Waiting on Publication

What does waiting have to do with writing?

Everything.

Waiting until you feel your work is ready to submit to contests, to agents, to publishers. Waiting to hear from those submissions. Waiting, waiting, waiting—for the contest final, the contest win, The Call. 

Waiting is inevitable. Waiting isn’t fun. Waiting Isn’t easy. 

Every writer could give a waiting story. Of weeks becoming months, months stretching into a year or more, waiting to hear back from an agent or editor on a submission. Total all those manuscripts we submitted and we often wait for years and years. This waiting can chip away at our confidence, at our productivity, at our sanity. We struggle to not take this personally, to remember waiting doesn’t mean there's some lack in us or in our words. Though too often that’s exactly how we feel.

Let me interject here—there are far tougher waits than publication. Those of us who’ve sat beside an ill loved one or prayed for an unsaved or addicted family member, or waited up for a teenager out past curfew, or for a job that will pay the bills, for a mate, a baby—the list is endless and personal. It’s helpful to keep publication in perspective, but that doesn't diminish its importance. God gave us talent, a desire to write. We’re not supposed to bury our talent, unless it’s on the piled desks of beleaguered editors.

Waiting requires patience.

Most writers find patience in short supply. One of the many reasons Seekers love contests is they have a timetable, a promised end. Publication isn’t so kind. We’re ready, for Pete’s sake. We know the work is ready. We’ve had confirmation in contests; from editors who reject a story, but then ask for something else; from reading published books and realizing our manuscript stacks up. We start to question if we'll be signing books in the nursing home dining room, wearing a bib and a toothless grin. 

How do we handle all these disappointments? 

Truth is waiting requires trust. It’s not always wise to trust ourselves. I can think of times I wanted something and wasn’t ready for it. Or worse, what I wanted was totally wrong for me. If we can’t put trust in ourselves, we surely can’t put it in publishers with lines opening and closing, editors coming and going. The only certainty for published authors is the last check. Pretty discouraging if it weren’t for the fact that God’s in this, too.

God knows what we want. And He’s in control. Everything we seek must first go through the sieve of His will. His timing. I recommend the book If You Want To Walk On Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat by John Ortberg. He says, “Too often we want God’s resources, but we do not want his timing.” Ouch. He also says: “We forget that his work in us while we wait is as important as what it is that we think we are waiting for.” Maybe God has a lesson for us to learn, some growing to do. That’s still hard. I know as I’ve experienced some of those lessons.

While we’re waiting, what should we do? Twiddle our thumbs? Whine? Rant? Upon occasion, sure, but not for long.

Waiting is more active than that. Instead keep those thumbs and fingers on the keyboard and write another manuscript. Develop strategies to keep our spirits up. At a writers’ retreat we attendees poured out our hearts onto lengths of toilet paper—two ply works best—then ceremoniously flushed our frustrations away amidst laughter and yes, a few tears. We felt surprisingly purged afterward. Keep fit. Stay connected. Be good to yourselves.

Fifteen talented writers inhabit Seekerville. When we established our little oasis, none of us were published. Seven now are and the rest will be. How can I say that with such confidence? Seekers know how to wait. We’re taking what action we can and trusting God for the rest. Perhaps 2008 will be the year the waiting ends for you. What a party we’ll have here in Seekerville!

Consider this your invitation.

Janet