Summer Reading: Pause for Script-reading, Writing, and Work

I've mentioned that my summer reading list includes my classmates' plays and screenplays. As of today, I've finally finished... one. I was introduced to these characters in class, so I'm glad I finally found out what happened to them. And the screenwriter/classmate did not to take the cruelest course, so I only got a little teary (if you're reading this, friend, thank you for having mercy). She put the main character through some rough stuff.

My friends and I have decided that our creative writing education teaches us to kill and cause emotional trauma. We can be kind of mean to each other. There's another screenplay waiting in my inbox that I know will make me pout, because we already read a death scene in class.

I think I can read one more script tonight, or at least get a good start...

My other excuses for not reading an actual book this week:

• I started my summer job last Thursday. I still have my volunteering, too.
• I've spent time writing. I'm brainstorming my next big writing project. I have to hurry. I only have a couple weeks of freedom in which to solidify a new idea. Then, I start revising the draft I finished last week. I need to prioritize that, so I can make serious progress before school resumes.
• Monday's blog post took several hours... okay, so it always takes a fair amount of time. But this one was different. Instead of writing about a single anime, I addressed why critical thinking is vital for anime fans. It took longer than I expected.

Oh, but I did crack open a book about the Oxford English Dictionary's first editor and one of the key contributing writers. Apparently, this key writer did his work from an insane asylum. So that's interesting. Also, the epigraph to the first chapter was the OED entry for "murder" (or at least part of the entry—some of those entries are really, really long). This is going to be a fun read.

For those of you who aren't English majors: the OED is an extremely comprehensive dictionary that takes up several volumes (thankfully, there's an online version that I have access to during the school year). Definitions include the words' origins, how they've evolved, and more. If I remember right, the entry for "if" spanned more than a page.

Yes, I'm a nerd. But you knew that already.

Thank you for taking the time to read my rambles. My posts on this blog are increasingly low priority. Sorry about that. I might read the OED book and more Harry Potter by next week. Or I might choose to focus on these scripts. Either way, I'll check in.