Wole Adedoyin Interviews Doreen Mwenda: The Best Way I Develop My Characters is by Immersing Myself in Their Lives
WA: AT WHAT POINT DO YOU THINK SOMEONE SHOULD CALL THEMSELVES A WRITER?
DOREEN: At the very instant that you discover that they have a burning passion for writing. When you feel the urge to share your pieces with the world without caring how they take it, a writer writes to share and not to keep the writings to themselves.
WA: WHAT DIFFERENCE DO YOU SEE BETWEEN A WRITER AND AN AUTHOR?
DOREEN: A writer is someone who is enthusiastic about writing and mostly shares their pieces with the world through social media platforms either for feedback or just for exposure while an Author is someone whose work has been published either through self-publication or by a publishing house.
WA: WHAT DO THE WORDS “WRITER’S BLOCK” MEAN TO YOU?
DOREEN: Writer's block is a situation where writers begin to struggle or find it hard to come up with new ideas to make progress on their writing projects. It is advised to take a break during this period. A writer needs to take a break and allow themselves to breathe so that ideas can naturally begin to flow once more. I don’t think Writer’s block is a waste of time or anything anyone should be ashamed of. It is normal and it helps one to re-focus. It is further advised to talk to fellow writers about the phase to make you feel better. Changing the environment you write from can also be of good help, sometimes I sit on the floor instead of the chair just so I can try to re-focus. Sometimes I switch to watching movies, reading a book or going for a walk. It's all about figuring out what works for you and what helps you re-focus.
WA: HOW DO YOU PROCESS AND DEAL WITH NEGATIVE BOOK REVIEWS?
DOREEN: I am not yet published however, I am in a certain writers group where we get to share our pieces for criticism whether you are published or not. I don’t think negative reviews should be taken as such a bad thing, whatever review you get, pick what you can and learn from it and do not shy away from reading the reviews. Sometimes negative feedback helps us improve in the areas we never knew we needed help with. We always need to pay attention to each and every review whether bad or good, I believe there’s always something to learn from something. The first time I shared my poem in one of the groups, the criticism I got kind of broke me because in my mind the poem was perfect but after criticism, I realized it wasn’t and I needed to accept the feedback I got in order for my poem to improve.
WA: WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF YOUR WRITING PROCESS?
DOREEN: Personally, I usually face difficulties in getting started, sometimes I delay because I mostly feel like I don’t know where to start from. More especially if I want to submit to a competition where they have given a theme, I get stuck and have difficulties getting started, I feel inclined to the theme.
WA: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING OR WHEN DID YOU START?
DOREEN: I started writing at the age of 13, I remember watching this certain movie which inspired and prompted me to try writing a story of my own. I still have the story and each time I read it, I give myself a round of applause for being able to write a piece like that at the age of 13. After high school, I kind of lost interest in writing because I thought my passion lay elsewhere until I went to College and met a number of my fellow students who were interested in writing and together we attended writing lessons offered to us by one of our Lecturers, Maliya Sililo Myzece. I realized I was still passionate about writing and so I continued my journey. After College, I got connected to Zambian ARTS Publications and Zambia Best Poet, and my interest awoke again until today, I am proud to say that I have been working on my first book.
WA: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A WRITER WORKING ON THEIR FIRST BOOK?
DOREEN: I have not yet published my first book however, from my experience through the Authors around me, do not give up on writing. No matter how long you think you are taking, just continue writing until one day you reach the end of the road. Most importantly, do not be ashamed to ask for advice from published Authors those are the best teachers you have around because they got there before you. Each time you sit down to write, think of it this way, ‘someone out there is eager to read your piece and it might just change their lives.’
WA: WHAT, TO YOU, ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF GOOD WRITING?
DOREEN: The most important thing to me is authenticity, authenticity gives someone an identity. As a writer, something about your writing should help your readers define you through your unique form of writing, they must not doubt your writing but always define you through it. Secondly, you need to understand why you are writing the piece you are writing, once you understand why, it will be easier for you to continue writing and you will be able to explain to people once they ask you why you wrote a piece like that.
WA: WHAT COMES FIRST FOR YOU — THE PLOT OR THE CHARACTERS — AND WHY?
DOREEN: The plot has to do with a turn of events in a story and a story is made up of plots. Characters are the ones that build the plot. However, to me, a plot must come first because it is through the plot that I will now know how many characters I will need and what role each character will play in each plot.
WA: HOW DO YOU DEVELOP YOUR PLOT AND CHARACTERS?
DOREEN: The best way I develop my characters is by immersing myself in their lives, I need to become like each character and think about how I would react if it were in real life. I think about the situation, which is the plot, I imagine myself in that situation and how I’d feel about it then I later bring out the emotions I am getting out of my imagination and express them in the form of a character.
WA: WHEN DID YOU FIRST CALL YOURSELF A WRITER?
DOREEN: I called myself a writer the first time I wrote my short story at the age of 13 and later on shared it with a few of my friends who helped me realize that I was a writer, I had the ability and I needed to continue practicing.
WA: HOW DO YOU USE SOCIAL MEDIA AS AN AUTHOR?
DOREEN: From time to time, I share voice-over poems, written poems, articles, inspirational pieces, reviews on the books I have read so as to help me grow my audience and help them give me an identity as a writer so that even when I publish my first book, they won’t find it hard or strange to connect with me. In addition, I also follow pages of other writers, writing groups, writers pages and websites so as to learn through what they are doing as well
WA: WHAT IS THE MOST VALUABLE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN ABOUT WRITING?
DOREEN: Do not rush to publish, if you are not yet done and not yet ready, just take your take and continue writing. There’s no need to rush, the idea is for you to publish quality work so that people appreciate it so take your time. This advice was given to me by Anna Zgambo, a published Poet in Zambia.
