Posted: May 17, 08 6:18pm
We’ve all heard and seen many news reports on various disasters in the past few years. Reports showing how to be better prepared so as to survive the initial onslaught or after effects of such disasters. One such report illustrated the benefits of having a disaster plan and a backpack loaded with items necessary for sudden evacuation or extended periods of displacement.
That got me to thinking. As in other areas of life, why couldn’t writers prepare early for the disastrous periods which threaten all our goals and dreams? The answer…we can.
We may never undergo a literal disaster, but everyday life can be filled with events that are just as destructive to our writing goals. I’m going to be stuffing my virtual backpack in the next few weeks with items which will help me survive. My choices may not mirror yours; however, they may serve to remind you of something vital you wouldn’t wish to forget in your own survival backpack.
I’m going to start with patience. Some dictionaries define patience as the ability “to wait calmly for something under provocation or strain.” If put to the test, the patient person remains composed; the impatient one becomes hasty and irritable. Patience seems to be a perishable item, easily eroded, stretched, and depleted. Sometimes it’s our own faulty reasoning that causes us to lose our patience.
A need for patience manifests itself early in a writer’s career. We need it while we’re waiting for our muse, when our characters show a will of their own, and when agents, editors and publishers drop into an extended time warp.
Then we make our first sell, never realizing that the waiting has only just begun. We spend the next year, sometimes more, waiting for our book to arrive at its release date. Now comes the long months of promotion. And, of course, while we’re waiting on these things to occur, we begin the whole process again with our new work-in-progress.
Are we insane—or what? No, we’re just writers doing what we were born to do.
As readers, patience is a virtue to prize. Aren’t we all patiently waiting for our favorite author’s new book to hit the shelves? (Sighs)
Give us the benefit of your hard earned wisdom. What are you packing in your survival pack?
