GO FOR THE GREEN

(Disclaimer: photo is not me)

Got Game? When I turned forty, I decided to learn to play golf. So, I asked my good friend and women’s golf coach to teach me the game. She said, “Sure, I’ll teach you.”
She took a small set of student’s clubs--and me--straight to the course, bypassing the driving range. “We’ll just start and see how you do,” she told me.
“I know the object is to get the ball in the hole, but what are the procedures, the rules?” I asked.
“It’s simple,” she said. “Just hit the ball, go find it, and hit it again.”
Ha-ha-ha! But she was dead serious. Some coach she is, I muttered to myself.
In a nutshell, though, that’s it.
After a couple of years of playing, I beat her almost every time. She always complained she’d taught me too well.
Years later—did I say how many?—oh, good, because I didn’t intend to—I thought to try my hand at writing a romance story. I wondered how to write a novel, and if I did, how could I have it published. I heard the words of my coach: “Write a story, send it to a publisher, then write another.” Easy-peasy.
Writing is like playing golf.
In a game of golf, the player uses drives, fairway shots, chipping, and putting to get the ball in the cup. Then, she adds her score.
In writing, the author uses plot, characterization, Point of View, pacing, and climax. Then, she submits and hopes for a contract.
Doubt will kill a golf round. The minute a player decides her ball will go in the water, I assure you, it will. When she chastises herself for making a wrong choice or missing an easy putt, she’ll add more strokes. If she decides she’s the worst player in the field, then she probably will be.
Once a writer—or golfer—allows doubt to creep in, her game and attitude vanishes.
Many pro golfers, especially the world’s number one player Tiger Woods, subscribe to the mantra, “Never lay up.”
When a player is faced with a long shot over a hazard, he has two choices: hit the ball close to the hazard, so that the next shot is easy and he will have a better chance of getting close to the hole. Or if he’s a strong-willed player and faces the same situation, he will take all the club he can, study the situation, take his stance with confidence, and…go for the green!
Each hole is a clean slate. Other holes are history.
Each new document is wide open to possibilities.
We all like to win--at golf or writing. But we’re not out to beat the field 100% of the time. We play to challenge ourselves, to best our own last score, to lower our putt average, and to lower our handicap.
Don’t misunderstand me, though. I love to win. Oh, yes, I absolutely do. Whether the prize was one dollar, or a golf ball for the week, or the quarter pot, I went all out. In past years, I even won a few tournaments and received very nice trophies, money, and gifts. Some of my playing buddies would say, “Man, you come out here to win, don’t you?”
My answer was, “Why would I come out here to lose?”
So, as it is in the game of writing and publishing, I came to play…and to win. So, what happened when I went home without a prize? Nothing. I always viewed it as a privilege few have to enjoy, so if someone else won, I’d congratulate her, go home, and I was still happy. But wait until the next time.
So it is with writing and submitting. If I must be unhappy, or angry, or jealous, I’ll do so with something important.
And so, I strive every day for a win, a contract, a prize, an award, a good review. Why would I do otherwise? But a rejection will not ruin my life.
Take my advice—go for the green. And smile.
Celia