The Sunday News
Rumbidzai Mhlanga, Sunday Life Reporter
SUCCESS is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts, is the saying that kept South Africa-based, Gokwe-born author and script writer, Shawlin Mugandani going till he achieved his dream.
Since the age of 13, Mugandani has been writing motivational books and poems but were not published. However, the passion he had for writing kept him going until he had his first book published.
“I discovered my talent of writing at the age of 13 and I started writing short stories at the age of 17. Most of my books were based on my life experiences and aspirations. I penned my first short story titled Sorrow which is the reflection of my bitter life,” he said.
“Following my first book, I have penned six scripts including a collection of poems, short stories and motivational books. In 2017, I penned two books, titled The Pillars of Success and Foods for Thoughts which were published this year on Amazon and two movies called Universal Plight and Married to Pay Back,” said Mugandani.
The 25-year-old author said he expresses his life experience and what he thinks through writing.
“All my books are inspired by the kind of life I lived growing up and all I experienced. I aspire to make an impact, share my life experiences to motivate others and make people see that hard times do not last forever but prepare us for a better tomorrow. I was inspired by a lot of encyclopedia including the book The Principles and Power of Vision by Munroe Myles and It’s Time To Unleash Your Greatest by Milton Kamwendo. I was also inspired by nature to put to practice what I believe as well as to commit to being the best in my field,” he said.
Mugandani explained his book titles and what he hopes to achieve from writing.
“I write motivational books, devotional books, novels, poems, plays and short stories. My first published book titled, Foods For Thoughts seeks to challenge believers to use their God given talents as I did use mine because I believe being an author for me is a God given talent. So, it is more of a Christian motivational book. The second book, The Pillars of Success seeks to challenge readers to commit to being the best in their field. That is people should identify their talents and utilise them to help others around them. The book has seven chapters namely, understanding yourself, ability to learn, goal setting, deciding, visualizing, plan and enjoy. All these chapters will help a person know themselves better and also direct them into doing what they were destined to do and achieve in life,” Mugandani said.
The author said his readers should expect more from him because he has a lot lined up as his journey of turning the world around by writing books which motivate and give people hope has only begun.
@ruekushie.
