Innocent Whande a.k.a Zimbo Son is a Zimbabwean poet, writer and multi nominated and award-winning blogger whose debut publication is titled, My Heart in Ink. He started writing this poetry collection as part of his dissertation while studying an MA in Creative Writing and Publishing at Bournemouth University in 2019. Innocent enjoys putting his heart and thoughts to paper and has written over 400 poems since the age of 10. He has plans to publish more of his poetry in the future.
The young Zimbabwean has 5+ years’ experience as a blogger, social media manager and digital media strategist. Innocent thrives to build a platform for African creatives and entrepreneurs through his blog Zimbo Son which has over 290 interviews of African creatives. The blogger won Blogger of the Year and Best Arts and Culture Blog Awards at the 2021 Zim Blog Awards. Innocent was attributed as Assistant Editor for an anthology compiled by Rumbidzai Vazhure titled, Brilliance of Hope.
The young writer is a keen cook and has ambitions of becoming a chef someday. Innocent enjoys watching Formula 1, Tennis and is a fan of Manchester United. You can engage with his work or social media here: https://linktr.ee/zimboson
“I just write anything that comes to mind even if it doesn’t make sense. In fact, it’s best to not think too much and let the words flow”
I have been writing poetry since I was 10 and I have written over 400 poems, so my book, My Heart in Ink was long overdue. For getting my ideas out I use a method I was taught at university called free writing. It’s essentially a brain warm up to clear my mind. So, I just write anything that comes to mind even if it doesn’t make sense. In fact, it’s best to not think too much and let the words flow. I then put the free writing aside for another time, because at times I will find a line or two that I then use for another poem.
I chose poetry because I have always used it as a way of clearing my mind and at times, I can write up to 10 poems in one go. It all depends how inspired I am feeling at that time. I do write short stories, but I prefer the short form of poetry. My notes app is where it all starts then I save it in my email drafts then its off to Word to do the editing. Then I bring the poems to life there, often writing several versions of each. This is to capture the different emotions I will be going through at different times.
” I think you are the best narrator for your own life. Picking which moments to share wasn’t easy, but I just went by instinct and chose a variety of moments that meant the most to me.”
I find that its better to write about things you have experienced yourself. It was a bonus to find out that some of the poems resonated with other people, such as, Where are you from, Foreigner, Gogo’s House, among many others. I think you are the best narrator for your own life. Picking which moments to share wasn’t easy, but I just went by instinct and chose a variety of moments that meant the most to me. Also, I just wanted my book to be a sample of the different styles of poetry I write. Then for future books I will focus on one theme and style. I tried to experiment with different styles and themes (you will see this in my book) and I read so much poetry in that time, I read poetry by poets such as Rupi Kaur, Kei Miller and Kayo Chingonyi. I also used music to inspire me to write my poetry, for this I had Winky D, Tuku, Soul Jah love among many others on rotation daily.
Originally, I wrote my poetry collection for my thesis for MA Creative Writing and Publishing in 2019. Together with my supervisor Dr Tom Masters we had arranged the poems in a way that they followed a certain theme. Some were structured as juxtaposition to disrupt the status quo a bit. Either way each poem communicates with another/others sometimes subtly, some in obvious ways, like sharing the same lines such as Dear Future Daughter and Dear Future Son.
Self-publishing my book was no easy feat, I was lucky to be equipped with the knowledge I gained during my studies. That and the knowledge gained from the university of YouTube. The idea to publish the collection started around May 2020 and I officially published my book in October. I began arranging the poems I felt would be the best fit for the book. I left some out and reserved them for future books. Then I went through the whole process to make sure I did my very best to produce a quality book.
One thing you must understand about self-publishing is that you have full control over your book from, editing, cover designs, distribution, marketing, and all financial obligations. You take most of the profits from your sales. However, if you were to go the traditional route, the publishing company takes care of most of the process, taking most of the profits too, your main duty to write your manuscript.
There are many platforms that offer self-publishing services. I will talk about Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) since it’s the one I used. Their service is free to use, but they take a % of your profits. They offer many resources to help you put your book together, find more information here……KDP.
Take your time because you want your book to look professionally done. You can outsource some of the work, like cover design, editing and formatting of your manuscript. However, keep in mind the cost of all this. I had a cover designed, had a few friends edit my manuscript for me. I followed the KDP guidelines, and I did the formatting myself as I had a low budget. Use this video as a guideline about the process…..the self-publishing process. More self-publishing info click here…….Self-publishing and here publishing on amazon.
“Its ok to take breaks, its necessary to keep your creativity fresh, think of it as a garden that needs regular nurturing.”
In terms of getting yourself into a routine for publishing your work I recommend trying free writing, if you are writing a script, music, or prose. If you are a designer, sketch just for the fun of it, think of it as a warmup. Do this for at least 15 minutes when you are in a content creating mood and eventually it just becomes part of your daily routine. If it doesn’t work for you, that’s ok get stuck into something you enjoy doing. Focus on that until you feel inspired to create new content. Its ok to take breaks, its necessary to keep your creativity fresh, think of it as a garden that needs regular nurturing. Then needs some pruning and replanting every so often. Treat your creativity like that.
Tell The Tribe A Story (Our Challenge To You)
This challenge is open to all creatives, whether you write, design, draw, animate, photograph, videography and everything else in between. Use any of the structures shared here to intentionally create a story with your skill. There’s no limit, just challenge your creative side with any of these. Post your work on a platform of your choice and share it with us on any of our social platforms, tagging us and using the hashtag #tribesmokesignal. Challenge runs till the end of March. Happy creating!