WA: WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST WAY TO IMPROVE WRITING SKILLS?
DOREEN: The best way to improve writing skills is by reading works of other people, especially published books, because you’d learn a lot from them. You cannot just be a writer who wants their work to be read yet you don’t read other people’s work, you need to read what others have written especially in the genre you intend to write about so that you see how they did it. In addition, practice is yet another way to help you improve, you cannot improve minus practising. You need to practice by writing as much as you can and getting feedback from professional people as much as you can.
WA: WHAT HAS HELPED OR HINDERED YOU MOST WHEN WRITING A BOOK?
DOREEN: I am yet to find out when I publish my first book.
WA: HOW MANY HOURS A DAY DO YOU WRITE?
DOREEN: On a fun day, 2 hours but if I have a submission to send, I give myself about 4 to 5 hours per day.
WA: WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE BLOGS OR WEBSITES FOR WRITERS?
DOREEN: Wattpad, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, Wordpress, Afreada, Ubwali literary magazine, Doek, Brittle paper, Isele Magazine, Journal of African Youth Literature, Scribophile.
WA: AT WHAT TIME OF THE DAY DO YOU DO MOST OF YOUR WRITING?
DOREEN: Mostly in the morning before doing any house chores and in the night before bed time.
WA: WHAT’S YOUR WRITING SOFTWARE OF CHOICE?
DOREEN: Google Docs, WPS Office and Microsoft word
WA: HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH CHARACTER NAMES FOR YOUR STORIES?
DOREEN: I love using Zambian names so as to appreciate my culture. I just pick a name from any Zambian tribe but mostly Bemba names.
WA: DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN WRITING CHALLENGES ON SOCIAL MEDIA? DO YOU RECOMMEND ANY?
DOREEN: Yes I do, I once participated in a poetry competition by Koketso kaykay, an Author from South Africa, the competition was based on gender based violence and I also used to participate in the Zambia Best Poets not until I became an executive member so I am no longer able to participate. Apparently, I still look out for more competitions that interest me.
WA: WHEN YOU’RE WRITING AN EMOTIONAL OR DIFFICULT SCENE, HOW DO YOU SET THE MOOD?
DOREEN: I mostly put myself in the character’s shoes, I imagine being in the scene and being the character so that I feel the emotions inside me.
WA: WHAT BOOKS DO YOU ENJOY READING?
DOREEN: Fiction mostly the romantic and emotional kind and non-fiction mostly, Memoirs so that I grasp inspiration.
WA: ARE THERE ANY BOOKS OR AUTHORS THAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A WRITER?
DOREEN: Yes, Danielle Steel, I have read a number of her books and I love how she compels her readers to feel the emotions of the characters, the first book I read by her was “Kaleidoscope” and I still recall how the book got me so emotional. Ben Carson also inspired me to start writing after I read his book “Think big.” He made me realize that I can still be an Author someday if only I remain focused and think big. Mizinga Melu further inspired me to chase my dreams of sharing my story through writing someday when I read her book “Braving the odds.”
WA: WHAT BOOKS HELPED YOU THE MOST WHEN YOU WERE WRITING YOUR (FIRST) BOOK?
DOREEN: I am currently working on a non-fiction book and I must confess that “Think big” by Ben Carson and “Braving the odds” by Mizinga Melu have really been of help.
WA: WHAT BOOKS DID YOU GROW UP READING?
DOREEN: I read a lot of fiction books, a number of them by Danielle Steel, Sydney Sheldon, a number of books by Nigerian writers like Things Fall apart and The river between by Chinua Achebe. Ben Carson’s books and few by South African writers, the best book my mother once gifted me was by a South African writer which I treasured so much, the book is entitled “Stronger than the storm” by Lutz Van Dijk, I still remember how it tagged at my heart the first time I read it.
WA: WHAT AUTHORS DID YOU DISLIKE AT FIRST BUT THEN DEVELOP AN APPRECIATION FOR?
DOREEN: I disliked Zambian Authors infact when I was growing up, I barely read any book by a Zambian until when I went to College and in Literature, we were instructed to read Picking up the pieces by Maliya Sililo Myzece and The Innocence of a dog: A collection of short stories by John Luangala . In 2020, my friend gave me “Braving the odds” by Mizinga Melu. After I read her book, I realized that my Zambian people actually have talent. Since then, I decided to take a chance and read more books by my fellow Zambians. I am glad I gave my people a chance to prove me wrong. Over the past few years I have read quite a good number of Zambian books especially after I found myself collaborating with a publishing house, Zambian ARTS Publications.
WA: IF YOU COULD BE MENTORED BY A FAMOUS AUTHOR, WHO WOULD IT BE?
DOREEN: Danielle Steel.
WA: WHAT BOOKS HAVE YOU READ MORE THAN ONCE IN YOUR LIFE?
DOREEN: Think Big by Ben Carson.
Doreen Mwenda, born in Kitwe, Zambia, is an accomplished educator and writer currently residing in Lusaka. She holds a diploma in Education from Evelyn Hone College, majoring in English Language with a minor in Library and Information Science. As a Teacher-librarian in Northern Province's Luwingu district, she teaches English and manages the school library. Doreen is actively involved in literary activities and content creation, and she holds a Wikidata certificate from AFLIA. An Executive member of Zambian ARTS Publications and Zambia Best Poets, she has won the Mutale Mwanza Ngoma Contest and contributed to the "Centennial Reflections: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Kenneth Kaunda" anthology. In this interview with Wole Adedoyin, she discusses her writing journey and passion for reading.
