Let me start by saying patience isn’t one of my strongest attributes. I’m all about instant gratification… or at least, I was. I have been working hard to develop the attitude within myself and some days I’m even moderately successful.

I hope you also note that this post is a few hours later than most of my Wednesday offerings. I wanted a subtle irony to be present; you the reader need to practice what I’m preaching .

Too subtle? I thought it might be since it almost escaped me and I was the one planning it. That’s why I explained it. Now I know.

But why is patience important to a writer? Oh there are so many reasons!

First, let’s look at the actual craft of writing itself. As a writer, you can probably sit down with a topic firmly in mind and start pounding out the prose. But is that always the best way to do it? Sometimes the writing requires outlining and/or research. Maybe you need to do some world-building or character-development before you actually start the story. Perhaps the plot needs some work.

All these things slow down the process.

You might have this great, gee-whiz idea in your head that you must get down on paper but you know there are other elements that need to be addressed too. That’s where the patience comes in. Definitely get the ideas down as soon as they arrive, but be prepared to step back and do some of the preparatory work too.

But, wait! You’ve already done that and you’ve got this 100,000 word story that needs, nay MUST be written. Except, there are only 24-hours in the day. How could you possibly get it done as fast as you want to?

Slow and steady (or fast and steady… it’s the steady that is important), that’s the ticket. Good writing takes time and great writing even more so. You’ve got to be fair to yourself and take the time necessary to write something good.

It’s not over once you type “The End” either. You have a first draft in your hand. Now you have to edit it; mold it, shape it and polish it. Make it the best it can be. This is a tough step for me because I’m still pretty close to my work and I really want to get it out to publishers. I also have a dozen other story ideas I’m aching to write. I don’t want to “waste” my time editing.

Except, editing is a crucial step. Unless you write perfect prose the first time (and I’ve never heard of that happening with anyone), you need to take that time to clean it up. That means taking a deep breath (for me anyway) and doing the edits and (perhaps) waiting before starting a new story.

Let’s do a quick recap… you’ve plotted, outlined and generally developed your story, then written a first draft and now you have done the initial edits on it. Time to send it to a publisher, right?

Could be or you might want to get the opinions of your first readers. This has been an extremely difficult thing for me because the only first readers I had were my immediate family. It also means further delay before getting the stories out to publishers. You also need to get the right kind of feedback.

So, for my latest project, my family read the story and put their comments into it. Unfortunately, most of the comments (not all, mind you) took the form of editorial comments. These are great for typos and such, but not so good for things like story development, flow, plot, character-believability, etc. For that, I need other first readers apparently. This is where my problem has always been.

I’ve had LOTS and LOTS of trouble finding anyone willing and able to act as first readers. There are good reasons for this too. Primarily, the problem is one of time. It takes lots of time to read a story and spend the necessary time to write a critique that will actually help the writer. The second problem is familiarity. Most first readers want to feel comfortable within the story’s genre. Consequently, I’ve had people offer to be first readers and then not deliver useful feedback because of time constraints and even more often I’ve had people decline the invitation.

That was in the past. As of yesterday, I have two authors willing to take a look at the story. One is already published and the other is in the same boat as me (I believe). The only downside is neither is available until mid to late August to help out. I had wanted my book out in circulation by the end of July.

So what will I do? I’ve decided to err on the side of quality. I really believe this story can be a success so I want to give it as much of a chance as I can. That means I wait for the feedback which means I wait for my first readers to come back from holidays. Perhaps I should have a little patience? (Didn’t see that coming, did you?) I also expect there to be some back and forth to clarify comments and act upon them. That also adds time to the project.

When all of this is done, I still have a couple more hurdles to overcome. The first (and in my mind, biggest) is to actually find a publisher who is willing to buy the story. In my limited experience I already know that some publishers will respond quickly (less than two weeks) and some will be slower (over two months). Assuming the first publisher doesn’t buy the story (a very safe bet), it could be a year or two before I actually get a contract. Then, when I do get a contract, there will be edits requested by the publisher.

Even after the manuscript has been edited and signed off, it will be months before you see a finished product. And you mustn’t forget all the promotional work you need to prepare for and deliver.

Sounds pretty daunting, doesn’t it? Now you understand why a lack of patience is such a problem for me and why I’m working hard to overcome the lack.

What makes it easier for me is the realization that thousands of books are published every year. People who have worked hard, done their homework and kept the faith are finding success. They have shown patience and that other big “p”-word, perseverance. That means I have a pretty good shot at succeeding too. I just have to have patience.

