MENTORSHIP RECIPIENT

Mentorship Recipient: 
Faith Fixed Like Stars

Mentor Commentary:
Laura Maylene Walter

On the Revision Process for "Faith Fixed Like Stars"

by ​​Victor Okechukwu

As though It was a Dream
 
A few minutes before the afternoon that I sat down to write “Faith Fixed Like Stars,” I walked for twenty minutes around the village I had been living for a while; depressed for being a fool, for choosing to be a writer than been any other meaningful thing that my friends have told me of. I had written a bored long short story the previous night and I was soaking hard against the intimidation of my peers. Trying to write down something that I can own, I watched the reaction of people as they walked past me, until an idea came about a classmate of mine whose brother had died of poison. He wasn’t a “bad boy”, but he had been in a gang.
 
So I ran home like a happy dog and wrote a draft on it. For four weeks I kept rewriting the story over and over again; searching for anything I could do to make the story worth it. So I added more and more words each week until it reached past two thousand eight hundred words. Submitting the piece, I wasn’t expecting much until I read Miss Laura’s write up stating she had accepted it for editorial mentorship. I was thrilled and almost cried in joy because it was my first acceptance.
 
For two to three weeks Miss Laura cut much substance from my first huge draft and after much mentorship discussion I understood what the craft of a story has to like. It was a revelatory experience because I always clapped for myself each time I added one long paragraph into the story. On the final draft it stood like a masterpiece and I’m grateful to Gordon Square Review for this program. And I mostly appreciate Miss Laura for her time and patience.

Victor Okechukwu

Victor Okechukwu is a writer based in Enugu, Nigeria. He’s reading mass communication at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. His work has been published at Rigorous magazine and Fragmented Voices. He loves writing about his country life and other shrewd things that happen in the society. Also, he loves reading blockbuster novels and believes to be a novelist in the nearest future. He can be followed @uzochukwu1 on Twitter and @okechukwu6590 on Instagram.