WHEN HE was pestered with fatuous questions about how he wrote, William Faulknerwould often ramble on about building chicken coops. His answer was designed todemystify the daily routine of shaping narrative planks and nailing downcharacters, but it was interpreted as either wily or weirdly profound. Eveninveterate readers often refuse to believe that writing is a matter of learninga craft through hard, practical labour. In A Passion for Narrative, Jack Hodgins successfullystrips away the layers of airy idealism that usually surround the craft offiction writing, and he manages to retain a sense of sheer enthusiasm formaking and moulding great stories. After a brief introduction that outlines hisown background and the beginnings of his passion for writing, Hodgins says that this book sets out to impartsome of the things he`s learned from both success and failure in writing. Fromthe start he emphasizes hard work. Then, in case anyone is still a little giddywith notions about divine inspiration and easy ways to write, he has a bluntwarning: "If you aren`t already passionately eager to write fiction, youprobably shouldn`t read any further. It`s going to be a lot of work." The hard work begins at the beginning -"Getting Started:Finding Stories Meant For You" is the title Hodgins gives to the chapter about accumulatingmaterial. The chapter is crammed with lists, examples of good stories found innewspapers, and, of course, exercises to do. There`s a list of opening phrasesthat might be continued by a beginning writer, and the second phrase is"If I Were Prime Minister...." There is something poignant aboutimagining a young writer deciding to have a go at that one - it could turn intosatire, horror, or glorious comedy. Thereby, the basicenchantment of writing is revealed. Step by step, Hodgins nags at wanna be writers to get theirtools in order. He encourages a sort of loving fussiness over basic words.Reading his chapters on setting, character, and plot is rather like watching acarpenter divulge to a wary apprentice the possible uses and abuses of hammersand nails. Behind it all is the possibility that a gorgeous shape will emergeif the greatest care and respect is shown. Time after time Hodgins circles back to ask the writer topractise and then try again from a different angle. Now, not everyone who might be intriguedby A Passion for Narrative is necessarily prepared to begin writing a novel orshort story. Part of the book`s great strength is its many examples of otherwriters` work and their explanations of how they work. Even better, there areextensive suggestions for further reading. Hodgins has read widely and remembered every fine passage that he`sever discovered. About 150 writers are mentioned, quoted, or discussed in A Passionfor Narrative, andthe long list of recommended books at the end is a quintessential library ofmodem fiction. There are writers here from all over the world, and it isgratifying to see that Hodgins hasno nationalist bias Atwood comes immediately after Thea Astley of Australia and Thomas King follows James Joyce in thealphabetical list. If Hodgins hasread widely enough to know the Irish writer Thomas Kilroy`s great butlittle-known novel The Big Chapel, then his reading has taken him to the excellentas well as the exotic. Finally, Hodgins offers what he calls "The Story ofa Story." He dwells at length on the origins, the maturation, and the endof "Spit Delaney`s Island." He explains in detail how the storystarted, how it stalled, and how he slowly came to terms with it. There arestartling glimpses here of a real writer at work. When he talks about theVancouver Island setting, Hodgins says, "Any place that interests me must be stared at until I canglimpse what it must mean to those who live there." With that comment heechoes a remark of Flannery O`Connor`s that appears much earlier in the book.She suggested that writers have to be a little stupid, because they need tostare and stare at something until they understand it fully. It doesn`t matterif the echo is unconsciously included. Both O`Connor and Hodgins mean the same thing: that real writerswrite with pain and painstaking care. Hodgins convinces any reader that the passion he puts in his titleis worth all the pain.