Building Bicycles in the Dark: A Practical Guide to Writing

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Writing is perhaps the loneliest art. People who wish to learn how to be
writers have to make do with scattered part-time courses or enrol in
such programs as journalism, public relations, or divinity, which use
writing as part of their curriculum but do not teach writing for writing
itself. John B. Lee is a former teacher and award-winning poet. This
book is meant to be a practical guide for both aspiring writers and
those who teach creative writing.

The text is divided into two sections. Part 1, “Chasing the
Feeling,” examines how to become a writer from the first bite of the
writing bug to finding a publisher. Part 2, “Sending Yourself to the
School of Yourself,” is, in the author’s words, “a series of
practical exercises in writing.” More accurately, it is an in-depth
study of poetry and how to write it. Only three small chapters at the
end of the section discuss prose writing. That said, Lee’s book is not
to be dismissed as a mere poetry primer trying to pass itself off as a
writer’s handbook. The exercises he offers are guaranteed to get the
creative juices flowing. His advice on writing associations and
essential writing resources is sound. The tone of his prose, in general,
is exactly what a newbie wordsmith needs to hear—kind, witty, and
informative.

What is missing is the warning that it is nearly impossible to make a
living as a writer in Canada, and in this sense, this book is not really
a “practical” guide. Rather, Building Bicycles in the Dark is a fine
book for people who see writing as a spiritual vocation, not a
bread-and-butter career.