Tacking and Metaphors

I cannot claim to understand a great deal about many of

the topics I use for metaphor and analogy. Authors are supposed to write what we know and that has been interpreted many ways. My writing, by nature, includes grains of me; my experiences and values. I am going to use this post to demonstrate that weaving while discussing a topic that is strongly on my mind.

Growing up, my family moved a lot because of my parents'

work. Every summer we would vacation to the same area. It was this lovely spot in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. That place was a different world to me, but my parents were lovingly strategic. Due to moving so much, they knew we kids wouldn't have a rooted spot to call home. So, we returned every year to the same place just as migratory as the loons that could be heard in the early morning hours on the lake. Like the loons, for a short season Fourth Lake became our home. Now, all of this is true, but I just made a simile about loons. I know loons from my memory, but I am not a birder or ornithologist, so I did just double check that they are, in fact, migratory.

Let's build from there, but create a greater distance

between myself and my literary elements. We have discussed many times that I am actively querying a novel. My newsletter subscribers get the nitty gritty (shameless plug) , but I will share a little with you. It is neither evidentially going poorly nor well, I have sent about 45 letters to agents. Forty have returned as rejections, and five are outstanding. I can't help but feel that I am tacking. I have gone from the shore of unpublished to the isle of short story publication and I have pointed my bow toward the opposite shore of novel publication. Now, some of you may have winced at the number of rejections, but they are not all losses. None of them were accepting my novel, but some of them yielded hints as to what caused the rejections. This means that in all but one case I can modify and improve to earn an acceptance. The only one I can't fix is an immutable characteristic of myself and therefore has no bearing on the value of my prose. So, why do I say I am tacking?

First, I must explain that "tacking" is a nautical term. It is

used to describe when a boat turns the bow (front) toward the wind. It is a maneuver used to allow sailboats to use a zig-zag pattern to travel through an area where the wind would not be strong enough from behind to propel them to their destination. So, to say I am tacking in the literary space, I mean that I am lacking the resources to push me directly toward my goal. So, part of my journey is gathering what resources I need to finally reach my goal. Forty rejections is a small number compared to average rejection statistics. Other than writing a strong literary work and editing it, my job is to determine what is progressing and hindering that work from getting published. What I am finding is that I lack, in no particular order, connections within the industry, previously published successful full-length novels, a strong enough social media presence to entice a publisher with my own ability to market, and a "modern audience gaze" within my work. So, to tack through this lake, I must sidestep my main goal to make these areas into side quests for success. However, I am uncertain if I want the entire list. I have choices to make and they will define my career or lack thereof.

I am hesitant toward social media because it chafes my

personal disposition. It will take time, but I can learn it. The one I am more hesitant over is the" modern audience" phenomena. Compared to some of my favorite authors, like Tolkien, my querying novel lacks complexity. However, apparently, my novel has too much depth and nuance. Likewise, my writing is not overly verbose, yet my writing voice is too archaic in my use of complex vocabulary and sentence structures. I don't know that I am willing to cave there. I refuse to believe that all readers are content with wet toes when they could swim. So, I will tack my way over to the shore of publication, being purposeful. in every maneuver of my sail. That includes the compromises I will and will not make.

I told you about my summers on Fourth Lake. I did ride

boats and drive them while there, but those were motorboats. I have never been on a sailboat, but I know a little of what it feels like to steer through wind and waves. The term tacking I learned from my uncle who has sailed. However, it describes what I am trying to say well and it makes the process sound a lot more idyllic than it is. Most of you have probably never sailed either. So instead of feeling the scorch of the sun on your skin, the strain of muscle and burning of rope in hand you get a pretty picture, gentle with the kiss of the wind. It is a tool to convey meaning and to place in your mind an image that makes me look more assured and at ease than I may actually be moment to moment. This is my version of writing what I know. I have given you true parts of me, but then expanded it into something that you can connect to, and that frames the image that I want or need you to understand depending on the goal.

I love playing with words in this way. I call it painting

because that is what it feels like. Each sentence and word are meticulously placed brush strokes. The avid readers among you know just how vibrant and vivid those pictures can be. I have painted before. I know the process and what it feels like. So, you can now see that every picture of words I paint for you carries my experience, things I have learned and the cast of an artist's eye. This, of course, is not to say I am perfect. Some of my rough drafts you would wince at rather than appreciate. However, I hope you have found this little exercise fun or an insight into my work. Perhaps, try it yourself. See what analogies, metaphors and similes you can use to turn your everyday into an adventure. I’d love to see what you paint with your words.