Waste Not, Want Not
Or so they say, but the life of an author can redefine that statement.
I have a passionate prejudice against waste…ask my kids. Food that goes uneaten sticks in my craw (bad pun, I know). I follow my son through the house turning lights off as we go, “You are no longer in this room, you don’t need this light.” To which he replies, “But you’re still in it, Mom!” I plan my day's outing so that I don't have to back track to a place I've been already and waste gasoline. "You're going to have to hang out at school for 15 extra minutes. I'll pick you up on the way back from dropping off your sister at her lesson."
Waste not, want not. Right? Let’s apply this to writing.
I’ve been writing for 6 or 7 years. I’m currently working on my fourth computer since I decided to pursue publication. I spend weekends, Mondays and half of Tuesday diligently researching and submitting my material. But I haven’t attracted the attentions of an agent as of yet. So, doesn’t all this time spent writing and crafting and honing and critiquing (well, maybe not the critiquing), all the time spent away from my family while I tap on keys and click on PW links or mine through blogs for sparkly little gems of industry info, doesn’t it all equate to a big fat waste of time?
Am I an impatient person? No. When I stare inspiration in the face, I’m as patient as they come. I’ll wait the 6 to 8 months for a response from a publisher if I’m told from the get-go that is the expected response time. It is the unknown that is so difficult. When do I move on to the ‘want not’ part?
Do I believe in my work? Most of the time. Upwards of the 90 percentile, anyway. Yet, I’m disappointingly human and doubt creeps in now and again. I’d like to remold that lump of doubt into something constructive. I’m trying to figure a way to turn the waste of time invested, into some new sort of payout other than representation and publication. As an example, when someone reaches a milestone in their life, I like to give them something I’ve written to mark the occasion. Recently I gave an expectant mother a poem about the best parts of parenting. However, that isn’t a new payout, so I’m looking to expand on rewards from writing - such as that.
What do you do while you wait for the ultimate reward for time not only invested in your writing, but selfishly held back from your loved ones? Because if I don’t learn how NOT to feel like the time is wasted, I’ll be left wanting a new use for my laptop.
(I know, I talk big - like I could ever actually stop, right?)