Waiting. Waiting. More Waiting.

When I was a kid I dreamt of being an actress. When I was on stage, I loved that rush of adrenalin the moment you step out from the wings and onto centre stage. I loved the immediate connection to the audience, the applause, the laughter, and the tears. It was perfect for my impatient nature, and the reward sector of my brain would light up.

As a teenager I wrote plays, some fan fiction, monologues etc. and I had a romanticised view of what it would be like to be a writer. I mean you write something and it gets published and people love it, right?

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I still love it, that hasn’t changed, but I’ve learnt the hard way that writing is about waiting, and waiting, and waiting. I don’t cope well with waiting.

I write a book. This takes time obviously, from researching to finishing. Then the editing, which is a whole other beast and I wrote about it in frustrating depth in Editing. Or as I like to call it – Misery.  Then you submit it to a publisher or agent and you wait. If they bother to get back to you at all, you might be waiting three months plus for a response. Even if they publish it, it doesn’t mean that it will actually be a book. Don’t even get me started on writing competitions. Good grief!

I’m the type of person who jiggles their leg if I am waiting too long for the kettle too boil, because I have things to do in that 2 minutes it takes for that magical machine to boil stone cold water into boiling hot. So this whole writing bit, is challenging.

I wish I was a patient person. That this wasn’t slowly wearing me down. But I wouldn’t change it. I mean I get instant gratification from putting up a blog post or a Facebook post or pinning something. Considering I can also get my instant gratification kick by ordering a pair of shoes online in the morning and have them delivered by dinner, it should help with my patience issues, because let’s face it, who doesn’t need shoes couriered. I digress.

The longer manuscripts take time and so they should, and I can use my blog for that instant writing hit.

Does the waiting eat anyone else up? Or do I need to just chill out?

Come on over and friend me on Facebook at Lisa Lancaster.
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Image by bleedingink
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