INTERVIEW WITH A BURGEONING WRITER

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February 2, 2007

INTERVIEW WITH A BURGEONING WRITER

dupe_small.jpgThere are motivators and there are inspirations; Dupe Olorunjo is a true inspiration to Nigerian Youths. Her accomplishment in a relatively difficult environment is mind blowing. She is a pastor’s wife combining banking with other altruistic activities. I decided to have a chat with her on her writing prowess and inspirational works. Check my dear sister out;More...

 

1.)    May we meet you? (Name, your passion, what you are doing at the moment)
 

I am a banker. I enjoy my work and look forward to adding value to my client’s  business on a daily basis. Outside work, I pastor the teen’s department of my church. I take time to develope personal relationships with them and create an opportunity where they can have someone to talk to especially when they are at a cross road and need to take difficult decisions. I find teenagers to be very special people even though it takes extra effort to understand them.  
 
I derive satisfaction from creating writing that people can read easily and enjoy. People have said my books have an easy flow and that is because it is important to me that everyone can read what I have to write. I have just been given an assignment to edit a Christian Magazine. My thoughts now are on how I can juggle my time together and fashion out some time for this. 2.)    Would I be right to call you a prolific and successful writer

I am not sure about prolific and successful now, but by God’s grace I will get there. I have only written 2 books but I have several manuscripts which I hope to put together as time permits. I have set myself a target of writing one book a year.

 

 

 

3.)    Why writing? What informed your decision to go into writing.

I see myself first as a story teller and a motivator before being a writer. I find it easy to describe things, events, actions to capture people’s attention and getting them to want to know more. Writing then becomes a way to tell my stories to a wider audience.

 

 

 

As a person I also believe that we should sometimes re-assess the limitations that naturally keep us where we are. Most of the time our first instinct is to look at a situation as impossible just because it seems impossible. I hope that people who read my books will find the strength to question their self imposed limitations and make several progressive steps forward.

 

 

 

4.)    How many books have you written so far?

I have two published books – ‘Tailed’ and ‘The Aireginan Dream’. I have 4 other books at various stages of completion

 

 

 

5.)    What type of books do you write? Fiction, etc? What do you try to project when writing?
 
 
Essentially I write fiction and inspirational materials. I write poems once in a       while. I have also written a few songs, one of which is in the process of being    produced.  I have been the editor of two church newsletters.  
 
My desire when writing is to cause a positive change. 6.)    Do you see writing as a platform of influence? Why?

Obviously writing is a platform of influence. That is one of the strongest reasons why anyone should write. Why? Because your books can go to a much wider breadth and to much deeper depths of the mind than the author can ever reach without writing.

 

 

7.)    What are your short and long range goals?
 
 
I would love to write full time. I am already putting structures in place to see that happen8.)    Who are the seasoned writers you look up to?

For fiction – Francine Rivers, Karen Kingsbury, Angela Hunt, Dee Henderson, Frank Perretti, Ted Dekker.

 

I also read management and motivational books.

 

 

9.)    If a young guy/lady asks for your secret to writing. What would be your reply?

Inspiration, Hardwork and Excellence

 

 

 

10) Now to the most interesting part; does writing pay in Nigeria?

 

 

For now it doesn’t; Nigerians are just developing a culture of reading, albeit at   a very slow rate. But we should note that the greatest opportunities abound in      developing industries. It is going to take a lot of hard work but very soon it       will begin to pay.

 

 

11) Which of your books would you say has made the greatest impact in terms of economy, influence?

 

 

My books are just gaining readership so the influence is growing

 

 

12) What are your sources of inspiration?

 

 

 My greatest source of inspiration is God. I am also fascinated with impossibilities becoming possible. For example, a football match usually becomes interesting to me when an underdog team comes from behind and begins to win a match. I love to encourage people from challenged backgrounds to aspire to heights they never felt they could reach. The numerous seeming impossibilities in the Nigerian landscape motivated me to write the Aireginan Dream.

 

 

13)  Please, kindly give us your website and other avenues to get your work?

 

 

My website is www.dupeolorunjo.com and there is a page on the website that lists purchase options for my books including online shops for buyers outside Nigeria. There are also sample chapters of my books

 

 

 

14) May you tell us the solution to unemployment in Nigeria.

 

 

A long term solution is for the government to pay attention to employment and consciously create opportunities for the people. The private sector has done extremely well. Small time entrepreneurs with a clear vision are also making a difference. A friend of mine recently retired after 13 years in Banking and set up a bakery. Even though it may be a drop in the ocean she has taken 44 people out of the unemployment market

 

 

In the mean time, there is need for people to look out for opportunities themselves. They exist in Nigeria in spite of how bleak things sometimes look. Let me give an example, a young lady I met was about to go back to her village because she had no capital and no hope for survival in Lagos. I had an extensive discussion with her at the end of which she realized she could supply Garri to foodsellers with a starting capital of N10, 000. I was shocked that N10, 000 could solve her problem and immediately arranged a loan for her. Her testimony four months later, with as smile on her face was that her business was doing well and she was now financially stable.  

15) A word to wanna be writers?

 

I have a page on writing tips on my website. So I’ll just summarize here.

 

 

Read a lot and gather a wide knowledge of your proposed genre. Gather experience by writing articles for magazines. Have your work critiqued by a professional before you decide to publish. Most important – start writing today!

 

Interviews
About Dipo Tepede

I am a Project Management coach. I specialize in making delegates pass any Project Management certification at first try. I successfully achieve this fit through practical application of the knowledge and integration of our Project Management eLearning school at www.pmtutor.org. Welcome to my world.....