Recently we ran interviews with , Vamba Sheriff, Edwige Dro and Pemi Aguda – click their names to read the interviews. They were also kind enough to share their writing and editing tips with us. Here's a roundup of what of some of Africa's finest writers do to keep them at the top of their game.
Vamba Sheriff
1. Pay close attention to details.
2. Don’t be satisfied with a first or second draft.
3. Share your work with first readers with critical eyes.
4. Be honest with yourself regarding your work.
Edwige Dro
I write everything longhand before typing it – some form of editing takes place there already.
I run all my work via a couple of people: one who is a reader and the other one, a writer. The reader lets me that there is a story there first of all because sometimes as writers, we can be bogged down in things like climax, resolution, settings that we forget that it is the story that is primordial. Then the writer friend gets to work on writerly techniques.
Pemi Aguda
To keep reading. And write, despite the convenient excuse of 'life'. To keep my eyes wide in this nuanced world - that a five minute walk holds a million stories.
More technically, I've learned to trust the reader; to trim trim trim. And I now understand the importance of other eyes, of reviews and a thousand revisions, before sending anything out.