Mississauga Writers Group
March 2015
A Thing of Bits & Pieces
you’ve got a lot of catching up to do, because in writing, as with a many other things, you only get
one chance to make a first impression.
No one knows when mankind started telling fiction stories, but a guess might be when frightened
little groups were huddled around camp fires scared of the night and what might be lurking out
there with an unhealthy interest in them. Palaeolithic Man had a lot to be scared of, and no doubt
some smart character started dreaming up the first ghost stories – and we’ve never looked back. Man
has a primordial need to hear stories, to remember the past, to exercise his imagination: that is why
novelists succeed, because they not only entertain, but are necessary.
As the Persian Poet says, man’s life is transitory, literature endures forever. I’d like to stress the
word “literature”, as opposed to the mindless rubbish which so often gets published. Literature has
some pretensions to excellence, and perhaps worth keeping. The rest should be consigned to the
garbage heap where it belongs – and I include a lot of my own stuff in that category.
As you well know, when you tell people you are a writer they always tell you they have an
‘idea.’ You hate to be rude, but ideas are a dime a dozen for a writer. Come up with a few ideas and
then find the connecting tissue that draws them together. Too many writers I know write
cinematically - they come up with terrific scenes, but they just string them together - they have no
idea of the importance of theme, structure, and the line of suspense. Did I mention practice earlier
on?
Does the thought of writing a five hundred page novel overwhelm you? Does it seem an
impossible task? Try breaking it down into bite-sized pieces, or at least chapters.
No one said you have to start at page one and work your way through to “The End”. If you’ve got
a great last chapter or scene, write it first (it’ll give you something to aim for). Got a great love scene,
a bit of action, so