 |
| (Instagram, 2021) |
Not only is he pleasing to the eye, but he also has the ability to indite stories that ignites fire as well as educate its reader. His mind is filled with mysterious, exciting worlds with mind-blowing characters. He is Young vibrant, hardworking, adventurous, and curious. You might have spotted the 23-year-old in a recent Tropika advert. The multitalented Kopano Mothibi was born in Taung, a small town situated in the North West Province. The name implies the spot of the lion and was named after Tau, the King of the Barolong. He is currently residing in Johannesburg.
Kopano is not only a model but a self-taught writer and also an aspiring author. He fell in love with words and puzzling them together at a tender age. He had always been good at participating in activities that involved writing in school, whether it was writing and preparing a speech, poem for school. He also began journaling while in secondary school.
“Writing has always been an outlet that lets me empty out my emotions”
In 2017, a number of events began happening in his life that led him to spring a keen interest in writing. In that same year, he started consciously writing. He started writing short stories. Ever since his relationship with writing has grown stronger, it has advanced as well as reached higher heights. The aspiring author's short stories march into the most sensitive and contentious subjects such as gang violence, Xenophobia, fatherhood, rape, love, and more. His stories are inspired by human experiences and behavior. He believes the world has a lot to tell and he is eager to listen as well as document it as he best perceives it.
 |
| (Instagram, 2021) |
In 2017, he released his first short story titled Becoming my father. This short story follows a young man who is doing his Matric. He is trying, by all means, to be nothing like his abusive, negligent father, although certain unfortunate events keep taking place that convinces the people around him and himself otherwise. The story was inspired by Kopano’s first college roommate’s hostile interaction with his father.
“He was actually his father, he had so many traits that resembled his fathers, He did not see he was just like the person he hates,” Kopano said reliving this realization.
Later in 2019, his other short story that tackled the inhumanity of xenophobia was named Homesick. The story got selected as part of a Xenophobia special feature at the FunDza Literacy Trust. This organization is a South African non-profit dedicated to improving literacy among teens and young adults. It operates outreach programs to develop literacy through growing a community of readers and writers.
As a self-taught writer, Kopano admits that at the emergence of his journey he faced a lot of challenges. He could not seem to breathe life into a story or transfer the divergent worlds and complex characters into paper. The beginning of the journey was lonely but he believed that the journey would be worth it in the end, and so far it has been profitable to his writing career. So, he kept writing until he was vividly reflecting worlds and the people in his stories on paper exactly as he intended to.
“I did not know what character development was, I did not know what a plot was,” he said laughing at the memories of him just scrambling through writing.
“Writing is a lonely process, you are always in your head, you are always trying to figure out where to take your story. Someone who you can bounce off ideas off is great; they can help point your story in the right direction”
Kopano believes it is essential for every writer to have a group if not a group, at least one person, the writer trusts to critic and check their work from time to time. They can suggest new ideas. When you are feeling discouraged about your work you will be able to gather up the energy to complete your work because there is someone by your side encouraging you to do better.
“A great writer is one that perseveres” Kopano trusts that one of many great qualities that make a great writer is perseverance. A good writer writes their story despite the difficulty or delay in achieving their success. The journey of a writer is filled with rejection it can be from magazines, writing competitions, or publishing houses.
“If the story does not work, write another one” he went on to stress.
He went on to clarify that for him modeling does not affect or influence his writing in any way.
“To me personally they are two separate entities”
He pointed out that his writing is influenced by his day-to-day life and the people in it. While his modeling career is mostly influenced by his personal brand, for instance, his love for fashion, style as well as his interest in advertising. This establishes a great balance between his two professions. “This is great for me because modeling takes me to a place where I no longer think about words ”When he was asked which is the hardest between being a writer and a model. He answered
“Modelling is more demanding”. The long working hours, lots of standing up combined with having to work in uncomfortable conditions from time to time can get stressful.
 |
| (Instagram, 2021) |
“Know yourself” is a free tip from Kopano to all aspiring models. He stipulates that one must be cognizant of their identity because the modeling industry is filled with many temptations and influences that may sway you to whichever direction if you don’t have a firm idea of who you are.
“I want people to clearly envision what I write, people should take notice of the attention to detail, kill and the amount of effort I put into my writing”
Kopano is currently working on his debut Novel. I surely can’t wait for more big things from the handsome genius. You should also be on the lookout too.
Check out his short stories on his blog @shadeachild.blogspot.com Follow him on Instagram
@kopano_alpha
Comments
Post a Comment