Blogger: Mary Keeley
According to the dictionary, quotient is a mathematics term defined as “the result of division; the number of times one quantity is contained in another.” For the purposes of our quiz today, I’m adapting the definition this way: the number of times patience is contained in your writing life.”
Writers and authors are continually advised to be patient during the journey to representation and the knuckle-biting process of waiting for your first—or next—contract offer. This is wise advice, but how well are you succeeding in the real day-to-day trenches of your writing life? Rate your patience level on a scale of one (problem area for me) to five (doing great) on each of these statements:
- I don’t get frustrated with myself during the plotting phase of my book.
- I readily accept the fact that my writing career is half the actual writing and half marketing and promoting my books.
- I receive my critique partners’ or editor’s constructive criticisms without becoming defensive. I’m thankful they catch problems I missed.
- Much as I would like to hear from my agent regularly, I recognize that he or she cannot send weekly reports on progress shopping my book or email me just to say hi. If agents did that for all their clients, they wouldn’t have time left to do their job.
- I am willing to take whatever time is needed to find a unique angle for my nonfiction topic or my novel before I begin to map out my book.
- I don’t like receiving rejections from agents and editors, but their comments point to areas in which I need to improve. As a result I’m becoming a better writer.
- I recognize it takes time to grow my social media following and to build my platform. I’m willing to do the hard work and continue to learn new ways to reach my target readers at the same time I’m writing my next book.
- I’m patient with myself when I can’t think of the perfect solution to a problem chapter. Instead of trying to grind my way through to maintain a self-imposed writing schedule, I calmly step away from it for a day, or a week, and then the solution is usually apparent to me.
- I realize that the first book I write usually is “practice.” Perhaps the second and third books are practice too. It helps to remind myself that Davis Bunn wrote seven books in nine years before his first book was published. This inspires me to persevere.
- Truly, I realize that my writing career is in God’s perfect control and timing for his purposes.
Patience is all about the grace that preserves an optimistic outlook toward your work and your interactions. A positive attitude will foster a teachable spirit that agents and editors look for, and it will preserve your relationships, your reputation, and love for your work.
What is your patience quotient? Which areas of the writing life frustrate you most? In what areas do you need to become more patient?
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Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
I love the way you organized this post – each question is a subtle lesson that not only illustrates part of the publishing world, but it allows one to engage in self-examination from a position of detachment.
I’m generally quite patient, but I think that my ethnic origin may give me an advantage. Being Asian, one seems to inherit a “timeview” that is circular rather than linear. Everything that will happen has happened before, and will happen again. The temporal wheel rolls on, indifferent to our strivings.
It may sound fatalistic; it’s not. It’s merely the embodiment of “there is nothing new under the sun”, writ large and all-encompassing. One has a place in the scheme of things, and one is free to exercise patience, because surely the wheel will come around again, to one’s advantage.
Quite nice, I think, that patience becomes liberating.
It stood me in good stead in a previous job, that of long-range tactical interdiction. It sometimes required waiting in a place one might ordinarily not choose to frequent – say, a sewage-filled ditch – for “trade” to turn up, with the mutually incompatible requirements of stillness and alertness.
Add bugs and heat, and while the strong might wilt, the patient would thrive. Well, maybe that’s too strong a word, but a patient heart would optimize one’s value as a tactical asset.
Patience has also helped in ministry work. While one would love to see full and permanent commitment to Christ from one’s own efforts, the goal is salvation. One must be comfortable to plant the seed, and sometimes give it over to another to water, and ultimately to the Almighty to harvest.
That patient heart helps me now as a writer, but more importantly it helps in dealing with an illness that can be rather dismaying at times. The daily manifestations are uncomfortable, and the prognosis is bleak, but the composure born of patience allows me to step past the discomfort, dismiss the doomsayers, and concentrate on fighting back with a ferociously cheerful outlook.
If I try to do too much, looking too far into the future and trying to work on things in parallel, I fall. Literally.
If I am content to accomplish tasks sequentially, not looking too far round the bend, I usually finish them with some energy left over, and with a much happier mien.
