I've taken another week off of writing. Between work, hitting the gym (again) and other things, I've just not had the time. There are, I'm told, only twenty-four hours in a day. We really should look into changing this because I have twenty-six hours worth of things to do in any given day. Thirty-four, if you count sleeping (and I really need to). However, I'm back to poking things on my keyboard so we'll see how I do.
The title of the blog isn't about my lack of time, however. The title is a nod to a rather common concern I've received about 'Runesward'. The correct term for an archer placing an arrow against the bowstring is called 'nocking an arrow'. In Runesward, I've gone with 'notching an arrow'. Let me clear up the confusion.
The groove in the rear of the arrow is called a 'notch'. I took archery lessons as a kid many years ago and, honestly, I couldn't recall what term was used. Instead, I went on the internet and looked it up - the term I found, at the time, was 'notching an arrow' (in hindsight, I'm not perfectly certain this was placing the arrow on the bowstring or carving a groove into the arrow but...). When a reader first approached me about my incorrect term, I went to a colleague whom I'd just found out TEACHES archery to kids on the weekends. I asked him about it and he indicated the 'absolute correct' term is "nocking an arrow". HOWEVER, he also told me the two are used interchangeably by both teachers and students...so I can use whichever I want.
So, I'm going to leave it alone. For now. Going forward, I'll try to be more diligent about using the absolute correct term.