Tools of the Trade
My favourite time of the day is when I hear the sounds of my postman’s motorbike as he comes up the hill toward my house. My excitement heightens when he pulls into the drive, his engine stops and I hear him walk .toward my door. The loud rattle of the screen with his knock is quickly answered, as I started making my way to the door as soon as I heard his engine cut out. Opening the door I know what is waiting for me……it’s a book! Well not always, occasionally it is something I’ve ordered for one of my sons birthdays or Christmas presents for others, and before you ask the answer is yes. I definitely have a small online shopping addiction. Trust me when I say though that the way it earns the addiction title is through the amount of books I buy and because of this I see it as a healthy addiction, one to feed!
This week I have had the pleasure of opening not one but two packages. Both investments in tools that will not only build my skills as a writer but also my confidence. The first to arrive was my combined Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus. I know what you are thinking, you can use the online version. I am old school though and I need to see books, hold them in my hands and smell that fresh parchment. I am pleased to say that when I shared this with my sons, my youngest drank in that smell of the new edition to my book family like he was smelling a newborn baby, or more aptly when it comes to him, a large plate of freshly cooked spaghetti bolognaise he was about to devour.
My second addition to the family was The Australian Handbook for Writers and Editors: Grammar usage and punctuation by Margaret McKenzie. That’s right, I’m going back to basics. My English teacher from High School would no doubt delight in my excitement of rediscovering nouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositions, conjunction and all the other delights that await me. They are old friends and I am taking my time to welcome them back into my present, instead of them fading into the background of everyday use.
So let this be a warning to you all, my ramblings now will no doubt be filled with practice and connection with these old friends. It ill be like a reimagined version of an old movie or soundtrack. Unlike other remakes though I am confident that this one will be better than the first! Oh and for all of you who have picked out all the grammar and usage errors in my work in this blog piece, it is just evidence of the need to sharpen my tools.