Patience waits in calmly coiled energy for that glimmer of opportunity that can change life.
Or save it.
Shirlee Abbott
I, too, have an ethnic advantage. My stoic Scandinavian upbringing helps me LOOK patient–especially with #3 and #6. That stiff upper lip serves well through my initial “I’m going to draw and quarter you for slicing and dicing my wonderful work” to “you’re totally wrong, but your motives are worthy” to “you’re right, this needs more work.” Usually I catch Andrew’s glimmer of opportunity just in time to breathe again.
Jim Lupis
Andrew, you have made me battle my impatience in a totally new and refreshing way.
Thank you.
Jennifer Zarifeh Major
Bugs?
LALALALA.
“Patience waits in calmly coiled energy for that glimmer of opportunity that can change life.Or save it.”
Dude. Awesome!
Jeanne Takenaka
Beautifully stated, Andrew. And I’m with Jennifer—I LOVE your closing sentence!
Talking ethnicity, I guess I’m doomed to struggle with patience with Irish, German and a smudge of Polish blood running through my veins. Sigh. 😉
Cathy West
I didn’t have the patience to take this quiz…
🙂
In truth, I don’t need to. I am not a patient person. Even after all these years in publishing, you’d think I’d have at least learned to be a little patient. I’m not. But I also realize there isn’t anything I can do to hurry the process, so it’s learning to step back and let go of things that are out of my control. That’s what I’ve been working on lately.
Jennifer Zarifeh Major
Hurrying things up? Oh yeah! It’s like trying to get a 3 year old to hurry up with their shoes, right? Ain’t gonna happen!!
Jeanne Takenaka
You made me smile, Cathy. 🙂 I guess patience is learned rather than inherited.I just wish I could learn it NOW. you inspire me as you walk out your journey.
Surpreet Singh
Perhaps the question of our patience quotient can be rephrased – “Toward which side of the family does our character spring – Mary, or Martha?”
Much impatience can be ascribed to the implicit desire to have God ‘take his place’ in our world, so that His presence becomes a factor for us, but certainly not the dominant Presence.
C.S. lewis might say that we would like a tame God, one who understands where His place is at our table.
The fundamental flaw to Martha’s approach is that it is ultimately unnatural – and so is impatience.
God has His place, and it is the banquet of Creation to which WE have been invited.
And patience is the tacit acceptance of the truth that processes and people (including ourselves) will operate on God’s schedule, and not one which we would choose to impose.
The foregoing being said, am I a patient man? My betters would probably say yes, and those above whom I am placed would likely say no.
For I am a Son of Martha.
Rudyard Kipling made this the theme of one of his better poems, and for those who might be interested, I provide the link here-
http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_martha.htm
Shirlee Abbott
First time I’ve read this poem. Thanks for the link, Surpreet. I’m a do-it-myself kind of gal–there’s a bit of me in Kipling’s poetry.
Jim Lupis
Thank you for sharing the Kipling link, Surpreet.
One of my favorite poems is “If.”
Christine Dorman
Thank you, Mary, for the quiz. I read through it with some hesitancy then discovered I’m more patient (or more realistic) than I expected. The one that scored the lowest on was #5. The words “whatever time it takes” hit a discordant note in me. I realize that having a “unique angle” is important in selling a book, but trying to find that angle BEFORE I even start to map out the book feels like procrastination to me. I’d rather start working on the idea WHILE I’m trying to figure out how to make it unique. Probably the wrong way to go about it, but I’m being honest.
Many blessings! 🙂
Jeanne Takenaka
I know what you mean about finding that unique angle, Christine. 🙂 Before I began my current WIP, I talked with a couple author friends about how to craft a unique angle for my story. I’m hoping it’s unique enough. It’s hard to wait. I’m with you: I feel like I’m procrastinating if I’m not writing. 🙂
Christine Dorman
Thanks, Jeanne. It’s good to know I’m not alone.
