Why writers’ works are rejected

A senior lecturer in the Department of English in one of Nigeria’s federal universities, Dr Ali and I had a conversation early in July or late June this year, about the state of the Nigerian writing craft – the fiction writing craft, and I expressed dissatisfaction at the fact that not many Nigerians are writing good fictions and winning awards.

I blamed it on inadequate training in the germane area. Ali assured me that every story has a merit. I pointed out that many writers are not doing well because they do not write well – not obeying the rules, like the elements of literature. I told him that I’m hosting Reading Café in order to correct these anomalies.

Conversely, Dr Ali reminded me that there are no more rules in writing fictions. He reiterated that every story, even the ones I think don’t measure up have their own merits, and that two hours of Reading Café once in a year is not enough to adequately train writers. He also reminded me that authors like Adiche attended writing school.

I agree with Dr Ali to some extent. As a book editor, I have read some excellent biographies, autobiographies and fiction of different genres that gladdened my soul and I often thanked the authors for writing them. In this sense, I agree with Ali that every story has a merit.

However, I seek international acclaim and recognition of Nigerian fiction and for Nigerian fiction.

We may believe and affirm that there are no more rules in the writing of fiction – you can write anyhow, but reputable publishing houses reject countless fictions sent in by writers. Why do these reputable publishing houses reject more fictions than they accept? This shows that there are some things they are looking for. In Mathematics, they have formulas; in English Language, we have parts of speech to look at as yardsticks; in Literature, truly there are technical skills in writing fiction that writers must adhere to. These skills or tools are called elements.

Among these elements, the one most grappled with by fledgling writers, is point of view (POV). I found out that the moment a manuscript on fiction gets into a fiction book editor’s hands, he or she is looking at the POV.

As good students, those of us who are interested in fiction writing, but have no access to writing schools, will do well to carefully study the Elements of Literature. We have looked at the very major ones. I encourage you to still look further. Buy books, visit libraries and check the internet.

Today is revision. We will look back at the things we have learned. We started with Diction.

1. Diction is about the choice of words a writer employs in the telling of his or her story. Pleasant, Nice, Kind, and Good may mean the same thing, but only one is most appropriate in a certain context than the others. One can say, a good story, but it’s inappropriate to say, a kind story. Umbrage may mean the same thing as resentment, offence, pique, but while you may meet a character in a state of umbrage, you cannot meet him/her in a state of pique. Diction is the same as style. The way a writer writes, the words he or she chooses, becomes the writer’s unique style.

1. Plot is the way events happen in a literary work, with focus on the events that make up the main story. It is about the development of a story. For example, “The king died, and then the queen died,” is a story line with a sequence – the king died before the queen – but it has no plot. Plot introduces another element to the events – it looks at what caused the events to happen. According to E.M. Forster in his article, Aspects of the Novel, a story is not just about events that took place, but about causes and effects of these events. He gave his famous example on plot: “The king died, and then the queen died of grief.” – What happened and what caused it, or why it happened. Plot embodies conflict which in itself carries doubt, curiosity and tension in the development of the story.

1. Structure carries the complications and the resolutions of the narrative. It is the arrangement of events in a literary work. It starts with what is called Exposition: this is the introduction of new things; then, Complication: this is when things begin to fall apart. Crisis is that point of the story where a decision has to be made, or an action has to be undertaken. It’s like a hinge of a door, a demarcation between what has gone before and what is to follow. The action or decision of Crisis will usher in the climax. It must be stated that this action or decision must be something embarked on to bring solution, but it usually goes awry, bringing in the climax. Climax is the peak of the story, where all hell breaks loose. From here, the story climbs into Resolution. This is where all the problems are resolved.

1. Characterisation: although there’s no rule that it must follow this order, but we looked at Characterisation next. This is about the people who make the story. It is a study about the people in fictitious stories. Here, we look at character development and how it can be of use to the plot of the story.

1. Setting deals with geographical locations and objects in a work of fiction. Setting is broad. It includes places, objects, moods, time (including time of day, events like Christmas or New Yam Festival, etc.), sound, etc., every of such things that have been mentioned which are important in the story. Setting covers natural locations, manufactured locations, attitudes, moods, etc.

1. Theme: this is of course what the story is all about. It is the meaning and the message in the story. Whatever idea a writer deals with in his or her work becomes a theme. A word to writers, just as music producers are looking for original sounds, so are publishing houses looking for stories that are original, punchy, and from an angle or perspective that is not common. It must also be universal, but told from a local flavour to give it a new punch. I read a story told by a Ghanaian writer about the thoughtlessness of some people who bring children into the world without considering their responsibilities to these children. She used her country’s street children as people in her fiction. Parents of street children never considered upkeep, education, accommodation, among other things before engaging in activities that result in conception and child-bearing. Author Mariama Ba also looked at the universal problem of polygamy and the havoc it does in Africa in her novel, So Long A Letter.

1. Finally, we looked at Point of View (POV). This is about who is telling the story, and how the story is told. Point of view deals with the perspective of the story teller. Is the narrator a participant? Is the narrator educated, uneducated, from a noble background or from a wretched background? Is he or she visible or invisible in the story? Is the story being told in the first person (I, We), or in the second person (You), or in the third person (he, she, they).

If you are a fledgling writer, pay attention to POV, especially, the third person limited (TPL). It is very difficult to employ, but very powerful. POV is much more than I, You, He/She point of narration. If you are interested in writing, if you are a serious student of Literature, study POV in particular and Elements of Literature in general.   

As we proceed in this, I would suggest that you become like the Berean Christians in the Bible, who did not swallow everything they heard, but went home to read the Bible to find out if what they were told was true. So, look to books and read up on Literature.

Next week we look at the Elements of the Short Story.