Paul Batshedi More was born in 1968 in Molepolole, 50 kilometres west of Botswana’s capital city Gaborone. He lives with his family in Gaborone, Botswana. He is a qualified real estate professional and well experienced on the development, management and investment disciplines of property.
Paul has served as the head of property development for the largest residential property developer in Botswana and has also acted as the head of investment promotion for the country’s largest investment promotion agency.
The Power Chase is his debut novel.
What inspired you to write this novel?
Though for now I can only speak and write two languages, I must say I am a profound lover of languages. Linguistic diversity is dear to my heart, and it is unfortunate that lack of exposure has denied me the opportunity of rising to the level of a cosmopolitan polyglot.
However, I have always sought to improve my ability to comprehend, speak and write the English language, a trait that has been ingrained in my veins from adolescence. While at high school, I devoured the entire set of Pacesetter novels that were available at Kgari Sechele Secondary School’s library.
As my palate for reading got more refined, my passion veered into the big-name arena, and I started reading explosive, mind gripping and well researched works of fiction, where massive bundles of intrigue and suspense were crafted into spine-tingling plots with a reasonable dose of verisimilitude.
In the process of reading novels, the two questions that often bounced on my brain were; “how do writers of fiction create plausible content that could fit into a couple of hundreds of pages or even more?” and “Can’t I do the same?” Upon realisation that I had the potential to write, I decided to follow my passion, and this is what birthed the 345-paged novel.
For me, writing this novel felt like I was running to myself, not away. And it certainly did not feel like a necessary evil nor a temporary distraction. The writing journey was chockablock with unforgettable moments of absolute pleasure and innate joy!
I associate with Clark M. Zlotchew’s view, a distinguished professor of Latin-American Literature, “Fiction has been maligned for centuries as being ‘false,’ ‘untrue,’ yet good fiction provides more truth about the world, about life, and even about the reader, than can be found in non-fiction.”
Prevalent in the world is the twerpish absurdity that readers of non-fiction, particularly biographies, auto-biographies, and motivational books, are the only ones endowed with a refined taste for great books. My view is that, like a sharp sword, fiction tends to cut into inconvenient truths that other genres can at best only skirt around.
What were the best and worst parts of the writing process?
Let me sum it up by quoting Britain’s wartime prime minister named Winston Churchill. He said; “Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy, then an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then it becomes a tyrant and, in the last stage, just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you will kill the monster and fling him to the public.” I hope you catch the drift.
The best part in writing The Power Chase was sitting before a computer and having my mind flooded by a lot of thoughts and twists and turns that could easily be crafted into the novel. It was a joy to find myself in command of the story, accepting some of the best ideas and tossing many that were equally good.
I had to remind myself ever so often that I needed to take breaks. One of the most challenging things was knowing when to stop for the day. In many instances I lost track of time and would find myself busy lucubrating in the wee hours of the morning. Do not be surprised if a sequel hits bookshop shelves!
What was the publishing experience? Did you have any guidance or assistance?
I chose to go the self-publishing route. I talked to a couple of authors, who did not only advise on the process of securing ISBNs for the hard and electronic copies, but also on choosing a qualified company to print the book. I must say, I was surprised at how simple the process was.
If you could go back to the start of your writing journey, what advice would you give yourself?
Let me declare that I lay no claim to being a literary aficionado. But I do have a few arrows of advice in my quiver and in responding to your question I will direct my views to aspiring authors.
1. Do not underestimate your potential. Refuse to listen to that inner voice if it constantly propagates the myth that you cannot write. I am as human as they come. My ability to write a novel indubitably proves the fallacy of the notion that writing is the preserve of the privileged few.
Many people are pulsating with the potential to write, but they are none the wiser. They need a gentle nudge to motivate them to explore their talent and harness their creativity for their own good and for the benefit of the targeted readership. Dan Poynter, an American author, rightly observed, “If you wait for inspiration to write, you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter.”
Let go of fear and reverse the inhibition that is tying your hands.
