"Beyond his much-beloved books, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien was a poet, philologist, translator, and inventor of languages. His letters, collected in The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, are particularly illuminating, as they offer a glimpse of Tolkien as a writer—one who was often in need of precious, uninterrupted time to write. And though few of these letters are directed to other writers about writing, they reveal some important truths about the craft."
Thus begins an article by Lindsey Weishar over at Word on Fire.
She goes on to note:
"For those of us who write, Tolkien offers a realistic approach to the writing life. Very few of us will be completely free to write as much as we wish. We have families who need us, day jobs to attend to, and obligations to ourselves and others that come with living life. There is beauty in picking up our joys (be that writing or another form of creativity) in the odd hours; so too, there is beauty in the call to the sometimes sacrifice of pouring ourselves out in other ways. Indeed, perhaps that is what makes works like Tolkien’s so rich: The stories lived in him so long and accompanied him throughout his life."
She further says:
"Though writing is often a solitary art, Tolkien’s life demonstrates that our ideas can come to full fruition only when we allow others to enter into them. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings appeared before the Inklings, and Tolkien speaks of the debt of gratitude he owed to C. S. Lewis for his encouragement. The Hobbit became a long-form story Tolkien told his children, and he relied on his children, and the son of his publisher, Rayner Unwin, then a young boy, to offer their feedback on The Hobbit. During World War II, he sent parts of Lord of the Rings to his son, Christopher Tolkien, both to comfort Christopher and because Tolkien valued his opinion."
The rest of the article is a good read - especially for those who would be writers!
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