Going by recent trendsetting accomplishments, Nigerian novelists are making waves around the world. The impact of stories created by these brilliant minds is felt throughout the world. Oghomwen Toni- Osagie is one of such brilliant minds. She is a young adult novelist with a several young adult novels under her belt. In this interview with the BusinessDay’s strategy associate Samuel Anyanwu, Oghomwen talks about creativity and the inspiration behind her successful novels. Excerpts;
Tell us about yourself and the creativity behind your Young Adult novel
My name is Oghomwen Toni-Osagie, but everyone calls me OG. I’m a YA Novelist. I live and work in Lagos, I don’t like it much but I enjoy the theatrics and intricacies of this society, plus it helps my writing so it’s not so bad. Whenever I write something be it a short story or a couple of verses or drafts it’s always triggered by something or a social situation. The other day I was reading something on twitter about a trending reality TV show and it birthed my newest piece of poetry. Again I write for young adults and teenagers, this is the social media age ,we are millennials and there’s always something trending. My subconscious takes over and I always try to Infuse Satire into my writings. So my works are always satirical and there’s a twist of sarcasm. Some may call it satirical wit.
I started writing Ibukun Donald when I was in college, I was a recluse and I didn’t have a lot of
friends. When I had free time and I spent most of it writing. I like my characters to have a life of their own so every time I wrote I took on the lead protagonist characters and developed his or her stories.
With Ibukun Donald my debut novel it was very easy, she had my life but she was older and had a great job with a huge paycheck. She lived in Lagos and had the perfect life or so it seemed.
What books or authors have most influenced your own writing, why and how?
This is a very mind triggering question because I was thinking about this the other day and I was
amazed at my own response. So for books I have a few that stand out; First ‘The Last Outkast’ by Chris Okotie. This was one of the first books I ever read. It’s Christian and he documents events of the anti Christ and the apocalypse. It’s mind boggling.
Then Karen Kingsbury is my idol and she’s probably the coolest author in the world. She infused her whole family to protagonists and they all have book series and trilogies. About their individual lives, their struggles and the wins. It is so relatable.
The Old Testament in the Bible is probably the most fantastic writing and narration I’ve ever read. From the erotica and passion in Songs of Solomon to the amazing song writing in the book of psalms. I also love Julie James as her with is second to none and I live for her dedications as she always has a true life event to report and the humor is so profound. I also listen to a lot of Spoken Word poets, I’m currently listening a lot to Shihan and Bassey Ikpi. She came to Lagos a couple years back and I got to see her perform. It was magic.
Spoken words poetry is a very important part of my writing process and whenever I have a block or I’m not happy with a character I listen to a lot of New York Poets, especially Shihan.
Where do you get your ideas, and what is your writing process like?
Hmmm. Whenever I have some new project or a draft to write. I try my best to pick a topic that
interests me and one that readers will want to counter and triggers a conversation or their own spin on events. For my books I start them as a series, there’s episode 1-24 chapters alike. I try my best to end each chapter with a cliffhanger so for the next chapter there’s always something to write. I could write a book for 8-12months and it never gets old.
When I was writing Ibukun Donald it was about 6years ago I was 18 and in college, Lagos was just ‘taking off’ the social scene, the music industry, Nollywood. There was an infusion of modernization. So it was easy to write and a lot of fun, people have asked why I focused a lot on the Yoruba culture in this book, my response is simple.
This is the first part of the Lagos Waka Series, Ibukun Donald is the part one. , the next part Yeka ( short for Onyeka) Emili is the second part. In the 3 rd installment I am currently at a block with her story because she’s one of those characters that seems to have the perfect life and I’m not sure how to alter her universe.
As much as I write narrative fiction I try to make my protagonists as relatable as possible, so I want occurrences that readers can relate to or occurrences that will trigger them to send me emails upset on how the story plays out.
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
I don’t think it changed anything, it has given me a reason to continue writing I’ll say. Now I have a community of readers and seeing them so appreciative is all the affirmation I need to continue writing. Every writer remembers this moment because it determines the next couple of books or drafts you need to complete.
I am a little more nervous for the next book because I have to try to maintain this level of success
and gain more readers. It’s like with my writing now it’s becoming more intriguing and I have an idea of what my readers expect to see so I’m taking that and I plan to add more curves just to keep the pace.
If you don’t write, what would you do for work?
Oh I am a graduate of Political science and international relations. I have regular office hours.
Writing is my passion, I’m doing this for me because this is what truly makes me happy. In a couple of years I plan to solely focus on being an author. If I wasn’t writing I would probably be an Art dealer. The 3 branches of art are painting, architecture and sculpture. I would definitely be into painting, my long term goal is to take on the study of paintings get a membership and host art exhibitions. We don’t have a lot of those in Lagos but I’m sure it’s a market that will fulfill me and I’ll be very inclined to.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with good or bad ones?
Totally and I try to interact as much as I can with my readers. I beg my friends and readers to critic me constructively but half the time I get praises, so I’m organizing a book reading in September and I want to be washed , rinsed and dried! I think as an author interaction with your readers is paramount, responding to reviews and posting them on your website and social media is also very important and I enjoy the whole process and it helps me to appreciate how people’s minds work.
I am not malapert to bad reviews, I have sticky notes around my room where I write down constructive criticisms. They are daily reminders, I look at them especially when I complete a draft and think I have arrived.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
About half a dozen unfinished drafts and 2 completed drafts. They’re about 6 years old and I would very much like to post short stories on my website on a monthly basis. I would hate to be one of those authors that have manuscripts laying around and time is passing by. It’s important to be consistent so your readers don’t forget you and move one to the next author.
What advice would you give upcoming writer who are looking at publishing their first book?
Your debut novel, please if you’re doing it in Lagos. I advise you self publish it. The fulfillment that comes from it is indescribable and it’s your first so you would want to do it on your own terms so you’ll learn. It is important that you belong to a community of writers and poets that are more experienced and have ‘battle scars’ listen to their journeys so you can learn and take notes. As ironic as this might sound there are no typos in publishing , once your work I out there you can’t take it back, so make it count.
