by Elaina Lyons
I’ve been frustrated lately. I’m not the most patient person on the planet. I like seeing results, and I like seeing them immediately. I don’t like waiting for anything. And, needless to say, that can be a problem, especially in a field like writing.
So much of what we do as writers is wait. We write and then we wait to get picked up by a publisher, or we wait to see if our marketing efforts are generating any positive results, or we wait for reviews to roll in.
There’s a ton of active components to it, too, but the majority of it is just waiting. And the waiting is sometimes a bit too much for me to bear.
Writing is my life force. It’s the thing that drives me. It’s what keeps me going every day. Waiting — now that I can do without. But, alas, you can’t really have one without the other.
So many people say “it’s the journey, not the destination.” And, to an extent, they’re right. The journey — the struggle — is so important, because it makes you stronger, better, more resilient.
But the destination matters, too. And it can be really hard to tell yourself over and over again that it’s the journey that makes more of a difference long-term when all you want is to see the fruits of your labor reach their full potential.
I usually hate my impatience. It’s one of my least favorite qualities. But today, in my frenzy of frustration when all I want is thousands of positive reviews and a movie deal and an advance for my sequel (that’s not too much to ask, right?), I am going to be grateful for my impatience. I am going to appreciate my impatience for pushing me to work harder to make my dreams come true.
Because they will come true. And when they do, I’ll be able to thank my impatience for helping me to achieve them. One day at a time.
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*Professional photography by Empire Photography.
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