Category: Blog

Jarrett Rusnak is a Canadian screenwriter who has been an accountant for North American movies and series.  He lives in my building and organizes a group of screenwriters who gather to critique each others’ work.  I am not a screenwriter but Jarrett knows how passionate I am about writing and that I have written a few novels, none of which have been traditionally published.  He invited me to join the group.

We are a small group and nobody holds back.  Our comments to each other are delivered with honest but friendly remarks.  When we believe that a person’s story needs tweaking, we say so, often backing ourselves up with suggestions about how they can improve their work.

Recently, I wrote a novel about a school shooting, from which I submitted the first 20 pages to our group.  I was impressed by the amount of comments that people gave me and that guided me in revising my draft.  For those of you starting out in the writing field, you must have a stony resilience.  Be prepared to take criticism; be prepared to know that you might be creating a complete makeover of what you have previously written.  My writing has been rejected countless times and yet I still love to write.  If one can do that, then they are a true writer.

At last night’s meeting, Jarrett shared with the rest of us some notes about a recent screenwriting workshop he had attended.  The one note that stuck out the most for me is that your leading characters must have an objective:  what do they want to do?  What do they want to accomplish?  And this objective has to be big.  It can’t be as simple as Protagonist A wants to find his lost cat.  There must be an objective that may even be life-changing.  The objective isn’t easily achievable and is impeded by events and antagonists in the story.  The author must be specific about what the objective is and what the consequences are if the objective is not attained.

Having conflict in a story is vital.  If an objective is reached too easily or without conflict, then the reader will get bored and soon lose interest in your work.

Interestingly, while Jarrett explained these things to the group, I told him that these very observations were raised in a webinar that I attended a week ago.  The American writer, Jeanne Lyet Gassman, who happens to be a novelist like myself, repeated what Jarrett had heard at his workshop.  One of the comments I remember her saying is that a book is “complete if the protagonist reaches a goal or doesn’t quite but still learns from their journey.”  Also, “solutions should always have a consequence.”

Jarrett and I have discussed the differences between screenwriting and novel writing but, as you can see, there are many similarities between the two.  What we should all strive for is good writing.  Writing that grips the reader from page one.  Writing that is not chichéed.  Writing that has conflict.

In a month, I will present to the group my newest revision of the novel about the school shooting.  I anticipate more suggestions about how I can make it better.  Be prepared, everyone.  Writing is not easy. 

Screenwriter Jarrett Rusnak

It has been almost ten years since I wrote a blog.

Thanks to Faheem Khan at Tritrix Inc., I have a new, improved website in which I can entertain people and, at best, give them an insight about writing. Whether you are a seasoned writer or one who is new at the craft, I hope that you find my blogs interesting and perhaps even educational.

A little about myself:

I can remember, at the age of ten, fifty years ago but who’s counting?, I was lured by the sirens of writing and I have never looked back. People have different hobbies and sometimes we can’t always understand them because they don’t appeal to us. Well, writing was mine. My parents weren’t huge readers but they were proud of me and they watched me write, proud that I was being inventive, creative. They gave me my space and I loved them for that.

Over the years, I have had periods when words have shot out of me onto the page. I’ve also had my fallow periods and days when I wonder if the effort is worth it. The answer: certainly. When I wrote something I considered “garbage,” I would throw it out. This is no longer the case. For you aspiring writers, here is my first bit of advice. Don’t throw out anything. Put it aside. Let the seed germinate. It will come back to you. I’ve lost count of the times that I have dug out an old story/poem/novel, continued it and completed it.

I have never been traditionally published. I have had my share of honourable mentions in story-writing contests but there is nothing else beyond those.

I was quite pleased when, 20 years ago, I was informed by a member of the Toronto Star newspaper that my story was in the top 40 of about 2,000 entries in The Toronto Star Short Story Contest. I still deem that as the best story I’ve ever written and have revised it three times, making it more powerful each time. My second bit of advice to you writers: put your finished products aside and when you feel the need, revisit them and revise them. This could be a week after you wrote the first draft. Could be a month, a year, ten years.

I was also thrilled to have three of my stories (in different years) given honourable mentions in the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Contest.

I try to fit in one or two hours a day writing. Easy for me to say since I am retired. Currently, I am working on a novel about a zombie apocalypse, laced with some humour.

Please join me here in my journey in the world of writing.