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Patience – The virtue I despise the most

Are you with me? Anybody? Comment already, dangit!

Er…okay, obviously I’m not so good with this patience thing. Which shows how well I rolled on my sanity check when I chose to be a writer.

Writing and publishing in themselves do not lend themselves to the impatient soul. Some people think the route to getting published is a quick and easy transition from writing that first book, finding a perfect agent in a couple weeks, and having a book bought and published a couple months later.

This has happened before, but it’s incredibly rare. Instead, most writers often spend years just honing their craft, not to mention spending all that time querying, pitching at conferences, piling up rejections, revising, more queries…all with the end goal of seeing that first book released. Of getting to that point where you feel your writing career has officially begun.

I want to be there. Now. Not here, waiting to be there sometime in the distant future.

I think about a traditional fairy tale (remade into the movie Blink, with Adam Sandler) about a boy who gets a magical ball of golden thread. Whenever he tugs more threads out of the ball, he moves forward in time. Soon, he’s gleefully using the ball to skip through boring parts of his life to get to all the exciting moments.

There are many moments where I wish I had a magical item like that, be it golden thread or a universal remote control. So I could skim over the upcoming months or years until that first book contract is signed. When that first book is published. And so on. Why trudge through all the times in between when it’s just waiting and more waiting?

The moral of the story, as many of you already know, is supposed to be that those exciting/important/defining moments are only worth experiencing if you go through everything that happens in between them. The hard work that goes into finishing a first draft. The hundreds of queries it takes it land an agent. The months or years it takes to find the editor who wants to buy the book. Those add value to achieving your larger goals.

But it’s still hard. Some days more than others. It leads to those bad habits where you check your email a couple dozen times in 30 seconds (including the spam folder), just to make sure you didn’t miss an important update. Or you surgically attach your phone to your hand and go into spasms every time it rings in case it’s THE CALL.

So how does one cope? How do you keep the constant waiting game from making your brain dribble out your ears?

For me, it’s a couple of ways. One is simply keeping myself involved in other writing projects while one is on submission to agents or editors. That way, should a future editor want to see other manuscripts, I’ll have one polished and ready. Plus, the more I write (hopefully) the better I’ll be with the next story I set my mind to.

Another way is by recognizing that, to a large degree, I don’t have to wait for that first book to be published for me to officially start my writing career. I’m already in it. The career began a long time ago, and I’m just transitioning through a particular season of it. Maybe it’s not a financially viable career yet, but it’s still in motion. So I can spend time networking, attending conferences, connecting with other writers and authors in various seasons of their careers. Blogging, tweets, reviewing books, building relationships and a network that will endure for years to come. If I wait until even a contract is signed to pursue all this, then I’d be scrambling to play catch-up and would miss out on many opportunities in the meantime.

So while patience isn’t easy, there are benefits to it. I may get antsy at times, but I believe, in the long run, patience will pay off.

Sometimes I just wish the long run had a few shortcuts.

What about you? Do you struggle with patience, both in the craft and business side of writing? How do you cope?

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13 Comments

  1. Joshua Rigley
    Joshua Rigley March 10, 2011

    AMEN! I freaking HATE waiting for ANYTHING.

    For me it's just building up a steady readership at my blog. I know that can take a while, but I just don't want to wait for it.

    I just have to take it one day at a time.

  2. J. Koyanagi
    J. Koyanagi March 11, 2011

    I agree that filling one's time with other worthwhile endeavors helps. Working on another project or two is the best medicine for impatience, for me!

  3. Josh
    Josh March 11, 2011

    At least it keeps you busy, eh? And if you enjoy the writing process, then hopefully the “time flies” trope comes into play.

  4. Anonymous
    Anonymous March 13, 2011

    I am not sure where or how my writing journey will end. It began in college and then I stuffed away in a closet I only re-opened a year ago. Now, as in college, I scribble ideas down try to capture what my mind's eye sees beyond my own reality.
    I enjoy your blog and your website.
    The craft of writing in my mind is being patient enough to write page after page to attain a single sentence that shows a different world or perhaps an idea that inspire, maybe even torture… While working on a short-story in college, I had a professor once tell me that each word choice must researched, because words are powerful – why else would witches believe that spells chanted at night could conjure up storms…

  5. Josh
    Josh March 13, 2011

    I'm glad you enjoy the site, Anon.

    Intriguing comment about words having power. Not sure I could make myself research each and every word choice, but I can understand the thinking behind that.

    Best wishes as you continue discovering what writing holds for you.

  6. K. M. Hammond
    K. M. Hammond March 26, 2011

    *grin* I just did a similar post on this, only in my case I'm waiting on accept/rejects from grad schools. I've noticed myself developing awkward rituals before I open my email or checking on the snail mail. It's getting a little ridiculous, but it's my way of dealing. :o)

  7. Josh
    Josh March 26, 2011

    Rituals, eh? I know the feeling. Sometimes I think the longer I ignore a letter or email, the more likely it'll be a positive response. *sighs*

  8. Mara R.
    Mara R. March 28, 2011

    I am with you on this! The waiting has got to be the hardest part of this process (I'm currently waiting on a full and a resubmission – actually from Folio – and I'm dying here!). I always say that if I could just look ahead and know that one day I would succeed, I could deal with all the waiting now. Good luck with a book deal! And congrats on landing an agent!

  9. Josh
    Josh March 28, 2011

    Best of luck with the full with Folio, Mara! Such an exciting (and excruciating) time, I know. Definitely let me know how that goes.

  10. Mara Rae
    Mara Rae March 28, 2011

    It's actually the resub, which is even more excruciating! from everything i've gathered so far they are an awesome agency. their advice has been very helpful, however things turn out. if you don't mind my asking, what were your query stats? i've been at this for a while now and i'm losing hope 😛

  11. Josh
    Josh March 28, 2011

    Ho boy…let me check my handy-dandy submission spreadsheet.

    Are you wondering about my overall query/partial/full submissions, resubs, etc. ever since I decided to walk this path of writing insanity? That'd be…

    *counts*

    I think we're looking at somewhere between 300-350 submissions. That's between 2005 to 2010. Some of that also includes short story submissions, though I haven't been working on as many of those lately.

    Don't lose hope! It's a rough road sometimes, but there's always another opportunity/chance along the way.

  12. Mara Rae
    Mara Rae March 28, 2011

    holy moly! how did you even find that many people to query? i was wondering about this novel in particular, but i'm impressed with your tenacity 🙂 for my current novel, i've been querying since last july, and i've had 8 positive responses (partials or fulls) out of the 40 or so queries i've sent (i've got another ten or so pending), but so far no offers. i've considered just sending out another 50 queries and seeing what happens, but i'm afraid that i'll just get another 50 rejections! you're right though, there's always that one partial or full that keeps you going… here's hoping we both develop a little more patience! thanks!

  13. Josh
    Josh March 28, 2011

    All those queries are for a number of different manuscripts, so I cycled through many of the same over the years.

    I'd sound out batches of 5-10 and then do another once a majority were responded (or enough time passed). Would work on new stories or revisions in the mean time.

    All the best with your work!

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