You Can't Do His Part--He Won't Do Yours

My very first publisher’s rejection was a red-letter day on the calendar of my life. I was ecstatic to learn someone had actually read my work. It didn’t matter that the response was short and negative. Your work does not fit our current needs at this time, it said, but I had a publisher’s letterhead with my name on it, and I was so grateful I taped it to my office wall.

As you might guess, my enthusiasm for rejection letters has dwindled considerably. Currently, I’m more like Pavlov’s dog, where the sight of a publisher’s envelope in my mailbox triggers my chest muscles to tighten and my stomach to clench even before I open it. Yet, rejection letters are an important part of the publishing process, and like them or not, we must deal with them.

The biblical Hezekiah offers an alternate example of dealing with unwanted mail. Hezekiah was already having a bad day when he received the letter from the King of Assyria (Isaiah 37), which was more like hate mail. Yet, Hezekiah didn’t take the letter personally. Instead, he spread the letter on the altar before the Lord as if it was God’s mail and not his own. In response, God sent His angel to battle Hezekiah’s enemies and Hezekiah came out nicely in the end.

I don’t think it is unreasonable for the writer to take Hezekiah’s example and apply the same principle to rejection letters. If God has called you to a writing ministry and you've done your absolute best on the submission, then it’s fair to lay that rejection letter out before God and say "God, this isn't about me. This is a rejection of the ministry you have given me, and I leave the future of this work in your hands."

Remember, if it is truly a ministry of the Lord, then you are not responsible for the results. The writer’s responsibility is to do his or her best work—God will take care of the results. You cannot do His part, and He will not do yours.

KennyNoble@hotmail.com

Does Grammar Leave You Comma-tose?

Recently after realizing how far I’d strayed from being “comma-tically” correct, I sent my manuscript for a grammar edit. There are many rules about commas however due to space constraints I’m limited to sharing five.

RULE # 1: Use a comma to separate a prepositional phrase if it makes the sentence easier to read or clarifies the meaning. Technically, you could omit the comma in my above opening sentence and it would still be correct, except for the nonexistent word “comma-tically.”


Since I was in a time crunch I’m eternally grateful to Sarah for performing that editing feat, however, I thought it was time I brushed up on my grammar and hopefully some reader will benefit.

RULE # 2: Place a comma before and after a conjunctive adverb that falls amidst other words in the sentence. “However” is the conjunctive adverb which affects the entire clause not just one verb.


Those who love commas know where to put them, but those who don’t would like to make a few suggestions.

RULE #3: A comma separates two independent clauses joined by a coordinating or correlating conjunction. Don’t let the big words confuse you. They mean the two clauses are conjoined at the “but.”


English teachers, grammar police, and left-brain fanatics love the order that commas bring to a sentence. Agents looking for professionally prepared manuscripts, editors wanting the next best seller, and your Grandpa seeking a delicious lunch also think commas are important. (It sounds weird, but stay with me.)

RULE # 4: Commas separate items in a series of three or more words, phrases, or clauses.


If you still don’t believe commas are important, compare the examples below. I’m positive Grandpa has a definite opinion about comma placement and you would, too, in this instance.

Let’s eat Grandpa
Let’s eat, Grandpa

RULE # 5: A comma offsets a noun in a direct address.

It is plain to see the mild-mannered and ordinary comma can save lives. Given this truth, we should all be grateful for grammar, grammar police, and the fact that we don’t have to verbalize commas when we speak or we’d all be covered in spit.

What are the comma frustrations you face?

Historical Research

My curiosity got the best of me in 1994, when my cousin showed me the marriage and birth writings in the front of my grandmother’s Bible. My quest to find the spiritual heritage in my ancestry had begun. For approximately twelve years after that, between writing and homeschooling, I traced genealogy.

I proved (with census records, birth, death, marriage certificates) my Civil War, Revolutionary War, and Mayflower descendants. I now share an honor with fellow authors, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Laura Ingalls Wilder of being Richard Warren’s descendant. I also descend from Francis Cooke since Richard’s daughter, Sarah married John, Francis’ son. Grandma Moses, folk style painter and Orson Wells share in Cooke’s genealogy. Richard Gere and I are in both lines.


Now my days are spent using the information I gleaned over the years to craft my historical pictures. From glimpses of my coal miners in Clay County, Indiana, to my French heritage in lower Canada, ideas abound.


I once did a road trip that took me to Juniata, Huntingdon, and Mifflin counties in Pennsylvania. From there, I took a side trip to Gettysburg on my way to Springfield, Massachusetts. From Springfield, I traveled former Indian trails that propelled me up into Vermont to Rutland and the surrounding area.


On the next leg, I took a car ferry across Lake Champlain to Ticonderoga, New York, to research my blacksmiths there. Near the end of my journey, I traveled down to Montgomery County, New York, to research my railroad man and other ancestors who traveled from there through canals and on wagon trains up to Outagamie, Wisconsin. Yes, on a separate trip, I went to Wisconsin to find marriage licenses, but that one elusive record in St. Louis still calls my name.


Even if you’re not a genealogy nut, excellent resources abound for those of you who write historical novels. If I gained nothing else from all my years of hunting, I achieved the skill to research, and I love it.


Obviously, the number one resource for history is local libraries. The Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne has the second largest genealogy repository in the United States. Check out historical societies and the Indiana Room in your local library for historical books and microfilmed newspapers. The Indiana State Archives in Indianapolis holds many secrets like my grandmother’s adoption papers.


Verify everything you read online before using it. One good site is www.usgenweb.org. This site holds treasures from every state in the United States, and it is free. You’ll never exhaust their offerings. Another fascinating site is www.cyndislist.com a free site that links you to records across the world including ship lists.


Check out cemeteries in the middle of nowhere. Yes. Interesting things can happen like suddenly realizing - while you are doing a rubbing of a touching poem etched on the gravestone of a Civil War ancestor - that you have locked your phone and keys in the car. (Copyrighted)


Have fun with your historical research. Above all else, remember: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men. Colossians 3:23


Donna L. Rich

Happy Easter!

In lieu of the holiday, I'm condensing my post down to these words:

I hope you and your family have a restful, blessed, and memorable EASTER!

Praying for our Critters

My critique partners are ruthless. Blunt. Demanding.

I am grateful.

If they don't tell me what's wrong with my work - how will I learn?

My strength in writing is content. I have plenty of topics to write about and copious amounts of information to share. But often, I am far, far too wordy with my wordiness of words.

Red ink.

Slash.

Stab.

"Passive voice, Karla!"

"Inconsistent POV here!"

"You already used that word 65.6 times!"

 I fall short of helping my critique partners as much as they help me. They are the nit-picky, detail oriented crowd. I'm the big picture maven. That's exactly why I need them. It's painful. I get frustrated with my limited abilities. But I truly believe they are divinely appointed by God to help me. He brought them into my life. How grateful I am for such gifted "critters!"

I might not be able to spill as much red ink for them as they do for me (mainly because they are writing geniuses), but the one thing I can do, is pray. I pray for their manuscripts, the anointing of the Holy Spirit to inspire them, and for God to "enlarge their coast" (1 Chronicles 4:10) so that their work will sell.

I also pray that they'll be anointed when they critique my work.

And that they'll be in a very good mood.