Roseanna - Roseanna M. White

Word of the Week Revisit – Fall, Autumn, and Harvest

by Roseanna | Sep 26, 2022 | Word of the Week

Original post published October 23, 2017

Saturday as the kids and I were driving Rowyn to a birthday party, they were observing that it was way too warm for fall, and all the trees were still green . . . and Xoë

then said, “I don’t like that we call it fall. It should be autumn. Why did we ever start doing that?”

I knew the basics, but they didn’t begin to satisfy my word-picky daughter (girl after my own heart! LOL), so since today is her birthday and this amazing girl is now 12 (should NOT be possible!), I figured I would do the word of her choice. =)

Not surprising, the primary meaning of fall–“a falling to the ground”–is as old as English itself, dating to Old English in the 1200s. The sense of “autumn” came along in the 1600s, a shortened version of the poetic “fall of the leaf,” a saying that originated round about 1540. In the 1600s, fall was used for the season in England quite often–I assume those English speakers who came to America used it, and it stayed in use here while it fell out of it in England, because these days only the US uses it.

Though let it be noted that autumn isn’t all that much older. Though a word in English from the late 1300s (from the French and the Latin, though its origins are a bit obscure), harvest was actually the word for the season until the 1500s, when autumn began to take over. So it appears that autumn only reigned for about a hundred years before fall entered the scene, and now both are used.

Interestingly, though words for the other seasons all seem to come from a common root across the Indo-European languages, autumn does not. There are a wide variety of words for it that have nothing in common–some that take their roots from “end, end of summer” ideas, and others from the colors that dominate the season, like red, still others with a meaning that hints at the beginning of winter.

Whatever you call the season, I hope you’re enjoying it as much as my autumn-born daughter does! Happy birthday, Xoë!

Xoë at her party yesterday, in Ancient Greek style–complete with a gold laurel crown.

Gone Writing!

by Roseanna | Sep 22, 2022 | Thoughtful Thursdays

It’s that time of year again! The time that I and my best friend/crit partner head out of our towns (1,000 miles apart), meet up at a cute little AirBnB somewhere or another, and do nothing but WRITE for a long weekend! That’s write, it’s Writing Retreat time!

What is a writing retreat?

I’ve shared about quite a few of our retreats over the years, but if you’re new to my world, you may be asking, “What in the world are you talking about? What’s a writing retreat?”

A writing retreat will look different depending on the people. Some people host large groups for a retreat, where there are dedicated times for fellowship, brainstorming, and writing. Sometimes writers will also set up a reader-interaction event to piggyback on their writing time. Others will spend some hours writing but also schedule time for reading, watching movies, or other creative endeavors.

But when Stephanie and I say “Writing Retreat,” what we mean is a long weekend in which we do NOTHING but write. We have no music, no television. When one of us has to take or make a phone call, we go outside so as not to disturb the other. We do brainstorm some, yes, and take daily walks. We chat over meals and at the end of each day. But the main goal of our retreat is to focus on the thing that is often so hard to get done in our everyday lives, with kids and families and community responsibilities all vying for our time: WRITING.

How long do you write a day on a writing retreat?

The beautiful thing about having a retreat with one other good friend who works mostly the same way you do, is that you can do your own thing and also complement each other’s scheduled. I tend to rise a bit earlier than Stephanie, which gives me time to do my Bible reading, clear out my email inbox, and then get my brain in gear. In general, I start my writing day at about 6:30 a.m. when I’m on retreat. We don’t usually wrap up our day until about 9 p.m. So my total writing time is 14-15 hours a day!

Now, that does include breaks for meals and at least one walk or jog a day, so don’t think we’re total couch potatoes! We find that those scheduled breaks, including one really good physical activity, gives our brains time to reset, work out any knots in our plot, and also gives us a chance to update each other on how everything’s going in our fictional worlds and brainstorm.

How much do you write on a retreat?

Our goal on a writing retreat is to hit 10,000 words a day.

To put that in perspective, my usual goal for a normal workday is 2,000 words. Most of my books are between 100-120,000 words. So if I have a 5-day retreat and hit or exceed my daily word count goal, that means I get just about half a book done in that one stretch of time!

Many days I can squeak out 11-12K in a day while on retreat. Other days I’m barely pulling myself over that 10K line at 10 p.m., when my brain is tired and ready for SLEEP.

What are your goals for this retreat?

This year, I’m in a slightly different place than usual. I’m usually working on a book already or have one plotted out to get started on retreat. This year, I just finished book 1 in a series and got the notes on it, but I haven’t yet fully worked out my plot for book 2. So while I like to start my retreat with a chapter-by-chapter outline in hand so I can just sit down and start pounding out words, this year I will be spending the first day or so of the retreat working first on a sample chapter for a project, and then outlining my next Imposters book so I can begin writing it. I hope to still have 3 good days to dedicate to book 2 in the Imposters series, A Noble Scheme. I don’t usually like to play it by ear so much, but it’s been a crazy summer, man, and I’ve been playing catch-up since July! I’ve decided to make use of this dedicated time by giving myself grace to use it as I need, not hold myself to decade-old expectations that no one but me requires of me. Still, my hope is to get that sample chapter done, my outline written, and then get about 30,000 words into my new book, which will get me to about 30% finished. If I manage more than that, I won’t complain! But if I come in a little short, that’s okay too. I really hope this weekend proves to be one of refreshing and inspiration above all.

