August 15, 2011

For you, what is the hardest part of writing? Getting started? Making time? Finding ideas, or maybe dealing with rejection?

Perhaps the hardest part is the endless waiting that goes with this profession. You wait for word from a critique partner, then an editor or agent. When a book comes out, you wait for reviews and reader reaction and sales figures.

The question isn’t whether you will have to wait during the publishing process. You will. It’s a fact, no matter who you are. The question is how you will wait. Waiting involves more than entertaining yourself (with blogging, reading, watching movies, talking on the phone, or eating out) to make the time pass with less stress.

Ingredients of Waiting

If you want to survive in this thing we call the writing life, your waiting has to be different. While it’s a difficult skill to learn, you need to wait patiently, productively, and expectantly. Here’s what Webster’s has to say…so think about these traits in connection to your writing life.

Patiently: bearing pains, suffering, and trials without complaint; manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain; not hasty or impetuous; steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity.

Productively: having the quality or power of producing, especially in abundance; yielding results; continuing to be used in the formation of new words or constructions.

Expectantly: looking forward to something with a high degree of certainty; usually involves the idea of preparing or envisioning; much more than wishful thinking

Honest Self-Assessment

Is that how you wait to hear from an agent or editor? Are you uncomplaining (to yourself, your critique group, your family, your blog readers)? Are you steadfast, not making hasty decisions (like sending angry emails or posting nasty comments in discussion groups)? Do you show forbearance under the strain? Then you wait patiently.

Do you work on other projects while you wait? Do you continue to study and go to your critique group? Do you refuse to sit and not write until you hear the fate of your current manuscript? Do you focus on the current work-in-progress, giving it your undivided attention? Then you wait productively.

Do you have a clear vision of where you want to be as a writer five years from now? A year? A month? Do you work hard and work consistently on your craft, expecting to improve steadily over time? Even while you wait, are you preparing yourself physically and mentally to be the writer you’ve always wanted to be? Then you wait expectantly.

Be a Professional

Wannabe writers complain when editors and agents don’t respond within a week. Wannabe writers won’t write another word until they sell their current manuscript. Wannabe writers continually tell themselves and others that the odds are terrible and they’ll never sell anything.

Professional writers don’t like waiting either–nor do they always like the answer that comes. But they don’t waste the waiting time. They use it to write and grow and move ahead.

Waiting well is a skill you can acquire. You (and everyone in your environment) will be happier if you learn this skill. Don’t let waiting times–no matter how long they drag on–cause a setback in your writing.

If waiting well is a problem for you, don’t just read this post, agree mentally, and move on with your day. Stop and make a list of specific changes you can make to wait patiently, productively, and expectantly. Then incorporate those changes into your daily writing life.

Be steadfast and don’t complain. Continue to work. Expect and prepare for success. When it comes, it will have been worth the wait.

5 Comments »

1. 

   AND–the more mss. you submit, the more your chances of acceptance. Keep writing while you wait! (geesh, I should listen to myself!)

   Comment by Jane Heitman Healy — August 15, 2011 @ 8:39 am

2. 

   Excellent post. Thank you.

   Comment by Warren Baldwin — August 15, 2011 @ 9:27 pm

3. 

   Jane, don’t we give good advice? If I took even half of what I say to heart REGULARLY, I’d be off the charts writing and selling.

   Warren, you’re welcome!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — August 16, 2011 @ 12:58 pm

4. 

   What perfect timing, Kristi! I just submitted my second book to my publisher I’m trying to be a combination of all three “waiters” you mentioned. Thanks!

   Comment by Andrea Buginsky — August 16, 2011 @ 8:50 pm

5. 

   Andrea, it isn’t easy! But I’ve found over the years that being this type of waiter is actually easier in the long run than getting all upset or wasting time while you wait. While there isn’t an EASY way to wait, there are certainly more productive ways to wait. Good luck to you!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — August 18, 2011 @ 9:05 am

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