Patience

Writing teaches patience, whether it happens when you’re staring at the blank screen and trying to figure out what happens next or watching the words slowly build to a completed piece. It’s like going to an amusement park. You can’t sleep the night before, waiting for that new adventure to begin. Once you’re there, the long lines test you, but the promise of the fun ride at the end of the wait keeps you moving forward, one word, one sentence, one chapter at a time. Then you’ve finished your piece, the ultimate roller-coaster ride, and you fall into bed that night, happy and exhausted.

And if you’re trying to get published, that is only the beginning. The patience we learn from finishing a piece serves us well during the long wait for replies when sending in submissions. We can remember that things unfold in their own time, as long as we keep showing up at the page in a receptive and respectful manner. We learn to keep trying, to come at things from different angles, to consider alternatives. This is a creative lifestyle. Patience is our ally on the journey to the life we create for ourselves.