digest materials related to what you are working on.
• Create time for your writing. Writing is a slogger. Be patient with it.
• The end of your story has to be important and bigger than the beginning.
• Follow through with determination. Finish your work.

In Conclusion on How to Write a Novel.

Have an arrogant faith in what you write. Believe that it will be read and loved by many.

You must be able to judge your own work and know when you are not doing it right. A lot of suggestions will come later from beta-readers and editors but you must be the one to decide.

It is your work. You are the god of it. So criticism shouldn’t deter you from learning how to write your novel. It shouldn’t discourage you from finishing the book as well.

As you write, do not identify a target audience by saying this book is going to be for X and for Y. Or that it must benefit the theory of Feminism or Existentialism or Idealism or any other ism. Allow the book become whatever it wants to become. It has a life of its own. Do not stifle or deny it of possibilities.

Do not worry about getting published. Worry about getting the work written. You only control one part of the process: writing. Not editing or publishing. Not Selling the work or getting it applauded.

Push your work far enough. It is okay to float your boat. Learn to write a novel.

The first book you write will be the freest book you will ever write. You will think of it with great nostalgia. If the book is successful, you will lose a chunk of your will to your readers or your art managers

(Ouch! C’est la vie).

—Ben Aaronvotich, the workshop facilitator, is one of the funniest and nicest persons I have ever come across. I count myself lucky to have been under his wonderful tutelage. But for Ben’s wisdom and generosity, I wouldn’t have learned how to start writing a novel.

Bio:

Tega Oghenechovwen has published work in Litro UK, Black Sun Lit, The Kalahari Review, Afreada, African Writer, and other venues. He tweets @tega­_chovwen.

Interested in writing for Creative Writing News? See our Write for Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

The post How To Write A Novel: Steps To Writing A Bestselling Fiction Book From Start To Finish. appeared first on Creative Writing News.

The Society of Book and Magazine Editors of Nigeria (SBMEN) will be holding another career-changing editing workshop in September, 2019. This upcoming workshop will be its third for the year.

This edition has been themed: The Fundamentals of Fiction and Non-Fiction Editing.

If you have always dreamed of becoming a professional editor, here’s your chance to learn from the best editors in the industry. This course is also fantastic for creative writers who are interested in learning to edit their own work. So if you’re tired of the rejections and the bad reviews, perhaps, you should consider taking this course. It might be all you need to get your break through. Again, at the end of the course, you might find that you like the idea of making money as an editor.

According to the press release:

This workshop is valuable to established editors who desire to refresh their knowledge; budding editors eager to hone their craft; proofreaders who want to transit to developmental editing; writers looking to learn how to expertly self-edit their work and people who love literature and want to learn a new skill-set.

What areas will this course cover?

This editing workshop/ training seminar will cover a wide range of topics such as:

• The process of creative writing,
• The best practices for editing creative fiction and creative nonfiction;
• The art of managing author-editor relationships
• How to give constructive feedback;
• How to find and pursue business prospects and opportunities
• Practical experience of a professional editor.

The course has been scheduled to hold from 21 to 22 September 2019.

At this point, you’re probably wondering who the facilitators are.

This workshop will be facilitated by the following editorial experts:

• Adebukola Bassey, Founding Editor, BMS Editorial Services;
• Otosirieze Obi-Young, Deputy Editor, Brittle Paper;
• Tahirah Sagaya, Senior Editor, Quramo Publishing;
• Eghosa Imasuen,  Co-founder, Narrative Landscape Press,
• and Anwuli Ojogwu, ED/co-founder, SBMEN.
• The guest expert is  Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia, the author of The Son of the House (2019), which has recently been received with wide acclaim by international critics.

The workshop will be delivered through lectures, interactive sessions, class exercises, case studies, and breakout sessions.

Editors and writers from all over the world are encouraged to apply. There are no geographical restrictions.

So, are you ready to learn The Fundamentals of Fiction and Non-Fiction Editing? Here are the application guidelines.

• Send an e-mail to: training@sbmen.org.ng
• Alternatively, you can send a WhatsApp message to 08120055823.
• To learn more about SBMEN, visit  www.sbmen.org.ng

About SBMEN

The Society for Book and Magazine Editors of Nigeria (SBMEN) is a new educational and professional association that represents and supports aspiring and existing editorial professionals to develop editorial skills that meet global best practices. It is also extended to other professionals who work within publications, broadcasting, digital media, legal services, communications, public relations and academia. The organisation provides training and resources for professionals to increase their proficiency in editing.

You might also like: Attend Best-selling Author Mary Karr’s Memoir Class on Skillshare / How To Get A Free Code To Attend

How To Write A Great Short-Story: Lessons From A Short-Story Day With TJ Benson.

