Patience—Revisited

One of the skills I’ve been really building lately is patience. Every step of the way in the publishing process, waiting is involved. Get an idea. Patiently type out each word until the book is done. Set it aside, even though you want to edit it NOWNOWNOW. Realize edits will take much longer than you thought, even though you really wanted to submit it right away. Rewrite, edit, repeat. Submit it! Oh wait. First you need to write the synopsis and query letter. Okay, then submit it!

Then wait.

And wait.

And wait.

I didn’t realize that all of that waiting was actually great practice for when the acceptance letter finally arrived. The publishing process takes time, and it can be months until your work hits the shelves. Months full of rushing to meet deadlines, then waiting to receive the next ones–short bursts of activity followed by long weeks of wondering what to do next.

It’s important to remain productive during the limbo periods. Patience will serve you well throughout each step of the process (and probably in your non-writing life as well!).