Blog Party Contest! Day 2

Can I just say that Puppy, little devil that he is in all his cuteness, appears to enjoy seeing me clean up his piddly widdlies. No sooner have I wiped up one puddle and he's back in the kitchen slurping from the water bowl. Stinker. (I'd post another picture, but Blogger's spazzing out on me.)

OK, quick contest recap. For the month of February I'll be posting every day. And if you comment (one entry per day), you get entered into the drawing for an Amazon gift card in the amount equalling the number of new followers that join during February (guaranteed to be at least $50). So spread the word!

Now to today's post, which is brought us by the letters C-H-R-I-S-T-I-N-E

Christine Danek asked: How do you deal with the topic of patience and writing?

Great question, Christine, and one I have quite a bit to speak about.

By now you've all heard that publishing is a slow business. Believe it. If you're simply writing for the joy of putting pen to paper, yay you! Patience is not a virtue you need. But (and it's a big butt), if you have dreams of publication, patience is about the only thing you do need. That and persistence.

First off, writing a novel is hard. Really hard. That's a lot of words. Patience plays a big part here. As much as the dream of publication is whispering sweet nothings in your ear, you must press on. You must finish the manuscript before you even consider testing those query waters. For reals, people. Finish that draft! Don't let the sharks get you!

But wait! What's that you say? You finished? Hooray! A beautiful 500-page first draft is in your hot little hands. Your mind is screaming, "Send! Send! Send!" And somewhere in the blogosphere I'm yelling back. "Nooooooo." Step away from the email. Hands off the agent list. It's not ready yet. You're not ready yet. Now you need patience more than ever. You need it to help you find all the problems within that honking draft. (Or, if you're a sparse writer, you need the patience to fill in the details). Revision, baby! Get to it.

Now you've done it. You polished, you shined, you sent it around the world for critique. Your baby manuscript is all grown up and ready to venture into the big, bad world. Patience, grasshopper. It's time for research. Now you must scour the internet for information on agents who like what you write. You hunt down interviews with agents whose personalities seem compatible. You pseudo-stalk until you have an idea of who might be a good fit. You make a list. And then, with trembling fingers, you send off your (also critiqued) query letter. And guess what you do next.

You wait. And wait. And wait. Meanwhile, you write another novel.

Patience.

It's not something that comes easily to me. I'm a hurry-up-and-get-on-with-it kind of gal. But the quest for publication has taught me there's no hurrying this writing thing. But that's okay because you love it. Right? You have to love it. I'm not kidding. Your love of writing needs to be stronger than your desire to be published. A million times stronger. You have to do it for the love.

Ultimately, patience is key. It takes time to develop your craft. It takes time to write the novel you are meant to write. It all takes time. And patience.

Thanks for the great question, Christine. I look forward to reading the comments (and tallying up your entries to the contest). The accountant in me is drooling at the sight of the Excel spreadsheet I've prepared.