From Rejected Books to Bonding Stories

When I was growing up, my dad bought me my own complete set of Tolkien books — The Hobbit and the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.

And I just about gagged!

My parents were divorced, so my dad had NO CLUE what I actually liked. To be fair, I tried very diligently to have nothing to do with him, but he kept sending gifts anyway.

He loved fantasy, so he probably thought I did too. (Or maybe he was just trying to expand my literary horizons and possibly bond with me over something we could share.)

Whatever his reason, I HATED those books before I even opened them.

First, I didn’t read fantasy. Second, to a little kid, Tolkien’s books are LONG! I mean, I was reading Nancy Drew, The Babysitter’s Club, and Fear Street. Those were series of individual books, not VOLUMES. And Lord of the Rings is basically one massive story divided into THREE BOOKS!

I remember looking at the image on the set’s binding and rolling my eyes, telling my mom, “He has to be kidding, right?”

There was NO WAY I was about to crack open books about trolls and goblins and short people with furry feet!

I could tell my mom was a little disappointed. I think she knew I’d probably enjoy them if I gave them a chance. And I probably would’ve at least tried The Hobbit if she’d bought them for me. But they came from my dad, and I couldn’t stand him back then.

I was seconds away from tossing them in the trash. But if you knew my mom (or read my post, “A Family Legacy of Book Love”), then you know she didn’t believe in throwing books away. Ever.

So off to the library they went. I donated them without reading a single page.

Fast forward about two decades to when Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy hit theaters.

The Fellowship of the Ring was everywhere. Burger King had teamed up with the franchise and put out commercials ad nauseam! Every commercial break brought another LOTR advertisement.

I was surrounded!

Then they aired a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the first movie, hosted by an actor I liked. I decided to watch it.

And I was hooked.

I wanted to see the movie immediately.

And I did.

And I loved it!

Then I saw and loved the second and third films, and when Jackson adapted The Hobbit, I loved those too!

I remember telling a librarian about my complete transformation and asking, “I’m guessing the books follow the movies pretty closely, right? It’s such a popular trilogy, I doubt they’d want to mess with something that has a cult following.”

The librarian just gave me a look that said, “Uh... not quite.”

That’s when I knew I had to read the books! And then I felt incredibly guilty because I’d donated the very books my dad had given me years earlier.

So I checked each one out from the library and read them one after another.

My dad was right to give them to me. The books were SO different from the movies, but they were both wonderful in their own ways.

That’s when I bought my own complete set to replace the ones I’d so carelessly given away.

Today, things have been beautifully mended between my dad and me, thanks to God Who told me when I rededicated my life to Jesus that I had to work on forgiving my father for the past.

Now when my dad comes to visit, we have a new tradition. Over his last three stays, he and I have watched each movie in The Hobbit trilogy together.

On his next visits, we’ll work through each Lord of the Rings film and then move on to Amazon Prime’s The Rings of Power.

Those books I rejected so harshly as a child have become part of the bridge bringing my father and me together as adults.

Sometimes the best gifts are the ones we’re not ready to receive when they’re first offered.

My dad’s intuition about sharing something he loved with his daughter was absolutely right — it just took me twenty years to appreciate it.

Every writer probably got her start by writing in her diary, so why wouldn’t we honor Dear Diary Day — the observance dedicated to the activity that set so many of us novelists on our career paths?

Writing in your diary is a time-honored method of confession, dreaming, and venting for young people everywhere.

We tell our diaries EVERYTHING, even things we wouldn’t tell our best friends.

Without realizing it, diary writing becomes a crash course in creative writing techniques:

We learn descriptive writing when we tell our diaries all about the cute boys at school, listing their every positive, knee-buckling trait in excruciating detail.

We practice writing conflict scenes when we vent about fights with our friends, capturing every dramatic word and hurt feeling.

We master emotional writing when we pour out our hearts about feeling misunderstood, promising dramatically that we’ll never talk to our parents again because they just can’t possibly understand what it’s like to be our age!

Diary writing teaches us to capture emotions authentically, to record dialogue naturally, and to chronicle events with personal perspective.

We learn to write with voice and personality because we’re writing for ourselves, without worrying about impressing anyone else.

Most importantly, diary writing establishes the daily habit of putting thoughts into words — the fundamental skill every professional writer needs to develop.

So here’s to the crash course in creative writing that young people experience without having any clue that’s what they’re doing!

As a professional proofreader, I can’t describe how important National Punctuation Day is for everyone, especially those reared in the mobile age.

How many people today have no clue about proper punctuation because they’ve grown up texting? It’s honestly the bane of a functioning, intelligent society!

Punctuation plays such a crucial role in storytelling. One misplaced comma can completely destroy the rhythm in a suspenseful scene. One overlooked quotation mark can utterly confuse readers during dialogue.

I know this from painful personal experience.

I once read a book where there was a missing quotation mark in a dialogue scene. I must have read that page over and over, trying to figure out what was happening. Who was talking? Was this internal thought or spoken dialogue?

It was only when I finally realized, “Oh! There should be quotation marks here!” that I could re-read the page and have it FINALLY make sense.

One tiny missing mark had completely derailed my reading experience and pulled me right out of the story.

Punctuation is an overlooked gift to both writers and readers.

For writers, it’s the tool that allows us to control pacing, indicate pauses, show emphasis, and guide readers through our thoughts exactly as we intend them to be understood.

For readers, punctuation provides the roadmap that makes complex sentences navigable and ensures that the story flows smoothly from one idea to the next.

If you want to improve your punctuation skills (and everyone can benefit from a refresher), I highly recommend two excellent books:

• Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss

• The Best Punctuation Book, Period by June Casagrande

Both make the seemingly dry subject of punctuation engaging and memorable.

What connects these three seemingly different observances?

They all represent different aspects of how we connect with language and stories.

The Hobbit represents the power of beloved narratives to bring people together across generations and heal relationships.

Diary writing shows how personal expression becomes the foundation for larger storytelling ambitions.

And punctuation demonstrates how technical precision serves the art of clear communication.

Each of these elements contributes to the larger literary ecosystem we all participate in.

Great stories like Tolkien’s become shared cultural touchstones that create bonds between people.

Personal writing develops the skills that future authors will use to create those stories.

And proper punctuation ensures that when those stories are told, they’re understood exactly as intended.

In honor of these three observances, here’s a triple challenge for you:

For Hobbit Day: Share a beloved book or movie with someone in your family, especially if you think they might not initially be interested. Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that take time to appreciate.

For Dear Diary Day: Start or return to personal writing. Whether it’s a traditional diary, a digital journal, or just regular reflective writing, give yourself that space to practice putting thoughts into words without judgment.

For National Punctuation Day: Pay attention to punctuation in your writing, whether it’s emails, texts, or creative projects. Notice how proper punctuation helps your meaning come across clearly.

Remember, the impact of these activities might not be immediately apparent.

I had no idea that rejecting then embracing The Hobbit would eventually become a bonding experience with my father.

Young diary writers don’t realize they’re developing professional writing skills.

And people learning proper punctuation don’t always see how it improves every aspect of their written communication.

But over time, these small literary practices compound into larger gifts — stronger relationships, better writing abilities, and clearer communication with everyone around us.