“You don’t have to do it all in one day, you know,” said my long-time friend Anna Marie. “It’s a process, not a race.”
She’s right, of course. But that doesn’t do much to keep me from anxiously wanting it all done “yesterday.”
In my case, I thought about this first novel of mine for maybe a decade. I don’t know for sure when the initial “I wanna write a book” idea popped into my head, but I do know that some of the characters, settings, scenes, and so forth were born many, many years before I ever sat my butt down to write the first chapter.
And now, I’ve finished “the first revisions and second draft” and suddenly… I want it DONE. Done, as in published, distributed, and sold to eager readers!
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work quite like that. Now comes researching agents to find one who’s a good “fit” for my work, writing the query letter, securing that perfect agent, writing the chapter-by-chapter synopsis, writing the entire book proposal (which is lots more complicated than I ever imagined), and so on and so forth.
In other words, even though my novel now sits “complete” at 72, 575 words, the work has only just begun.
“It’s just like having children,” said Anna Marie. “You create them, go through the gestation and labor, and then, well, the real work has just begun!”
She’s right, again. And “my baby” deserves the best upbringing I can muster. So on I go, step by step, one day at a time, working steadily toward my goal. And still searching for that little thing called patience.
If you’ve got any to spare, please send it along!