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<\/a>I have decided that I will no longer refer to myself as a writer. I am now a waiter. Not in the sense of delivering dishes to your table, hot and without finger marks in the gravy. Rather in the sense of waiting by the mailbox. Or the inbox, as is mostly the case.<\/p>\nI know that waiting time is writing time. All good writers send off submissions \u2013 manuscripts, proposals, pitches, library membership application forms \u2013 and then promptly forget about them, throwing themselves immediately into their next project.<\/p>\n
I try. I really do.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m an impatient kind of a girl. I can\u2019t help checking my inbox daily \u2013 okay, several thousand times a day. I can\u2019t help wondering \u2013 aloud and ad nauseum. And I find it really, really hard to concentrate on other things. Like\u2026 well, anything really.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s bad enough when you\u2019re waiting for one thing. When your knickers are in a knot over several things at once \u2013 as mine are at present \u2013 it makes it really hard to walk. Not with any elegance, anyway.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m lucky. I have good friends who are excellent writers and they talk me down from the ceiling on a regular basis. Be patient, they advise. Keep busy, they suggest. Don\u2019t call, they insist.<\/p>\n
So I don\u2019t. Instead, I spend my time devising the writer\u2019s rules for waiting.<\/p>\n
- \n
- That all-important email is not stuck in cyberspace. So it does not matter how many times you click \u2018get mail\u2019. Desist. You do not need RSI at this point in your career.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- \n
- Everything will happen at once. So be ready.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
That\u2019s it. Waiting is very debilitating. See how it\u2019s draining my inspiration. When you can\u2019t even write a 10-point list, you know you\u2019re in trouble.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not alone, I know. Everyone is waiting for something. Godot, for example. But waiting, like writing, is a lonely business, full of self-doubt and insecurity.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, it\u2019s a whole lot better than rejection.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s a subject for another day. Probably the day my waiting ends.<\/p>\n
Which is, apparently, never. Sigh.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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- Everything will happen at once. So be ready.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n