Soul Magazine Editor’s Interview
Beyond the Page: A Psychologically Fulfilling Interview With Delaney Patterson
An accomplished writer and Soul Magazine’s former editor-in-chief, Delaney Patterson, navigates challenges with tenacity and courage
“Every stone on our path is useful, and it’s up to us to decide how.” — Delaney Patterson
When I joined the Soul Magzine Team, Delaney, our EIC back-then, immediately stood out to me with her dedication and hard work. Besides collaborating on monthly prompts, giving creative and welcoming direction to guidelines, and mentoring editors, she would also take the time to step in as an editor whenever there was an open slot in the pub’s schedule.
Delaney's journey with Soul Magazine showcases her editing and writing expertise. However, her tenure as Soul Magazine’s EIC also attests to her leadership qualities as she guided the team respectfully and thoughtfully.
Her emphasis on publishing pieces in their refined form while keeping the writer’s signature voice set a standard for the entire team to follow.
The Soul Magazine Team believes that her effectiveness as the Editor in Chief stems from her ability to always make it work no matter what we were faced with. Her strength lies in her perseverance. Unwavering commitment.
That’s why even after stepping down from her role due to personal life commitments, she left behind a strong foundation and continues to support writers and editors in any way she can.
She is also a certified Medical and Sports Massage Therapist and a remarkable writer known for her truly engaging writing style.
Let's draw inspiration from her life and writing experiences. Expect a psychologically enlightening, spiritually warming, and vocationally illuminating read ahead.
FA: Delaney, your profile speaks volumes about your knack for crafting fiction, even in short form — where every bit counts.
Could you please share with us how long you’ve been writing fiction, and what message you aim to convey through your passion for storytelling and published works?
DP: I have been writing fiction my whole life. When I was little, my mother used to buy me these kits that teach you how to draw different things — dogs, forest glades, houses, a lion sunning itself on a boulder; you get my point. I used to use those drawings as an image prompt for the stories that I would tell myself or, when I was old enough, write for myself.
As for the other part of your question. I’m not sure if I have a “message” per se. I just want to share my freaky little worlds with whoever is interested in reading about them.
Who are these people? What planet is this?
This is how I grew up using image prompts as the prop for my stories. It’s my favorite way to work.
FA: In today’s era where attention spans dwindle while using digital tools, you hold the reader’s attention no matter the story length or form.
Is this because you outline and weigh every word, or is it your organic, unfiltered writing style?
DP: Thank you for saying that. Keeping the reader’s attention is a struggle we all face as writers. I use the tools I learned throughout my life in Creative Writing Classes and the skills I learned from Science and Psychology for writing labs and papers.
Creative writing was a class offered throughout my schooling from Kindergarten through High School. Then, I took writing classes through correspondence as an adult. Writing scientific and, in college, Psychology labs and papers taught me to be precise about my wording.
Combining those skills with the outline in my head helps to keep me in the direction I want the story to go. This doesn’t mean that I am not constantly rewriting that outline. As soon as I, as the writer, start questioning what I’m writing or get bored writing it, I know I need to rework my outline and story graph/grid.
In essence, the story you end up reading is the one I wanted to tell unless I am writing for a challenge.
If my submission is for a challenge, then I am restricted to the boundaries set forth by the specific publication the challenge is for. I try to use all of my tools, but that is not always possible based on the imposed restrictions. Some of the stories I’ve written for challenges have not gone over as well. I always blame myself. I am learning that if the story I want to write isn’t possible with the restrictions of some challenges, then I need to change the story OR not submit to that challenge and write the story the challenge inspired, to be submitted someplace else as I was inspired to write it.
My organic, unfiltered writing style — as you call it (thanks for that, I love it!) comes from my Creative Writing Classes and all of my different teachers who made sure that my unique voice was never lost because of the restrictions and ideology of the craft itself. In grade school, you opted to take Creative Writing and art.
