Congratulations, Sir Terry Pratchett!

About a month ago (I really am that behind), I received an email that revealed that author Terry Pratchett had won the Margaret A. Edwards Award “for a significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.” I was excited for several reasons:

A disc, atop four elephants, on the shell of a giant turtle- the Great A'Tuin.

1) I adore Terry Pratchett. He’s a genius.

2) I had decided a few weeks before that I was going to bring his works to the blog and justify them as young adult. He has a few books in that section of the bookstore, but I was going to make the case for his canon.

3) Now I can do the second without worrying about making a case. It’s already made.

 

This is exciting stuff. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, Terry Pratchett is the creator of Discworld, among many other works. His Discworld series is what I will primarily review in upcoming posts. He’s a British author with dozens of books published, numerous awards (including being knighted) and honorary doctorates. He’s something of a national treasure and a literary treasure. His books are hysterical satires that play with everything=- and I mean everything. Philosophy, religion, logic, social structures, psychology, sociology, quirks of people, existentialism, individualism, feminism, and any other “ism” you may like. He comments on them quickly and moves on in many cases, while working out others a bit more thoroughly. They’re brilliant for classes or just for amusement.

I was especially pleased to find out that they singled out two of my favourite Pratchetts: Equal Rites and Mort. These I will review very soon, in addition to one of the other singled-out works: Going Postal. I listened to this on audio after my recent eye surgery (couldn’t actually read), and found it very interesting. There is a lot going on with this work as well.

But for now, Inklings would like to emphasize it’s congratulations to Sir Terry Pratchett for his new recognition. I’m so pleased to have so  many reasons to talk about his work on upcoming posts.

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Lessons Learned

I had eye surgery about a month ago, and I haven’t been able to do as much computer work. This killed me, because I had a few things to blog about and lost the ability. How frustrating!

That said, my first post-op blog is going to be about lessons in writing. I recently finished a short piece (not my usual) in a fanfic (not my usual) chicklit (still, not my usual, but might become more usual before long) and submitted it for a contest (now it’s time to star the calendar). I haven’t gotten a reply yet (obviously), but I already have learned lessons.

They’re pretty obvious: First, don’t write on the fly. Sometimes this works. Deadlines can help (I rejected them before, but the pressure can help), but waiting until the pressure is too “on” may not be wise.

Second, and much more importantly, don’t skip your proofreaders. I didn’t skip proofreading… I read it over and over and over and over like everyone does. I found a lot of things and fixed them. I’m talking about your proofreaders. If you don’t have one or two, get them. I have two very regular and several semi-regular. Because of the deadline (see Lesson 1), I just proofed it myself. Then they read it. They both found (different) large errors. Clear desk, apply head. Repeat step 2. Do I still foolishly hope? Naturally. It wouldn’t be the writing world if we didn’t foolishly hope against hope.

Thirdly, don’t write when you’re blind or having trouble seeing (unless you dictate). If you are having trouble with your vision, whether you dictate or not, emphasize Lesson 2.

So, back to the computer, the notebook, and the magic pen.