Ashley, Adrian
 I have always thought that writing a biography of oneself is just a little bit
difficult. How do you make yourself interesting to others? How do you make your
inexperience interesting? In the few words that follow I will give it a try.
I have been writing in earnest for seven years now. It seems like a long time
to me although I suppose that in the context of one’s overall career it’s
not so long. At various stages during these seven years I have thought myself
ready to fulfill my dream and write a novel. I have thought that I have grasped
the basic craft of creative writing and that the rest is up to me. How wrong
I have been. Each time I think myself ready I learn how little I really know.
Writing is a complex business, and there is much more to be done beyond the
frantic impromptu typing when inspiration visits. The first draft, as I have
learned, is only the very beginning. In the words of Ernest Hemingway, “The first draft is…shit!” A story is hardly ever finished when you think it is, and there is no shame in going through eight drafts. After that, experience, as I have learned, is the key. Not simply the experience of knowing how to pen a story and how to organize it, but the experience of indifference, or rejection.
I write short stories. One day I will write a novel. One day this novel will be published. I have been moved to spontaneous applause by the writing of John
Updike. Salman Rushdie’s sub-continental fripperies are always guaranteed my amusement. Closer to home I enjoy Dambudzo Marechera, and often wonder what could have become of the single biggest talent this country has ever produced if he did not leave us so young. The lyricism of Yvonne Vera I find both interesting and daunting—‘Have I missed anything? Can all this metaphor mean
more than I imagine?’
From the day I decided that I was to be a writer if nothing else, writing has filled my mind every day. I cannot control it. I will not try my hand at anything else until I succeed at my chosen path. The pitfalls are many, I can testify, but I will persevere.
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