
Norman Thomson began his writing journey as a youngster, when he devoured pulp stories as eagerly as kids eat ice cream. Superman and Batman comics, Zane Grey westerns, E.R. Burroughs' Tarzan series, the Hardy Boys mysteries, all fired his imagination. Without realizing, he was internalizing the basics of effective storytelling: narrative drive, dialog, conflict, characterization, setting, suspense. His rousing Grade 7 yearbook story, Tarzan's Revenge, anticipated the later cruelties visited on African wildlife.
In early adulthood, he turned to commercial magazine writing, in part to record frequent travel experiences. As a point of challenge each travel- and history-themed script featured a person or place of dramatic interest, with conflict[s], struggle and resolution. As well, he embraced the stimulation of offering clean, precise copy. Sincere editorial work was his responsibility—and much appreciated by magazine bosses.
Now, in retirement, he has gratefully found haven in flash and micros. The attempt to shine a momentary light on human experience in 50 - 1000 words offers unique challenges and pleasures: choice of inciting moment, motivation, word choice, resolution and more. His scripts begin with an idea or notable incident from recreational or news reading, which he then carries for a time in his head where the narrative shapes itself. This competition entry needed fifteen minutes to inscribe, two weeks to grow internally. Three editing sessions took it from 136 words, to 119, 111, then completion at 100. The goodbye moment.
Interview with Norman Thomson
about his story "Writing Life"
Silver Winner in The Scribes Prize
What inspired this piece?
'Writing Life' emerged from my longstanding interest in, and reading about, personal narratives from the Holocaust. The instinct for survival amidst human catastrophe is one of humanity's strongest urges. Facing relentless and unending carnage, the protagonist Grusmann seeks to find hope for his [and prisoners'] suffering by offering hope to his fellow inmates. I remain intrigued with the extraordinary attention to daily detail and organization within the Nazi death camps, an obsession with Berlin bureaucrats and individual prison commandants.
What draws you to the micro fiction format?
The form demands immediacy straightaway. No preliminary banter, no stalling. Further, a tight command of diction and phraseology. I enjoy the search for a title that captures the essence of the script. Gausmann the scribe was 'writing death' in his ledgers but strived to save his soul by 'writing life' in his secret encouragements to other inmates.
Who are some authors who inspire you?
Elmore Leonard: For his creation of hapless, comic villains within a brief scene. For his rapid narrative pacing. For his effortless, relentless suspense.
William Trevor: He can take the mundane, unremarkable, habitual lives of ordinary people and show them consumed, regretful, twisted by secret behaviors, indecision and morally ambiguous choices somewhere in their lives.
The anonymous poet of Beowulf: ["In off the moors, down through the mist bands / God-cursed Grendel came greedily loping."]
This masterwork of medieval Old English has everything: monsters, a harassed dragon, hoarded treasure, rousing warrior conflicts, betrayals, epic battles, and more. Any brief segment of text can serve for fruitful writers' workshopping and modelling: narrative drive, pacing, characterization, conflict. And so many effective rhetorical devices, to make a writer's heart turn over in appreciation.
'Writing Life' emerged from my longstanding interest in, and reading about, personal narratives from the Holocaust. The instinct for survival amidst human catastrophe is one of humanity's strongest urges. Facing relentless and unending carnage, the protagonist Grusmann seeks to find hope for his [and prisoners'] suffering by offering hope to his fellow inmates. I remain intrigued with the extraordinary attention to daily detail and organization within the Nazi death camps, an obsession with Berlin bureaucrats and individual prison commandants.
What draws you to the micro fiction format?
The form demands immediacy straightaway. No preliminary banter, no stalling. Further, a tight command of diction and phraseology. I enjoy the search for a title that captures the essence of the script. Gausmann the scribe was 'writing death' in his ledgers but strived to save his soul by 'writing life' in his secret encouragements to other inmates.
Who are some authors who inspire you?
Elmore Leonard: For his creation of hapless, comic villains within a brief scene. For his rapid narrative pacing. For his effortless, relentless suspense.
William Trevor: He can take the mundane, unremarkable, habitual lives of ordinary people and show them consumed, regretful, twisted by secret behaviors, indecision and morally ambiguous choices somewhere in their lives.
The anonymous poet of Beowulf: ["In off the moors, down through the mist bands / God-cursed Grendel came greedily loping."]
This masterwork of medieval Old English has everything: monsters, a harassed dragon, hoarded treasure, rousing warrior conflicts, betrayals, epic battles, and more. Any brief segment of text can serve for fruitful writers' workshopping and modelling: narrative drive, pacing, characterization, conflict. And so many effective rhetorical devices, to make a writer's heart turn over in appreciation.