Come on! When will Agent X get back to me? I haven’t heard from Editor Y, is that bad? I want to send out more query letters, but I haven’t revised. What do you mean my book couldn’t possibly be published until 2013 at the earliest? And, gosh darn it, I want to see my book made into a movie!
Patience, young grasshopper.
Like Kung Fu, the writing world overflows with wisdom passed from one generation to the next. Little nuggets of knowledge meant to make the evolution from novice to professional less painful. Perhaps you wouldn’t naturally compare the two, but both require a lot of training to improve, a mastery of many skills and patience – a lot of patience. You need to learn how to control your body before you can brandish a whip chain, just like a writer needs to learn how to tell a story before he can publish it.
With writing, I’d done my homework, read the books and blogs. It all said, in plain English, to be patient, revise and don’t rush things. Revise, then wait, then revise again. “But I’m ready now,” I thought. “I don’t want to wait, surely agents and editors will see my potential.” So I didn’t wait. I queried agents. Now, after many nos, I recognize the Masters were right. I needed patience. My book still needed a lot of work, I needed a lot more time to practice.
In addition to my writing skills needing improvement, publishing is a slow moving business. Agents and editors have literal mountains of submissions to read on top of their clients’ manuscripts. They spend their days reviewing contracts, corresponding with clients and colleagues, and making sure everyone gets paid (it is a business, after all), leaving only nights and weekends for the slush pile and a life.
We’ve become spoiled in the Internet age. We can talk face-to-face with people on the other side of the planet, get a message in seconds, and find answers almost immediately. We don’t like to wait, ever. I buy movie tickets in advance so I don’t have to wait in line, taking advantage of reserved seating when possible so I get a great seat and avoid waiting. Waiting to hear if someone likes your masterpiece is an extra-special torture.
Does my impatience mean this book will never get published? Absolutely not. It only means the first batch of agents I queried weren’t seeing my best work. And, there is always the possibility one of them will see the potential. But to give myself the best chance of publishing, I will need to revise more and keep myself occupied while I wait (because staring at email does not make responses appear – I tried). Instead, I’m researching and writing book two. It provides a nice distraction.
So, dear reader, like a Kung Fu apprentice, I will learn patience, I will publish – and maybe how to wield a whip chain.
Get more of me on Twitter @aereichert.
