JAWS FACTS

The 1975 Steven Spielberg film, Jaws, was based on the novel by Peter Benchley. Benchley had always been fascinated with sharks and sold the idea for Jaws to editors based on a one-page outline.

During the writing process, there were supposedly over 200 possible titles including ‘Silence in the Water’ and ‘What’s That Noshin’ on My Laig?’. Initial ideas to promote the book included sending a real shark tooth to reviewers. However, the idea fell through once the publishers realised a genuine shark tooth would cost more than AUD $60.

CATAWAMPUS

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word ‘Catawampus’ is an adjective referring to something going wrong or awry. The term originates from the mid-1800s when it was used to describe diagonal movement.

HISTORY OF THE CHAPTER

Have you ever wondered why books have chapters? Well, originally they didn’t. According to Professor Nicholas Dames, the first text featuring chapters was a Roman piece of law from 2nd century BCE. At this time text was written without any separation between words, but in the 4th century, words and paragraphs began being divided by scholars and monks.

Chapter style evolved from 2nd century to now, from short and uneven chapters to an essential part of a writer’s process and a novel’s rhythm and timing.