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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Meme via askideas
Image by bleedingink
Image by quotepedia
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Dang! I lost it again!
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Never mind, I found it! 😀
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It’s a slippery little sucker
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OHMYGOSH, Lisa! Do I relate!! Just for that, I’m gonna follow you! If…I can find the button. Ah! There it is!
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Ha! Excellent a woman after my own heart!
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I’ve gotten a lot better at waiting, Lisa. It was terrible at the beginning before I learned that this is a slow business. Once of the reasons I switched to indie publishing is that traditional publishing is a long, long, long process. I just couldn’t wait that long anymore.
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Maybe it a learned skill, like writing itself? Indie publishing is very attractive, still haven’t ruled it out. Some of my favourite authors are indie.
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Yes, it is really hard. You are the opposite of alone, and misery loves company- right? A full time teaching job helps me to “do better” with waiting.
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If misery loves company then I’ll never be alone in this ☺️ I think I need one of those
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🙂
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I loved the picture of “What society thinks I do”. That cracked me up.
And, for the record, I totally agree with the whole instant gratification thing from putting up a new blog post. I know exactly how that feels. 😀
A couple of years ago, I decided to send out a couple of my short stories into the Wild Woods of Submissions on a crazy-eyed whim. Some of the places responded like crazy fast. Others…Well. It would shock and surprise me when they did respond. And those were just short stories. I can’t even imagine the wait time for a response to a novel submission. 😦
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Most of the best work is published on a crazy eyed whim! I couldn’t find a picture of a writer throwing the laptop out of a window, unfortunately.
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“I couldn’t find a picture of a writer throwing the laptop out of a window…” Someone needs to make a picture or a gif of that. 😆 I think everyone, writer or not, has had that moment when they’ve wanted to turn their laptop into a Frisbee. I know my mom has had several moments like that. 😀
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I loved your writer image. So 120% true. And, I agree on the writing competitions.
They are painful! Another reason why I went self-publishing route. Less waiting.
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The instant gratification of moving a book straight into the hands of your readers is pretty attractive. I think I might stop entering comps, so much time and energy. I’m admittedly rubbish at short stories.
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I looked at competitions for novels and it gets expensive…
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Oh yes!
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