So, with every new year, a new teacher. That was one of the most exciting parts of those classes for me: learning from someone new! This is why I LOVE being an editor. I am blessed to be able to read all of these beautiful views from all of you. In the process, I am learning to be better at writing and editing.
When I was growing up and learning to write, it was essential that you appeared like everyone else. No one wanted a rebel unless you were a Hemingway or a Rowling. You were only allowed to be a rebel AFTER establishing yourself. I had many teachers who didn’t believe in the “status quo” and refused to allow me and, more importantly, my voice to be lost in it.
Essentially, I am only following the rules that I was taught to maintain the reader’s attention and focus.
FA: Many of your stories touch on gratitude, reflecting how important it is to you. Your Year of Gratitude Challenge at Soul Magazine is also commendable.
Has gratitude always held such a place in your life? How does sharing and reading gratitude stories impact the world in your opinion?
DP: Gratitude was not always something I put out there for everyone. It has always been private, and internal for me. The year challenge was because a reader suggested that she would love to read the stories and would even like to become engaged in the process. I shared this with the founder, Katherine Myrestad, and the rest of the editing staff. The suggestion received a unanimous vote and I was tasked with writing up the challenge. Incidentally, the reader who suggested it never became involved in the challenge herself. At least, not in any way she shared with Soul Magazine.
I do believe in being grateful. I have always made sure that if I felt the feeling; I took the time to allow myself to truly feel it by stopping and allowing my heart to swell and fill my aura.
I personally feel that reading, writing, and sharing gratitude stories can help the world by:
- Showing that it’s ok and maybe even necessary to feel this emotion.
- It shows that we aren’t alone. Others feel this way and even need to know that others feel this way. Sometimes, the isolation is so great that we forget that other people feel like we do. These stories help with that. Reminding others that “We Are Not Alone” is important.
FA: Your skill in covering writing prompts and introspective questions (asked by fellow writers) is truly impressive. As someone who tends to avoid risk, I find it inspiring.
Is taking challenges a part of your nature? Or is it a product of your inner work? Any advice you’d like to share with our readers to step out of their comfort zone?
DP: Taking a well-structured risk IS a part of my nature. By this, I mean that I consider not only the ramifications but the bonuses. If I consider that the bonuses are an actual PERK, then I compare them to any ramifications. If the ramifications can’t compare, then there really is no risk.
But, it is also a product of my inner work. I had to learn what was acceptable and unacceptable to myself as a 91% introvert. To NOT share myself meant that I was unwilling to be a writer. To NOT share my views, even in nonfiction, was something that I found UNacceptable within myself. This meant I needed to find a way to share but not compromise myself. That required introspection and still does.
If I am struggling with an issue involving a writing project, I will meditate on it. Find what is concerning me, and deal with it. As you said, I have a unique voice. I believe we all do. If we are afraid to share it, we can’t be writers.
Take baby steps to get out of your comfort zone by widening, instead of completely leaving or stepping out of this boundary. Say you are interested in a writing project set up by a publication on Medium. But, (let’s pick something simple here), the project calls for a length of writing you are not comfortable with, be that long or short.
The anxiety starts, your hands begin to sweat, maybe even tremble a little. This is the moment that can open up your writing. THIS IS THE EXCITING PART! Realize that the only thing you are risking at this moment is the time it takes to write. If you aren’t happy, or it doesn’t get published, so what? However, what if this is the path to your own greatness? Don’t you wanna find that Pot-O-Gold? I DO!
If the stress is coming from the belief that you lack the skills, there are TONS of published books that teach you how to hone that skill better. In this age of technology, there is nothing you can’t find a book about.
I like to read the samples, that way, I either find the exact book I need OR the exact teacher/author who explains the subject matter in a way that makes sense to me and helps me improve myself as a writer.
FA: In one of your stories, you mentioned the quote, “An incurable illness means curable from WITHIN”. How can this idea change even what isn’t in our control?