I’ll be praying for you and your book angle. 🙂
shelli littleton
Some are born gifted in a certain area … others work hard to become somewhat gifted in that area. I wish I fell into the first group! 🙂
Patience … I’m fairly patient, unless I’m hungry or enduring extreme temperatures. In my early 20s, I worked for a doctor (urologist) … I sat at the window and greeted each patient, took care of their charts, insurance, you know. Inside my gut … hectic. I would feel so stressed out. But the nurse would always comment that she loved being around me and so did the patients because she would say, “you have a calming effect.” I was thankful, but I would just shake my head, because I didn’t feel calm.
When working at that doctor’s office, we saw many cancer patients. I learned much, made wonderful friends. I had a special love for a lady with kidney cancer. All I learned would later help me some ten years later when my daughter (13 months old) endured kidney cancer.
Jennifer Zarifeh Major
You do!! Your voice is sooooo clam and even and gentle…ahhh..
Jennifer Zarifeh Major
*callllm
not clam
Jeanne Takenaka
You’ve actually heard Shelli’s voice?! I’m jealous, Jennifer. 🙂
shelli littleton
Jennifer, I got a good laugh … “clam” … oh, the times I’m clammy! Is that even a real word? If I feel it, I guess it’s real! Nervous and clammy, and people see calm (I accidentally wrote clam first, had to back up and write calm!). It’s beyond me!
Jeanne … we need to talk!!! 🙂
Jeanne Takenaka
It sounds like Jesus’ peace poured through you and into that waiting room. I love how God can work that way on our exterior when we’re all knotted up inside!
Kristen Joy Wilks
Hmmm…I’m getting a lot of practice with #7. Learning to let the rejection make me a better writer. And it has…it is just such a painful way to do it.
Carol McAdams Moore
“In what areas do you need to become more patient?”
10. Truly, I realize that my writing career is in God’s perfect control and timing for his purposes.
This is something I must acknowledge daily. I can give my best effort and devote my time to writing and related tasks, but ultimately God is in control. He doesn’t NEED me to do His work. Anything I write is a privilege from Him.
Michelle Ule
I heard Davis at my first writer’s conference give that stat, and while it was a surprise, it put the publishing world into perspective for me, so I didn’t worry about not selling anything until I started to get closer to that number of completed projects.
Or at least that’s what I told myself. 🙂
I think I’d written five novels before I sold that first novella. Whew!
Of note: of the six projects I’ve sold and the one I just sent in, plus the next novel I hope to finally finish, NONE were my original ideas.
Those five finished novels still wait, and I’ve now learned a great deal about how to improve them–if I ever get the time!
shelli littleton
Thank you for that encouragement, Michelle.
Jeanne Takenaka
Great words, Michelle. I’m finding that each story I come up with gets tweaked and changed as I talk it through with author friends who help me add breadth and depth to them. 🙂 Your words give me encouragement too.
Christine Dorman
God bless you for your perseverance and your good example, Michelle! 🙂
Mary Keeley
I’m on vacation this week but wanted to check in and find out how you’re faring. It’s heartwarming to see the transparency and encouragement being shared among our blog community. And I believe you’ll find you are acquiring more patience with the process than you might have thought.
shelli littleton
Have a wonderful vacation, Mary!
Jennifer Zarifeh Major
Cough.
We’re good here.
Cough.
Go play.
Coughs even louder.
Jeanne Takenaka
Enjoy your vacation, Mary. Our family was away last week. I hope you get some time to relax!
Jenni Brummett
Blessings on your travels, Mary.
Christine Dorman
I hope you have a relaxing week, Mary. 🙂
Jennifer Zarifeh Major
July 24, 2014, Jennifer flunks pop-quiz on patience.
Okay, maybe not flunk, maybe just do bad enough to get grounded. A rarity in my history, I might add!
What frustrates me the most? Hmmm. To be honest, the time it takes to learn the ins and outs of the writer life. BUT, finally learning that I’m not crazy for making up stories in my head and that every writer does the same thing? Whoa.
