Founder and Artistic Director of Calabash, Colin Channer (left) with film maker Perry Henzell at The Calabash launch, held recently. The first of four discusions in the Calabash Literary Festival took place last weekend at the Philip Sherlock Centre of the creative arts, UWI Mona. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
THE FIRST of four discussions on Saturday morning at the Philip Sherlock Centre attempted to define writing talent. Named 'What Does Writing Talent Look Like' the discussion was one of the publishing seminars of the Calabash International Literary Festival with a panel featuring persons from various limbs of the publishing body.
Hosted by Colin Channer, writer and the founder and artistic director of Calabash, the panel featured Malaika Adero an editor at Atria Books, Marie Brown, literary agent at Marie Brown Associates, Kwame Dawes poet, playwright and programme director of Calabash and Toure a novelist and pop culture correspondent on CNN's American Morning.
"Talent seems to be the understanding that you have the raw material," said Kwame Dawes. It was a sufficiently obscure way to begin the discussion because by its end it was clear that writing talent is a many-varied, multi-faceted thing that extends well beyond the ability to write. However, that ability to write is an important start.
Dawes further explained that one indication of good writing talent in one's work is the absence of clichés. Toure expanded on this notion of writing, arguing that every sentence should be interesting and important to the story. "Every part of your puzzle must be there for a reason," he said.
MORE THAN INSPIRATION
What also came out of the discussion was that it took more than just inspiration. "Writing talent is not just that you get a sentence from the gods," said Toure. Instead writers need to "hammer away" at what is written until it is perfected. Later Dawes reinforced this idea saying that writers should not be "too precious" with what they have written as not even "divine inspiration" can get you past the lack of talent.
As such Brown brought forward the need for research, a need she said many writers do not understand. Adero expanded on this notion explaining that good writers need to research their material and themselves.
Another recommendation was constant reading. "Reading to a writer is like prayer," said Toure. "It's practice. It's prayer." He explained that writers need to read both "high" and "low" literature.
When the question and answer segment opened, it was clear that many people in the audience wanted advice on their own writing. One aspiring writer wanted to know how to get past just putting down jottings. Her question also related to the earlier recommendation by Brown to keep a journal, and Toure's suggestion to always keep a writing pad and pencil present. The response to the problem of moving forward was to leave the work alone and then come back to it later.
Dawes had also earlier suggested that writers should slowly build a body of work, so that when they send their work to someone they are not completely devastated by rejection. "You need to have the false idea that 'im never like dis one but im mus like di odda one," he explained. Interestingly, the issue came up again when one intrepid poet decided to ask the panel to judge whether he had writing talent. The result was that he had more work to do.
The question of editing and writing through constant interruptions also came up. "You need to ask yourself 'am I over editing or am I afraid of letting go," suggested Brown. Channer said that sometimes rather than editing he "kills it dead" and then starts over.
On the issue of interruptions, Dawes explained that one will find the time to write. They pointed out that both Wole Soyinka and N'gugi Wo Thiongo had written while imprisoned.
In one of his flippant moments Channer summed up the key to writing. "When you leave from here go home and have lots of sex and everything will just come clear." Whether or not that bit of advice will prove fruitful, the morning had provided much advice for writers.
