By Dayo Emmanuel
Executive Director of Media Career Development Network, (MCDN), Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin has advised independent creative journalists and writers to find alternative sources of income to sustain their passion.
Otufodunrin, former Online Editor and Director Special Publications at The Nation Newspaper who spoke at the explanatory/interactive session on creative writing, independent publishing and innovative media enterprise organised by Innate Communications in Lagos on Thursday, said, sometimes, getting another source of income may help keep the passion for writing alive.
“If you must find a job to sustain your passion, you may need to. What is important is that you find the strategy that works for you,” he said.
According to him, freelance and creative writers may easily get discouraged when their writings don’t pay their bills.
He also advised writers to read widely in order to have depth in whatever area of specialisation they choose. “You need to develop an interest in reading wide on your chosen aspect of writing. It sounds elementary to tell writers to read, but experience has shown that some writers don’t read enough” he said.
The media career specialist also advised writers to make their writing visible in order to attract potential patronage that could bring financial reward in future.
“If you are a good writer and nobody sees your writing, nobody is going to contact or reward you. So your works must be visible and there are even free platforms where you can make your works visible,” he advised.
He also encouraged writers to specialise and collaborate when necessary. “We are stronger when we collaborate. Writers with similar works should collaborate and build synergy,” he said, adding that “If you write on many things, you should be an expert on something. If you want to make a career in writing, you have to research and write regularly, find what works work for you as a writer and use it.”
In his own submission, another facilitator at the event, Mr. Francis Abayomi also advised participants to be broad-minded and identify their audience.
“While writing, there must be a public you are writing about. The more broad-minded you are the better you are as a writer,” he said.
Abayomi, a columnist at the Daily Independent newspaper also said that writers must mind the contents they expose themselves to. “You must be able to explore. You must choose what you want to watch on the television because what you are exposed to has a way of influencing you.”
“A writer without a platform will not make any impact, you must be able to study how successful writers succeeded. You can take the risk of committing little resources into your publishing and watch the outcome,” he advised.
Convener of the meeting, Sanmi Falobi announced that the meeting would be more regular to assist creative writers with resources and networking.
The workshop was organised by Innate Communication with the partnership with Writers Training Institute and Media Career Development Network.