DP: That quote came from a Doctor whose name and the article I read it in I no longer recall. It was in the early 90s, and I had just been diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease. Computers were still new, as was the internet, and I was researching natural ways of helping myself when science, at the time, couldn’t. I came across his article. He, himself, had been diagnosed with something incurable. In his attempts to help himself, this knowledge came to him while he was meditating one day: An INCURABLE illness is simply CURABLE from withIN.
What does that mean? It means that you have to heal SPIRITUALLY in order to heal from this illness. What does that mean, and how do you do it? That can only be answered by you.
Every person is different. Every DIS-EASE is different and manifests differently in everyone who has it. Start by meditating regularly, most diseases improve with stress reduction. Begin journaling. These avenues will guide you to where you need to go next, withIN or withOUT.
Science doesn’t have all the answers. Western medicine refuses to acknowledge Eastern facts about what is medicine or what causes disease. I might be biased, I’m an N.D. (Doctor of Naturopathy), but sometimes there are spiritual causes for the illnesses we contract.
We need to deal with these things in the same way, spiritually. Popping a pill, for example, isn’t going to cure a belief system, whether you got the belief from your family, culture, or your own mind.
FA: As the Editor-in-Chief at Soul Magazine, known for your self-motivation and ability to leave tangible footprints to inspire and educate, what strategies did you implement to make it all work?
DP: I believed in the goal of the publication — to put SOUL into writing, to write something better and more inspired than what was currently out there. I also believed in the writers. I believed then, and still do, that the writers drawn to that publication are meant to be there. Some are meant to journey with us, the whole river. Others are only here for a stop or two. Some will be coming to teach us. I needed to be ready for all of them, plus the ones I didn’t know about.
Most importantly, I let the writer’s voice be heard. I wanted that rawness that so many editors squelch. I believe that if you walk up to any writer and have a conversation with them, say at the Farmer’s Market. Purely casual.
There should be no difference between the language in that conversation and anything that writer has written; UNLESS it is that writer’s voice that is different than a casual conversation. For instance, they write very formally, but in person, they are very casual and relaxed. Respecting that, honoring that, these are the strategies that I implemented as EIC.
FA: Given your attention to detail during your time as the EIC at Soul Magazine, what tips would you offer to our audience concerning writing skills?
DP: First, make an outline, it doesn’t matter if it is only in your head. Even a Drabble needs planning. *Drabbles are only 100 words, no more, no less. Second, use an editor like Grammarly or Hemingway. You don’t have to pay for all of them. Grammarly has a free version.
Next, if you feel like you need to ‘learn’ something, get a digital book about it. I LOVE the “For Dummies” series, and they have writing books. Then, ASK! Ask your editors, join a writing group on Slack, or Discord, or some other place. Lastly, READ. I’m not talking about skimming. REALLY read, every word of every article of every writer you think is better than you, and learn from them, especially if they write for the same niche you do.
FA: Lastly, in your “About Me” story, you detail your multi-passionate journey to becoming certified in Medical and Sports Massage Therapy. Could you please share the takeaway, particularly for our readers who are struggling to label something as their surefire calling?
A: I always wanted to help people. I thought that with my talents in science and medical that meant being a Doctor, Nurse, Therapist, or some other type of profession in that arena.
What I discovered, was that I could use that knowledge and those skills in my writing. Sharing with whoever wanted to read my words all of that experience in whatever way I incorporated it into my writings.
In short: every stone on our path is useful, and it’s up to us to decide how.
I generated this using NightCafeStudio. What intrigues me about this image is: she is an Elf, a Wood Elf to be specific. And the only inclination that we have that hints that it might be a special day is the ivy wreath on her head. What is her story? Who is she marrying? Does she love him or is it an arranged one?
Thank you very much for your time, Delaney. I hope positive vibes continue to come your way. Keep shaking the world with your uniqueness.
Delaney has gracefully navigated her way through academia, medical and sports massage therapy, spiritual healing from chronic diseases, and psychological and life mentoring from editors and writers. Undoubtedly her insights are enlightening and filled with one-liners that inspire life and love.
If you wish to read her impactful narratives, you can find them at this link. To discover more about her background feel free to explore her About Me story here.
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