Deborah Hall-Branch
An author with a unique sense of writing that makes it hard to define her to any specific genre. Sometimes Fantasy. Sometimes Reality. Always Spiritual.
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"Make the Right Turn ... Head for Publication"
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Learning how to drive came kind of easy for me. Well, except for one thing. I just could not get myself mentally prepared to make those right turns. Every time my driving instructor said turn right, I turned left. It ran the man crazy. He'd sit there breathing heavily with his head cupped in his hands. Finally, one day he grabbed the other stirring wheel taking control completely away from me, and made the right turn afterwards coming to an aburp stop.
Exhaling first, he yelled, "Why do you avoid right turns?" "You have to face whatever it is that makes you fearful of them or you'll never get your license." His words seem to cause images of the little candy apple red Miata sitting on the car dealer's showroom floor to slowly began fading away. It was a reward I promised myself for passing the test. Following through, accomplishing just one of many desires.
Realizing my dream car would soon sit in the parking space of someone else's home I began practicing each day. Creating a make shift car in my living room envisioned myself driving. A few feet ahead were three chairs on the right and left. The object, make more right turns than left. Every time I mentally did so, I knocked one chair down. By the time I finished I had more chairs down on the right side then left. One month later, after many headaches, loss of hair, heartburn my driving instructor gleefully congratulated me on passing the test and receiving my license. Unfortunately, we never heard from the man again, but mission accomplished.
My instructor never really figured out why I feared making those right turns. But, hid away within I knew. In my mind I'd calculated space, and timing, more for left than right. So, I gave in to what seemed easier. Go figure!
Writing is much like learning how to drive. If you're anything like me, I thought all you had to do was write, take your manuscript to someone, and poof it happened. By the time I attended my first writer's seminar and heard the many published authors talk about the long hard road of getting published, and even then sometimes not happening, those "right turns" began to appear again.
The story you have whether it's nonfiction, fiction, or whatever genre there's someone waiting to read it. My elderly mother who is now eighty-five years old use to always tell me, "Nothing makes a failure, but a try." If you don't try, you'll never know. It's a practice and a learning skill every day down what can be a long road. Convince your self with "positive outcomes" to continue on. Oh, yes, by all means face reality, but don't let reality become your "left turns."
Keep your fingers on the keyboard! Send out more query letters; take a writer's or grammar class. Let every negative response challenge you to correct your errors. Don't be in too much of a hurry to get your manuscript published. You want your finished product to grab the editor's attention immediately, a flowing story with depth. Allow someone who can give you their true opinion to read it. Stay away from being overly sensitive. Constructive criticism doesn't hurt long. Create succinct, effective sentences in each paragraph. This will keep you from being redundant. Critiquing allows timing to be calculated correctly for you. Most of all don't let your vision fade away. Get back in the driver's seat!
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