How many writing retreats have you done?

Wait, did I just say decade-old? Gracious, that’s about right! My first writing retreat with Stephanie was when I was writing Circle of Spies, which came out in 2014, so I would have been writing it in 2013. Nine years! We’ve gotten together all but one of those years when Stephanie had a newborn, so very nearly a decade, yes! I’ve also done one retreat with a group of friends in North Carolina, and several “at-home retreats” where I either go to my parents’ house while they’re out of town (just during the days) or to our office or just my own desk, but with the caveat that no other work is to be done but writing.

I’m sure I’ll check on in social media during the retreat itself, posting updates on how much I’m getting done. If you’d like to follow along and cheer me on, keep an eye out on Facebook and Instagram!

Word of the Week – Legend

by Roseanna | Sep 12, 2022 | Word of the Week

Legend.

We all know what the word means…and my character Bram spends a lot of time in Worthy of Legend pondering what really makes someone worthy to be called a hero, worthy to have stories written and sung and remembered about him or her.

But have you ever paused to wonder about the word itself?

Legend has been around in English since the 1300s, and it originally meant “a narrative dealing with a happening or event.” It’s taken directly from French, which in turn traces back to Latin legenda, which is literally “a story,” especially of the saints. Stories of the lives of saints used to be read at matins and at religious houses, so these stories were called legends…”things to be read.” The Latin root is, not surprisingly, legere, “to read.”

Because it was used in English exclusively at first for lives of saints–full of wonderful and miraculous things–the word soon began to be used to describe mythological, unbelievable, non-historical events as well. I love, though, how closely related the unbelievable and the miraculous have been even in our vocabulary for so long.

What do you think makes someone worthy of legend?

Where We Look

by Roseanna | Sep 8, 2022 | Thoughtful Thursdays

I am under deadline…and on vacation (my goal was not to make those two overlap, but alas! We were hit by sickness, so I now get to finish my book at the beach.) So in short, you’re getting some short-and-sweet musings today.

One thing I’m doing in September is going through some Spiritual Formation exercises with my Patrons & Peers group, led by our resident Spiritual Director, Laura Heagy. She’s starting us off with Colossians 3:1-17. This whole month, we meditate on those same verses, breaking them up into sections if we want, swallowing them whole, reading and rereading, studying, dwelling, reciting, praying them over and again to see what God shows each of us.

This morning, I focused on just the first couple verses:

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

I had no big, earth-shattering thoughts here that I’m sharing…just musing on what others have no doubt mused on countless times. But maybe they’re musings you’d like to share in, so I thought I’d write about them here. 😉

Let’s start with the basics: we were raised with Christ. Christ was literally raised–from the dead, from the tomb, from within the ground. So we too have been raised, resurrected, lifted from the ground–to a new existence, a new place.

Why, then, do we look so often to the things of this earth? To money and power and food and clothes and things? We’re not buried here anymore. We shouldn’t be living under all this rubble.

We have been raised. RAISED. And so, our gazes, our attention needs to be raised too–to Christ. Our eyes should always be on Christ. And where is He? Above, in heaven.

If that’s where He is, then that’s where I should be looking. That’s where our attention needs to stay fixed.

Where are we looking today?

Word of the Week – School

by Roseanna | Sep 5, 2022 | Word of the Week

Today is Labor Day in the US, which is the unofficial start of autumn. Specifically, it marks the beginning of a new school year for American kids (many of whom have already been back to school for a couple weeks). What better time to examine the history of the word? (I first looked at this word back in 2015, so if you’ve been around for a while, you may remember this one!)

The first time I posted about the word school, my daughter was entering 5th grade and my son 2nd. This year, my daughter will be a SENIOR and my son a FRESHMAN! Two highschoolers?! How did this happen??? Those last seven years sure have flown by, and man, has it been a journey in the school realm! The perceived irony of this word, however, continues to delight me, and I’ve been known to remind my groaning kids of it. 😉

So, school.

The word comes from the Latin schola, which interestingly enough originally meant “leisure.” (Cue the dubious looks from my kids, who insist that “school” and “leisure” cannot exist in the same sentence.) But in Roman days, only those who didn’t have to work had the leisure for learning. And in those ancient days, what was the favored pastime when one had leisure? Discussion. Conversation. Philosophy. This is where the idea of leisurely discussions came from, and where it got extended to the place for such conversations. You can see this root reflected in many different languages, and English is no exception.

By the 1300s, the English word was applied not only to this learning and the place where it happens, but also to the students engaged in it. By the 1610s it had been extended to the idea of “people united by similar principles or methods.” Hence, school of thought by the 1860s.

For my own part, I always loved school and hated to miss a day. How about you? School lover or school groaner?