2. Do not take short-cuts! Avid readers make brilliant authors. You cannot write a book if you are not enthused about reading. Make it a habit to read daily. Continuously inform yourself. If need be, cut the time you spend on social media and devour wholesome written content, whatever genre tickles your fancy.
An American novelist named Annie Proulx shared this insightful observation, “Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.” The zeal to read endows one with creativity, expansive vocabulary, great diction, and the rare but convincing ability of bringing alive emotions and environments close to the mind and heart of the reader.
Apply yourself and without falling into the trap of overdoing it, elegantly craft a fraction of sentences into tweetable quotes, but resist the temptation to swamp your readers in an infinite pool of endless verbosity. Good authors are not showboats. Mind the fact that in writing a book, you are not showing off your vocabulary, but painting a compelling word-picture for appreciation by readers.
3. Avoid dabbling into outright amateurish pastiche. Enter the realm of writing with the panache of a seasoned writer. Readers would not normally care that it is your maiden novel. They would judge you by the same standards they use for experienced authors. Do not run the risk of childishly announcing to the reader that you are a novice.
Obsessively filling pages with endless bouts of implausible ideas and attempting to submerge readers into endless pools of inane and outlandish fantasy is a definite no-no. A novel is not a burlesque rendition of life.
In fact, brilliant works of fiction excel in enabling readers to identify with certain characters, and this compels them to learn from their experience, as opposed to learning from the school of hard knocks.
Do your research. Readers are not fools. Most of them are worldwise. Some of them might be more knowledgeable on issues and would be quick to throw away an unrealistic novel, hence the cautionary note from an American author named Ernest Hemmingway, “It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.”
4. A penchant for creativity is a must. Creatively weave plausible and insightful but chilling twists and turns that will grip your audience and mess around with their emotions. Avoid the trap of lapsing into bouts of predictability. Without being too predictable, hold the reader like a yo-yo in your hand and adroitly toss them in whichever direction you wish. Predictability bores readers.
5. Festoon the content with raw emotions of happiness, suspense, shock, empathy and liberally etch disappointment and anger to your storyline. Lace your narration with an unforeseeable volatility of emotions that would make the novel somewhat ‘unputdownable.’ Do not be limited by your own experience, if need be, borrow from other people.
Always remember that yours is an artistic work of imagination. More importantly, ask yourself, what lessons do I want the reader to take away from this novel and how can I craft them into the soul of the protagonist as well as major and minor antagonists?
6. Mind the pace of the narration. As the plot thickens, where necessary step on the accelerator pedal and tear the emotions of the reader by defying norms, but do not overdo it. Have the wisdom to know when to decelerate and romance your readers by charting a captivating witty course.
Pepper your write-up with gut-wrenching unignorable cliffhangers that would impel the reader to keenly look forward to turning the page.
7. Research on common mistakes made by first-time writers and avoid them. Take time to diligently review what you’ve written, careful to spot grammar mistakes. Readers have no patience with content that is riddled with awkward grammatical faux pas. You would not be able to spot all errors.
Have the humility to engage a qualified proofreader and editor to sanitise and breathe grammatical hygiene into your book.
8. Much as you would like to believe that when you write a novel, you’re occupying the seat of the master, nothing can be further from the truth. Authors are servants of readers. There is no room for the converse.
This calls upon writers of novels to be disciplined. To resist unnecessary long dialogues meant to cover more pages but doing nothing for the reader. Experienced readers are always quick to spot rambling by authors.
9. Get-up-and-go. If you would like to try your hand at writing, move from the lethargic stage of saying to yourself, “I wish I could write with such colour.” The one thing life has taught me is that wishing without working never gets the job done. No one will be kind enough to drag you from the zone of lack of confidence. Shatter that cocoon, step up to the plate and write your first novel.
As a writer, what kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?
It would be my pride and joy if I could be remembered for the creative ability of authoring a maiden piece of fiction that sent a few people on introspective journeys and motivated them to explore their hidden literary acumen, decisively breaking as it were the shell that has for many years suppressed their talent.
The foregoing article first appeared here