From Three Words Around a Campfire to Fiction

I’ve wanted to write fiction for as long as I can remember. The trouble was, wanting to write a story and actually having a story worth reading seemed to be two very different things.

At one point, as an older teen, I started writing a satirical piece about Quebec separating from Canada and turning itself into a militarized state. Having lived in Quebec, I figured I had enough background to have some fun with the idea. I got started, but somewhere along the way, the usual questions crept in. What exactly was I going to write about? Where is this story going to go? And even if I came up with a good idea, how on earth would I turn it into a story people would actually want to read?

Those questions kept me from getting very far.

Then further along (much further) I became a father.

Thomas and Friends

Reading was an important part of family life. We wanted our kids to grow up loving books, so we read to them, encouraged them to read for themselves, and told stories at bedtime. I particularly enjoyed making up bedtime stories for Zach, often involving Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. These weren’t just tales about trains rushing around the island. There was usually a problem to solve, and the solution involved cooperation, friendship, and a bit of perseverance. The characters had to work together, help one another, and keep going when things didn’t go according to plan.

It was a good excuse to make up adventures at bedtime, and I enjoyed it every bit as much as he did. Looking back, I suppose I was learning something about storytelling without realizing it: give your characters a problem, make them work for the solution, and leave everyone with something worth remembering.

But one of my favourite storytelling memories comes from family camping trips.

Milli Vanilli and 3 Word Stories

We had a game we played around the campfire called three-word stories. Three people would each contribute a word. The fourth person had to take those three words and make up a story on the spot.

There was no time to plan a plot, develop a character, or worry about whether the premise was commercially viable. You got your three words, and you had to make something out of them. Sometimes the result was ridiculous. That was rather the point.

I loved it. I think my kids did too. Their favourite was a story I made up with Milli Vanilli and a melon baller. Please don’t ask… And the last time we camped together, my daughter wanted to do a 3 word story. And she’s 18 now!

Looking back, I think those evenings taught me something about storytelling that I’d been overthinking for years. You don’t necessarily need to begin with a grand idea or a perfectly formed plot. Sometimes you just need a few ingredients, a willingness to see where they take you, and the confidence to keep going. And not a little perseverance.

Of course, turning a three-word campfire story into a novel is a somewhat different undertaking. There are a few more details to worry about, including what happens to your characters after the first amusing idea runs out. And readers tend to expect a little more than a satisfying ending before the marshmallows burn.

Still, somewhere between those bedtime stories, the campfire games, and that abandoned Quebec satire, the idea of writing fiction began to feel less like an impossible ambition and more like something I might actually do.

Eventually, I did.

My Imaginary Muses

These days, my stories tend to involve a young dancer encountering things that probably shouldn’t exist, or a twelve-year-old prodigy getting involved in international espionage. Not quite Thomas the Tank Engine, admittedly, although some days I suspect Thomas had the easier job.

The urge to tell stories was there all along. It just took me a while to figure out what to do with it.

And really, I’m still figuring that out. Fortunately, I have plenty of imaginary people available to get into trouble while I do.

Welcome to The Reading Room. I’ll share a few more stories from the writing life here, along with the research, inspirations, odd discoveries, and occasional detours that find their way into my books. No three-word story required — although I can’t promise I won’t try one on you eventually.