You’ve just completed your masterpiece, you’ve researched a publisher or an agent and you’ve sent in your work as per the submission requirements.  Now what?

You could do like I did with my first manuscript and sit in anxious anticipation waiting to get word back… and lose sleep and maybe even some of your sanity.  Or you could start a new project.

Are you getting any sense of which way I think you might want to go yet?

Yes, I’ll admit it, I did do the first choice once.  Or was it twice?  Either way, I was going great guns right up until I sent the manuscript out.  Then… nothing.  That’s right, my productivity came to a complete standstill.  What’s worse, I waited and waited, getting more and more anxious with each passing day.  I also beat myself up because I wasn’t actually writing.  I was only waiting.

After three months, the reply came back with a standard form-letter rejection.  Did I start writing then?  Of course not!  I went through my manuscript with a fine-toothed comb trying to figure out what was wrong with it.  That eventually meant another two months without any new writing.  I sent it out again, but I was lucky enough to have Nanowrimo happening so I actually wrote something new.  I didn’t obsess quite as much as the first time around.

The submission came back as another rejection.  This time I tried to send it out to friends for review.  The only critique I got back was “I think I know why you were rejected.”  Nothing else was forth-coming.  Not the following week or even three months later.  Now, I do crave feedback, but as feedback goes that didn’t help me in the least.  In fact, it probably knocked me back several paces.  I put the manuscript on ice and moved on to my Nano book.

I edited and re-edited the thing before finally sending out nine query letters.  I got three positive replies to the nine letters.  The first publisher came back within ten days asking for more.  I sent it (agonizing about what they might say).  Within ten more days they asked for the complete manuscript.  I sent that (REALLY agonizing about what they might say).  A little over a month later, I had my first rejection for the story, this time with actual, honest-to-goodness feedback.  Hooray!

I sent it out again.

During this round of submissions I also did something very different with my writing.  I challenged myself to write 30 short stories in 30 days.  My productivity actually was higher this time around.

Just after sending out the story for the second time (to a second publisher, naturally), I started writing a new story.  This time, I wrote a 30,000 word young reader book in 45 days.  A little off my Nano pace, but still respectable.  I did think about the submitted book at least once a day, but it wasn’t as painful as the first book was.  Maybe keeping my mind busy was a good thing.

Today, I received my second rejection for the second book.  No big deal, actually!  It was another form rejection which is fine.  I’m busy editing my fourth book and I’ve already got the submission package together to send book two (the recently rejected one) out the the third responding publisher.  This one wants the entire manuscript.

My alpha readers (wife and daughter) have already done the read-through for book four and I’m doing my first full edit.  I have a beta reader rounded up for August and I’m very hopeful about the story’s success.  I actually wrote it with the first publisher’s comments firmly in mind, so guess where it will be going first.

I’ve also dusted off the very first book I mentioned and have started a rewrite.  While the original comment wasn’t overly useful from a “what’s wrong with the book” perspective, it did force me to take a serious look at the story.  I saw many of its flaws for what they are and I’m pretty jazzed about where I think it will go this time around.  Once the rewrite is done, it will begin to make the rounds.  I’ve already got a friend prepared to recommend it to a publisher, so we’ll see how it goes.

I’ve also been busy making connections with people in the industry.  I really hope I have some success that way too.

So, I’ve been pretty verbose without really getting to the point, haven’t I?  Maybe I should stop talking and just give you the message already, right?

OK, here goes.

Anything you write is your baby and it’s scary to send it out.  However, when the story is ready, you must let go and give it a chance.  Send it out until there aren’t any publishers left to read it.  You can take a few days in between submissions to incorporate any comments that might be made, but that’s it.

And while you’re waiting, start a new project.  Start writing something new.  As you no doubt have heard a thousand times, practice makes perfect.  That is SO true.  I thought my first book was pretty good and my second even better.  I’m here to tell you that my third is better yet and once that first book is rewritten, it will likely be the best thing I’ve written to date.

That’s a good thing.  It means that I’m learning and getting better with every word I write.

By the end of August I will have three books in circulation looking for a publisher.  I think that will make my odds of getting published even better.  I’ve also got my next Nano book to plot out (the kids have already heard my pitch for the story and they are demanding it get written), and I’ve got a great idea for a Science Fiction/Humor story that will really rock.  I’ve also got editing to do on a couple of short stories so I can get them submitted too.

I think I might be pretty busy for the next while and you should be too.