For Aspiring writers Dr. Lola Akande gives us antidote to become a good writer

FOR ASPIRINING WRITERS DR. LOLA AKANDE GIVES US ANTIDOTE TO BECOME A GOOD WRITER

ENTERTAINMENT PARROT INTERVIEW WITH DR LOLA AKANDE, WRITER AND LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

E.P: How did the passion for writing fiction began?

Ans: Basically, I could say it began with having a story that I believed was worth telling, I mean first I had as story I thought was important enough to come with wanting to be productive, having a desire to be meaningfully engaged. This was after I  had finished writing my PhD  thesis and I was to defend it.

Moreover, I thought it was important for me to write because as a student of literature, I realized that writers are largely the producers of the resources my teachers were using. Don’t get me wrong of course as a teacher you teach a lot of theories, models, ideas and submission of critical theories. In the end there is nearly always the need to illustrate and write works are the resources, so I have to head good number of literary texts and have discovered that some of them have a strong capacity to affect the way I think undoubtedly therefore novels, plays, poetry, short stories and other forms of literary works help people to resolve personal dilemmas, fictional works help readers to know making one choice rather than the other.

Now, if fictional works are that powerful, I had the passion to make my own contributions by writing fiction.

E.P: What goes on in your mind when writing?

Ans: The particular story I’m working on, writing grips, imprisons you once you get into it, it possess you so much that there is a sense of in which it becomes the most important thing to you during the period, so the story occupies your mind and you worry about how to write it in accordance with  your vision.

E.P: Qualities of a good writer?

Ans: Well, I’m not very sure, there are no easy answers to this question. First, are you truly interested? If there is genuine interest, this will always help to reduce the pain of rejection and other unpleasant experiences nearly all writers go through then a would be writer must be willing to read widely. The more you read, the better you are able to write, also you must be willing to invest considerable time, writing takes time if you want to write well, you have to keep at it and be unwavering regardless of the many disappointment and discouragements you are likely to experience.

E.P: My published works so far?

Ans: I have published two novels: “What it takes” and “Where are you from?”. “What it takes” is about the challenges associated with degree awarding processes in Nigerian universities. It tells the story of a female PhD student and the problems she encounters while trying to obtain a PhD in a fictional Nigerian university.

“Where are you from?” narrates the frustrations of a Nigerian university graduate who is unable to get a job because of where she comes from. The novel highlights the problems young people go through in their quest to find their feet, in a country where there are differences in background. I’m currently working on a collection of short stories.

E.P: What’s your take on government altitude to the arts?

Ans: My view, the altitude of the government to the arts is not too different to their altitude to other sectors of the nation. My take is also similar to that of the average Nigerian, what makes the news for me is that lovers and stakeholders are doing all they can to promote and project the arts. These efforts are yielding fruits in spite of the difficulties involved, I’m inclined to think that there will be continuous improvements in the arts as I hope there will be in all spheres of our national life.

E.P: What will be your message to those who may come across some of your books and generally lovers of good literally work?

Ans: I would encourage them to endeavor to read the books and respond to them in whatever way(s) they deem fit.

Thanks for this honour.