Winter has turned to spring.

The last few days have been the kind of days that remind me why I live where I do. After months of tredging through snow to get to work, pushing a grocery cart through slush and muck in the parking lot, the snow has gone and the air is fresh. Ok, the snow has gone for the most part, there are still random piles where snow was piled. The Locks still have chunks of ice and it looks like a slushy, but the shipping season is well underway and things are moving again. Neighbors we have not seen all winter are outside, happy to have the fresh air too. There is movement. Winter here has a stillness to it, things come to a stop, businesses close for the winter. Spring comes and things are moving again. I can't imagine living somewhere without seasons, without this rhythm of life.

It is difficult to believe that I am in the last two weeks of my degree program at SNHU. I have the day off from work and am spending the day organizing and gearing up for the final sprint to the finish. I am looking forward to finishing, and yet I know there is a part of me that is going to miss my classes very much. I will no longer be tied to such a strict schedule yet I need to have the discipline to continue writing on a daily basis so I can get my novel completed and begin submitting it to agents. 

This week's discussion prompt led to to ponder about my revision process. Not editing, but revision. I pulled one of the books from my reading list for this term, and found a wonderful quote. 

"Submitting a novel without rewriting is like playing ice hockey naked. You’re just not equipped to put your best, um, face on things. And sooner rather than later a well-placed puck is going to hit you where it hurts most” (192).

Bell, James Scott. Revision and Self-Editing: Techniques for transforming your first draft into a

            finished novel. Cincinnatti: Writer’s Digest Books, 2008. Print.

 

Sharpies

I have recently discovered the joy of journaling with Sharpies. I would recommend the Ultra Fine if you are going to buy some for this purpose. It is nice to grab something with a bit of color to write with after working on a computer all day and using black ink on paperwork. You can also pick a color to match your mood. One is never too old to have color!

If I could talk to J.R.R. Tolkien

My assignment for class this week was an interesting one. If you could talk to any author, living or dead, for ten minutes, what three questions would you ask him or her?

Since I am now obsessed with The Hobbit, I chose J.R.R. Tolkien.

J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973. Given the opportunity to ask him three questions, these are the three I would ask.

1. In an interview on BBC Radio 4 in 1971 you said that “I always in writing start with a name. Give me a name and it produces a story, not the other way about normally.” I find this the opposite of how I do things and I wonder where you get your names from. I often have a difficult time coming up with names for my characters that fit them.

2. You made up a whole world inside your head, and you even drew maps. With this whole world inside your head filled with amazing characters, did you ever find yourself choosing the company of the people in your head over the ones you were with in reality?

3. Are you pleased with the movies that have been made from your books? I wanted to know if the vision on the screen matched the vision in your head.

Tolkien, J.R.R Interview by Dennis Gerrolt. Now Read On. BBC. BBC Radio 4, Jan. 1971.

     Radio.