Olayioye Paul Bamidele
Why did you submit to trash to treasure lit?
Because I found out about a magazine that gives life to a dead work. A work which the writer consider valueless, but this magazine saw it as valuable. Trash to treasure lit is like a recycling magazine for valueless poems and prose to be name valuable. So I submit it here.
How would you describe your writing practice?
Stressful. It has been hard, learning how to grow and develop to a stage of perfection. From incessant rejections to poor comment by close readers, writing to me becomes a journey in the desert without water.
What is the biggest thing that stops you from submitting work to lit mags/journals/publications?
One of the biggest thing that makes me stop is because of the incessant rejections, and sometimes poor judgment on the poems by me. Like I do underrate my works.
Do you think the writing industry has an impact on your confidence in your work (good or bad)? Why?
Yes, it has. Writing industry has trained me to have confidence on my work. But on the contrary, I don't manifest this confidence. Instead, with all the comments I do received from editors, I do have low self esteem to some of my poems.
When do you start to doubt a piece that you are working on?
I start to doubt a piece if I found out I'm not flowing in it, and I notice that I'm not just getting it. I tend to doubt it
Once you trash one of your pieces, what makes you come back to it (if ever)?
Probably, that could only happen if I decided to grace my loneliness with strolling through my folders. If I eventually come upon a piece I like, I will starred it for future purposes.
How many pieces do think you have currently in your 'abandoned' folder?
Quite a number. Most of them are my early writings. They never get a house in magazines out there, so i left them there.
What is the ultimate reason that you trash your work?
The ultimate reason is when a poem refuse to find a home. If it doesn't, I trash it till further notice.
Is there anything that would stop you from trashing your work? (More education in writing, more publications/less rejections, a change in the industry, etc)
Yes, more education and more publications will increase my confidence in writing. I have notice this, not only in me but other writers.
What writing advice have you been given that has changed your perspective on how you treat/view your work?
My tutor, Gideon Ubaha Emmanuel once said to me: your style of writing is different from others. If you want to thrive in it, you must stop comparing other people's success with yours.
Olayioye Paul Bamidele is a writer and a student of mass communication. His works have appeared or forthcoming in Spillword, Lunaris and elsewhere.