A Vocabulary Test

I saw this post over at Lynn Viehl's blog and had to follow the links to this vocabulary test. 

My result ...

I fit in the average native English speaker range. Interested in where you land? Head on over and get your estimate.

I Don't Love Revisions ... yet

I don't even like revisions. Other writers at least enjoy this part of the process. Not me.

Planning, creating, writing the story -- no problem. It's the unending search for weak structure, lame verbs, and lazy characters that seems insurmountable. Could be because I'm still learning the writing process and all that goes with it, like this revising thing. Or maybe I rebel because I was raised to do something right the first time, and having to revise is an admission that it wasn't right. And how do I know if it was right or not?

Mt. Everest Photo by Chris Walker Innerwealth

Hence reading the writing craft books lately and reviewing my two Holly Lisle writing courses, most of it not yet ingrained in my brain or writing process. So, all that information just adds up to a checklist from hell. And I have that checklist printed out next to me, glaring in its sheet protectors, along with the thick stack of my planning sheets, a paper notebook, a pen, my digital notebook (my computer + tablet), and my manuscript hard-copy. Doesn't it all seem like Mt. Everest?

So, no more procrastinating with digital photos, the kids chores, my household chores, Kindle books, Deadliest Catch, knitting, Scrabble, this blog post.

Who knows? Maybe I'll like the revision process ... once I'm done with it. (And, please, don't remind me that EVERY story has revision, that won't help.)

I Love Research

I do.

I love all aspects of researching: asking questions, digging for answers, talking to experts, just learning new things. If I could be a professional student, always taking classes just so I would be learning something all the time, I would. Given my interests, my class list would be all over the map ... music theory, language, history, art, musical performance, movie production, photography, engineering, bio-materials, patent law, eugenics, ethics, chemistry, technology.

So, anytime I can quench my thirst for research, I indulge. Like for my writing.

I've begun revising another one of my novels, so I need to research the technical aspects of the story ... computer hacking, identity theft, and law enforcement. Fun stuff.☺ And makes the many hours of listening to Security Now! payoff in an unexpected way.

But what makes this particular bout of research so fulfilling is that I'm reconnecting with an old friend, one who will hopefully agree to be one of the experts I go to for information.

Just one more reason to love research, and of course, writing.

A Last Sentence

"... And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." Excerpt from the US Declaration of Independence.