Bad Blogger!

I wish I had some form of excuse for not updating and beyond the usual 'Trying to keep up with life' I don't have many. So let's just boil it down to 'It's the Masters' fault' and leave it at that.

I meant the academic...oh never mind!

So much has happened since January that I cannot hope to pack it all into one tiny blog but I will try. First of all, it's now June so that means DISSERTATION TIME!

I'll give you a moment to contain your excitement.

Yes Mr Panther. We feel your joy.

I've been working on it for about a month and I've almost got a first draft up and running. Of course, I haven't quite hit the word count yet but that's what first drafts are for. Figuring out where something needs to be elaborated on and where mistakes have been made. I will admit that it is somewhat disturbing to realise exactly how many words have been written for this and that this will (probably) be the last academic thing I do. For a while at least. After all, you never really stop learning.

It's been made very clear to me during my second piece of news which involves an amateur publication. I'm in charge of editing a collective of short stories and poetry written by some very talented writers from the university. I have a small crew of three other students, and we have divided out the work and pretty much gone to town. I have to say, it's rather fun to be making suggestions to a writer to help them develop their craft. Of course in a few weeks I may be regretting those words. After all, the editing process only really works if a writer is willing to take suggestions into consideration and work with the editor.

A strange concept to most people but it's true. A writer never works alone (or at least they shouldn't). As anyone who has ever written anything, be it blog, essay, book or article, there comes a point when you hit a wall. This may either be writer's block or the editing process. In both cases, you need help. Someone to give the inspiration a kick-start or to help you refine what you have. When you don't have that outsider's opinion, it is very easy to get lost. Believe me, I know!

It won't be long now until I start making steps to look for work in the Big Bad World, but for now I am taking a break from work and watching Julie & Julia. I'm about a quarter of the way in and feeling rather hungry. This is why it is essential to have some form of snack whenever you come into contact with a form of media that is talking about cooking!

If you don't feel a little bit peckish when you see this, you're lying!