The timeless allure of getting lost in a book offers a much-needed sanctuary from the relentless pace that life often demands, providing a space where the soul can truly unwind, reflect, and rejuvenate. When we delve into the pages of a book, we are not just following a story; we are embarking on a journey that broadens our horizons and reshapes our perspectives. A book that serves as a powerful gateway that transports the reader to realms beyond their imaginations is ‘When The Filter Fades’ by Janine Jellars.
With almost 20 years of experience across publishing, advertising, and corporate environments, Janine Jellars is one of the leading editorial minds in South Africa’s media landscape today. Determined to narrate African stories to the world, and uplift women’s voices, Janine published her first book entitled ‘The Big South African Hair Book’ in 2021. Exploring various aspects of the Natural Hair Movement, the book celebrates the South African natural hair community and spotlights various trailblazers within the space.
Venturing into fiction, the prolific author published her debut novel, ‘When The Filter Fades’ in 2023, exploring the agendas, aspirations, and ambitions of three young women namely Lin, Lebo, and Mbali who are trying to claim their spots in Joburg’s fame hierarchy. The new age of internet celebrity presents them with obstacles, opportunities, opulence, and a chance at fame, fortune, and fierce fashion. As they navigate their respective lives, their ambitions, aspirations, and agendas collide. Their wins and woes not only affect one another but can mean that they either individually rise or collectively crumble.
We have a chat with Janine with Janine about ‘When The Filter Fades, her joinery as an author, and the pitfalls of internet culture.
You’ve worked in communications and brand marketing, among other sectors of the media industry. Was becoming an author part of the plan?
Becoming an author has been a lifelong dream, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. The cliché is that ‘every good journalist has a novel in him – which is an excellent place for it’… but what motivated me to actually start writing books is that I really got to a place where I wanted to see my dreams realised. For years, I’d say ‘oh, I’ll write a book one day’ or ‘oh, I’ll get my Master’s degree one day’ and I got sick of those ‘one day’ statements and decided to just do it. When you’re making your living as a journalist, you also tend to take the craft of writing for granted as you’re interacting with words every day. For me, switching to corporate roles and climbing the ladder meant I spent less time with words, and I missed it. I felt I’d lost touch with a large part of my identity – being a writer – and I reminded myself that the only requirement for being a writer is practicing the craft of writing, so I started writing again in my free time for pleasure.
‘When The Filter Fades’ is completely different from your debut book, ‘The Big South African Hair Book.’ What inspired the book and what motivated you to explore fiction?
I actually started writing ‘When the Filter Fades’ before I wrote ‘The Big South African Hair Book.’ It was a creative exercise, to challenge myself to get back into the practice of writing and write something fun. During my journalism career, I enjoyed writing features and long-form pieces that made incisive observations about society, and I thought what better way to explore interesting elements of SA society than through fiction.
What did your creative process for this book look like and what did you enjoy most about writing it?
I started it as part of Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) which takes place in November every year and challenges you to write a manuscript in a month. The challenge is to meet a daily word count target of 1 666 words a day for 30 days so that you end up with a 50,000-word manuscript by the end of the month. The aim is just to write and not overthink things. I loved it because I tend to procrastinate, like most writers, and the target kept me focused. My goal was to attack the page every day, an empty Word document was the enemy. I also didn’t edit while I wrote, I didn’t even go back and fix spelling errors in the first draft, the goal was to hit 50,000 words. Once I had that initial manuscript, I then went back and edited, finessed the plot holes, and filled out the characters. I also write in my head a lot – playing with dialogue and plot points.
Mental health is a recurring theme in the book, with each of the main characters displaying different symptoms of mental illness. Why was this important for you to highlight?
I focused a lot on the interiority of my characters and even though they might not outwardly show that they’re dealing with different issues, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t battling their own demons, whether it’s grief or trauma. I think we’re in an era where people are starting to realise that mental health challenges can happen to anyone – no matter how ‘together’ your life seems. You might ‘have it all’ but can still struggle with your own issues. And I think in this world where so much of our image is mediated, there’s often a disconnect between how you feel versus how others view you.
Internet culture is at the core of the book, as it affects the characters’ careers, love lives and everything in between. Tell us about your motivations for exploring how social media impacts the lives of millennials and Zoomers.
Again, that mediation of our lives is so fascinating to me. Anyone can basically manipulate the general public just by how they curate their social media feeds. And I think as an elder millennial who remembers life before the internet, before social media, I mean, I started my adult working life before Facebook was publicly accessible, it’s interesting to me to see how social media has replaced real life for so many people. People think if it isn’t posted on social media, it’s not real, or it hasn’t happened, and that’s fascinating to me. I don’t view social media as ‘real life’, but I accept that for many millennials and Zoomers, that isn’t the case. And exploring that is interesting to me.
What did you find most challenging about writing ‘When The Filter Fades?’
Writing a book is a solitary activity. With my non-fiction work, The Big South African Hair Book, I interviewed 30 women, so I was interacting with so many people in the making of the book. With When The Filter Fades, it was just me, my imagination, and my laptop against the world. The writing wasn’t the challenge, putting it out into the world has been a huge challenge for me. I come from a journalism background, so I am very comfortable in a fact-based world. When people read my other work, they can critique or challenge it on the basis of facts, which is easy for me to navigate. But a novel is so open to tastes and interpretations, and that’s very new to me.
Coming of age in the era of the internet is quite challenging. What advice do you have for young women who resonate with the stories of Lin, Lebo and Mbali?
It’s not sexy advice, but I think for now, while Boomers and Gen X are decision makers, be careful with what you post online, because those elders still care about ‘social media footprint’ and what you’ve posted in the past. I think many of us don’t understand the scale of social media. If you were to stand on stage in front of 1 000 people, many people would think that’s a big room and have a hard time talking in public BUT we somehow don’t convert that thinking to posting something crazy to 1 000 followers?
The reception of your book has been great. Did you expect “When The Filter Fades” to be received so well and how does it make you feel?
I honestly didn’t expect such positive feedback and it took me completely by surprise. This is my first novel, I had never written fiction before, and I’m not a fiction expert, I didn’t ‘study’ story structure, although I am a voracious reader, so I wasn’t confident that I got the theory of writing a book right. I think the part that I’m overwhelmed by isn’t necessarily that people like the story, it’s that they really ‘get it’ and they like the characters. I put a lot of thought into crafting these women and making them feel real, and making their motivations and decisions seem real, and seeing how people are responding to it is very rewarding to me.
Can readers expect a sequel to the book?
I have a plot brewing in my head – and it’s so juicy! So, who knows? Maybe?
What’s next for Janine Jellars?
If all goes well, this book does well, and I write another one? I am always dipping my toes into new things, but I think writing books will now be part of the package.
Click here to purchase ‘When The Filter Fades’ by Janine Jellars.