The post Register For The Upcoming SBMEN Fiction and Non-Fiction Editing Workshop for Editors and Writers Billed To Hold This September appeared first on Creative Writing News.

Sisca Julius wins the K and L prize ($1000 New Zealand) for her story, Honey Bee. Her story along with all longlisted entries would be published in the K and L Anthology, Histories of Yesterday.

Julius is a 23 year-old Bachelor of Arts student, studying at Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley, South Africa. Her majors are Afrikaans, Creative Writing, Anthropology and Heritage Studies. She writes in Afrikaans and English.

“I love writing in the dialect of the “coloured” people of South Africa, who mix Afrikaans, English and Khoi languages,” the writer says.

Julius describes her short fiction, Honey Bee, as a narrative about the way her people of South Africa were stripped of their language. Language is vital to her. “I think in Afrikaans. I love Afrikaans. Inasmuch as I love Afrikaans, I long to cloak my mouth in clicks like my grandmother and her mother. I am afraid that the Nama language will become extinct in South Africa and if you lose your language, you lose your culture,” she says.

The judges for the inaugural prize, Zana Bell and Uchechukwu Umezurike, indicate that the entries, submitted from all around the African continent, touch vital areas of Africa’s rich history. ‘The stories that made it to the finals are quite impressive, making it quite hard to award the prize,’ Umezurike says.

Four entries made it to the final stage along with Julius’s Honey Bee, and they are: Melody Anthony (also known as M) for her story, The Many-Faced God; Mazpa Ejikem for his story, The Secrets of Water Bodies; and Okechi Okeke for his story, When Sullen Faces Gnaw at You. ‘These stories, the four of them, are so different – each poignantly told with its own strengths,’ Bell comments.

The K & L Prize for African Literature, founded in 2018,  is sponsored by a New Zealand based Nigerian writer, Myles Ojabo. The prize is awarded yearly for the best piece of unpublished short fiction by an African resident, age 18 to 25.

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The post South African Writer, Sisca Julius, Wins The Inaugural Edition Of The K And L Prize For Literature appeared first on Creative Writing News.

Do you yearn to work as a writer or editor of a print and digital magazine? Do you often dream of designing your own magazine or blog? Are you interested in learning the basics of launching successful websites? Then you should register for the upcoming course titled, SBMEN Practical Editing Workshop for Magazines and Digital Platforms.

What will participants gain from attending this course?

At the end of the workshop, participants will:

• create their own unique magazine concept
• learn the entire process of planning, creating, writing, and developing editorial content for print or online platforms.
• learn how to design an editorial mission
• learn how to use digital tools to advance your craft
• explore the fundamental of writing content for blogs, websites, and interviews
• Participants will be given a foolproof guide for generating unique content ideas, and developing editorial tools to meet required standards.

Bonus: Participants will get a chance to expand their networks. If you want to connect with the world’s leading editors and publishers, simply register for this course.

Bloggers, journalists, content developers, vloggers, and everyone involved in digital publishing/marketing are strongly encouraged to apply.

This course is being organized by the board members of the Society of Book and Magazine Editors of Nigeria (SBMEN). Editing for Magazines and Digital Platforms is its second editing workshop for the year. The first workshop was a resounding success. This forthcoming workshop promises to be a lot better than the first.

Editing for Magazines and Digital Platforms is slated to hold from 26 to 27 June 2019.

This course will be taught by the following facilitators:

•  Adesuwa Onyenokwe, founder/editor-in-chief, Today’s Woman magazine;
• Kola Tubosun, writer and founder of award-winning blog, “Ktravula”;
• Chiagozie Fred Nwonwu, founder/editor of Omenana e-magazine, which has published award winning stories;
• Enimien Etomi, a marketing specialist and art photographer.

How To Enroll For This Highly Selective Course:

•  Send an email to: training@sbmen.org.ng
• Alternatively, you can send a WhatsApp message to 08120055823

Want to check out this organization? Visit  www.sbmen.org.ng

This program is being supported by the British Council Nigeria and Quramo Publishing Limited.

About SBMEN

 

The Society for Book and Magazine Editors of Nigeria (SBMEN) is a new educational and professional association that represents and supports aspiring and existing editorial professionals to develop editorial skills that meet global best practices. It is also extended to other professionals who work within publications, broadcasting, digital media, legal services, communications, public relations and academia. The organisation provides training and resources for professionals to increase their proficiency in editing.

The post Register For SBMEN’s Practical Editing Workshop for Magazines and Digital Platforms (It’s Set To Hold This June) appeared first on Creative Writing News.

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