And yeah, the waiting…and waiting…annnnnnd waiting…
Jeanne Takenaka
ANNNNNNDDDDDD WWWAAAIIITTTIIINNNGGG! 😉
shelli littleton
And we wait … we begin to wonder … now, what was I waiting for? 🙂
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
In trauma care, there is what is called the Golden Hour, in which exists the best chance for a good outcome.
In a similar way, the writer’s vigil is a golden hour, in which the work has assumed an existence unto itself, and may be seen by its creator in a true light.
Give waiting its due, and you’ll find that your book is speaking to you in a voice you never knew it possessed, even while giving it.
Jeanne Takenaka
Mary, I appreciate your quiz. It helped me to see where my strengths and weaknesses are in terms of patience in the writer’s life. I have trouble being patient with myself.
#8 is probably the one I struggle with the most. When I get stuck on a chapter or a plot point that isn’t working out, I begin to think I’m a failure and that I can’t do this. And then I get frustrated because I just want to get past that point in the story. I’m a linear writer, so it’s hard to skip around if I’m stuck on one point of my story.
Thanks for the perspective check woven into each of your quiz questions. They are great reminders!
shelli littleton
I have a hard time skipping, too, Jeanne. I usually wait it out … then proceed.
Jenni Brummett
#3
It’s not so much defensive as down in the dumps. You know that black moment we give our characters? Suggestions for major revisions or omissions can feel a bit like that.
Rather than thinking I’ve failed, I need to shift perspective and give thanks for the opportunity to improve and flourish.
Jennifer Zarifeh Major
And? Wait for it….talk to you crit partner, because she WANTS to help and bring out the BEST in you.
Jenni Brummett
Never will forget your availability and unperturbed reaction, friend.
As so many people here know, you are a jewel.
Jennifer Zarifeh Major
Aww, thanks Jenni!!
You’re rather sparkley yourself.
Meghan Carver
Agreed completely with Jennifer, Jenni! Revision letters from editors can be a bit (okay, a lot) overwhelming, especially the first one. It’s easy to think that you’re a flop and should just quit. But as you plow through, you see that the changes are making the story stronger. It can help boatloads to have a friend/CP encourage you through it.
(BTW, you have a gift. Keep at it! 🙂 )
Jenni Brummett
Thankful for you and your gift, Meghan.
I know it’s a God thing that we are in a very similar season.
Jeanne Takenaka
It’s discipline to change our thinking, isn’t it, Jenni?
Jenni Brummett
Yes, discipline is like a corset (historical writer here :-)). Shaping us while accentuating the finer points. At the same time, it can be uncomfortable and make us gasp when the lacing is pulled tight.
Jaime Wright
Not to go all too weird and personal here, but I learned patience the hard way. Through five pregnancies, waiting, praying, hoping that they would live. You’re waiting, praying, and forced to learn that you are not in control. Have my two littles with me and three with Jesus. I think now waiting on words, and publishers, and books seems far less panicking to me and I find the process restful and enjoyable. It becomes a learning process, and sometimes there’s stressers, but I don’t FEEL impatient anyway. It’s not life or death. I’m really really good with that.
Jenni Brummett
Wow,Jaime. Thanks for being so transparent with us. Puts things in perspective.
Meghan Carver
Jaime, all I saw was the title of Mary’s post and my first thought? I prayed for patience and God made me a mother.
Jeanne Takenaka
Jaime, I’m sorry. I know it’s part of the fabric of your story. We had a similar story. And yes, through the heartache, we learned patience. And trusting God. Also essential qualities for this writing journey.
shelli littleton
Thank you, Jaime. I know your story from personal experience, as well. Patience does come with time and testing … we are works in progress.
Meghan Carver
Understanding the process has been key for me. A couple of years ago, I would have flunked this quiz with an F-. Now, I keep writing, keep going with social media, keep reading, keep learning, keep praying, keep trusting God for His timing and His purposes. Thank you for an amazing post, Mary.
