The hardest part of being a writer to me isn’t the writing. It isn’t the editing. It isn’t the revising. It isn’t coming up with ideas to write about. The writing process used to be a lot more difficult for me, but there’s one thing now that I struggle with:
Waiting.
It’s waiting for an editor to respond to your pitch or draft. It’s after a week of waiting where you start to think “should I just publish this myself, or keep waiting?” It’s waiting for an editor to tell you whether your work was good enough, or not good enough.
Submitting a draft to an editor inherently means you’re giving up control of your piece. You’re not giving up control of all of it, obviously, since it’s your own content, but you lose control over factors like when the article is published, what your headline is, how your article is formatted, and what sentences or paragraphs are necessary.
Giving up control of something as personal as writing can be very nerve-wracking, and the temptation immediately after finishing and refining your piece is to put it out there. I have, on far more than one occasion, pulled my piece from publications to publish it on my own terms or immediately.
The truth is that good publishing takes time. Backs and forths with editors can be very frustrating, especially if you disagree with the editor,. The hardest part isn’t the rejection, sometimes. The hardest part is when you wait weeks, or even months, with no response whatsoever.
People told me a lot of things about writing before I actually started taking it seriously. I always had many other commitments so I couldn’t put all my cards into writing. But with an emphasis on social distancing and staying indoors, sometimes all I do is check my e-mail.
Has the editor of this publication responded to this draft? What about this one? Should I just publish it? Is the article going to do worse if I just publish it myself?
A big part of writing is learning to let go. Nothing in life really comes when we want it. You, like me, have probably stood on a long line outside the grocery store that goes all the way around the parking lot. You know it’s for good reason, to curb the spread of the Coronavirus, and still, the waiting irks you.
Waiting as a writer just reinforces how much is not in our control. It’s what we do when we’re waiting and in the in-between state that is, well, life. When we’re waiting, we might be catching up with people on the phone, or binging some of our favorite TV shows. When we’re waiting, we do chores, clean, work out, and think.
It’s life that gives us ideas to write about. As seriously as we take ourselves as writers, we need to be grateful for the fact that we’re not only writers. We’re sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends, and simply human beings.
The waiting is much easier said than done. I tell myself to close my computer and put away my phone, and then go back to checking my e-mail about five minutes later.
I don’t have any good advice for how to wait well, because I don’t do it well myself. I know, for my own good, that I have to stop being in a hurry, and learn to finally stop being so restless.
Wait. Have patience. It’s one of the most valuable skills you can have as a writer.
Originally published on The Partnered Pen on April 28, 2020.