Don’t Contemplate Hobbits Alone
Tolkien loved ancient literature. He felt it had a texture that I feel he brought to his own work. His lectures on Beowulf were legendary at Oxford capturing the sense and flavor of the Nordic Great Halls where it was first recited.
We may never achieve that kind of texture in our writing, but we must be excused. Modern education allows no time to bathe in the ancient languages and forgotten legends. But I digress…
Professor Tolkien did something with his time that improved his craft and can improve ours as well. He was part of writing groups. The most famous, The Inklings, included C.S. Lewis.
You probably should write in a vacuum, but you need to edit in the world. Find a writers’ group and get a second and third opinion. Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence alone, but the Congress put it in final form. You see authors thank editors and family and friends all the time. If your work needs work, why not find out from a group of fellow enthusiasts, rather than a series of form letter rejections?
But don’t just take my advice. The Bible says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Prov 27:17) That comes from a pretty good authority.