Julie Garmon
Incredible list. Thank you. Helps me to see it in writing–and to look back and know that novel number one served a purpose–even though I know NOW it was waaaaaay to auto-biographical. Novel number two–landed me an agent, but I discovered I needed to work on my plotting skills. Novel number three–too edgy (I hate that word) for CBA and too Christian for ABA. So with all of this practice and having rewritten novel number four a bunch of times, gone to conferences, taught at conferences, worked on my social media, and blogging, and speaking, and trying my best to become technically savvy, maybe, just maybe it is all if His timing. And I’m finally, finally grateful for this long and winding path. 🙂
shelli littleton
Thank you, Julie! So encouraging! 🙂
Julie Garmon
And so nice to meet you, Shelli. 🙂 Thanks for letting me know! xoxo
Julie Garmon
P.S. Just gotta say, that Lab with the baby ducks has to be the cutest picture ever. We’re Lab people. Clyde, our yellow Lab is faithfully asleep by my side. 🙂
May God bless each of you~~
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
I loved the Lab picture too. We have two black labs, and a yellow.
Their names are Bernard the Ninth (because he was the ninth dog we got),
Labby (I was running out of inspiration)
and
Chris (after Chris Magee, who flew with VMF-214 “Blacksheep” during WW2, and the Israelis during the War of Independence).
Julie Garmon
Love your Lab names, Andrew. We’ve always had Labs. Not sure you’ll be too impressed with the name of the one still sleeping at my feet.
Clyde.
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Actually, Clyde would get along just fine with Chris. Their names have something in common.
Chris Magee was one of the very few holders of the navy Cross who served time for bank robbery – albeit with an unloaded pistol, as he didn’t want to hurt anyone.
He became the editor of a church newspaper in Chicago after he was released, and did some very fine writing (sadly unpublished), and died in 1995.
Finally, Chris was cousin to John Gillespie Magee, the young pilot in the RAF who wrote the immortal poem “High Flight” – you, know, “O, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth…”
Julie Garmon
Chris sounds like a mighty distinguished fellow. 🙂
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
He is. He came from the pound as a companion to an elderly girl named Daisy (aka CMOL – Charles Manson on a Leash).
Daisy grew to depend on him; as she grew older and unsteady on her feet, Chris was always there, helping her, giving her a shoulder on which to lean.
He’s a lovely character; the male alpha in our sanctuary, but very, very benevolent.
Amy R. Buckley
AWESOME post. Thanks for calling attention to so many potential areas of growth. Number 8 trips me most: “I’m patient with myself when I can’t think of the perfect solution to a problem chapter. Instead of trying to grind my way through to maintain a self-imposed writing schedule, I calmly step away from it for a day, or a week, and then the solution is usually apparent to me.” Recently, I stopped working and went for a swim. The answers didn’t come during the swim, but they came shortly after it. Rest and recreation help a lot. BTW, I have a lab (Pippin) who is almost identical to the one in your post. 🙂
Michelle Lim
Patience is often as much a learning curve for a writer as is the writing craft. We get better with time. When you first start out, everything seems immediate and then you learn it rarely is immediate.
I still struggle sometimes with the time table of the writing industry, but wow have I come a long way, a ‘look Mom, no hands,’ kind of moment when I reflect back and see how God has helped me grow.
Julie Garmon
Love your analogy, Michelle.
Jennifer Smith
What a great post, Mary! I feel that God has taught me a lot about patience over the past five years…I think it’s finally starting to “take.”
I was never what I’d called a patient person. Strangely, when I turned thirty last year, I felt a noticeable shift in my attitude. I feel like I can honestly say I’ve put all writing “stuff” in God’s hands. Now let’s just hope I can leave it there for the long term. 🙂
Heidi Kneale (Her Grace)
For the most part, I’m a patient author when it comes to my career. However, I have discovered my moment of impatience. I get a lot of replies from editors/agents telling me how much they loved my piece, how they believe I am publishable, but Not This Piece At This Time In This Place (“but someone else will love it!”).
(I believe them. I have had two editors pass short stories on to other editors who did love them, and who did buy them.)
However, loving a piece but not buying it doesn’t do my bottom line much good.
If I could post all my near misses to my bibliography page, I’d look rather prolific and skillful indeed.
donnie nelson
Patience is not simply the ability to wait – it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.
Joyce Meyer