Waiting
It's been nineteen days since I sent the manuscript of my book to an editor. And it’ll be another two weeks until he sends me notes.
I have never liked waiting. Unexpected waiting, that is. It’s not exactly that I’m impatient, it’s more that I’m uncomfortable about the wasted time—time I could be using differently if only I had known about the waiting in advance and how long it would be. This anxiety began with my parents.
In my family of origin there were two speeds: hurry up and wait. And not much in between. Mom and Dad (especially him) made every effort to sidestep the expectations of their seven children. They (especially him) preferred to be free to change their minds. And so, wait times and circumstances were seldom clearly defined or explained. Most people are anxious about the unknown. Me, too.
But, if I know there’s waiting up ahead, I can plan for it. I will happily spend an entire morning waiting in the customer lounge while the Nissan service department folks work on my Rogue. In the lounge I read, write, and catch up on emails, texts, and phone calls. That sort of waiting is fine with me. If someone tells me approximately how long I’ll need to wait, I’m happy. Mostly.
The waiting I’ve done during the past nineteen days has been in the “mostly” category. The editor gave me an approximate timeline, so I knew how long I I’d have to wait—too long to do nothing and not long enough to write another book.
I started writing another book anyway. The way I see it, by the time I get the editor’s notes on the first manuscript, I’ll be ready for a break from the second manuscript. And the forced waiting period will have given me a fresh perspective on the first book. That kind of waiting seems necessary and useful. Every author has their unique pre-publication process, but waiting for an editor is something we all do.
So, even though I still don’t like waiting, I do like creating the best book I’m capable of writing. And creating best books requires waiting for editors. So, I wait. But at least I knew when and how long the wait would be. If only my anxiety related to the finished book was that easy to eliminate!
