I try really hard. I mean, REALLY HARD. I have never been a patient person and I have known that for many years now which has allowed me some level of personal growth and improvement in this particular area - I think. Now, I have never entered this publishing world with delusions of grandeur, never thought my books would leap off the shelves and I would have people clambering over each other to get a copy of my amazing novel. I have dreamed about making enough money to buy a nice house and live where I want to and travel when the desire strikes me. Admittedly, I have imagined my works being made into a movie or TV show - come on, who hasn't? When I write a novel my characters tend to act the entire book out in my head so why not make the leap to envisioning more? Still, in all of these daydreams I never considered instantaneous fame, I can say that quite honestly. I digress. The whole point of this post is an affirmation for all other writers out there who are feeling down because they have no sales, wondering if they made the right choice by leaping into publication, or just plain wonder if anybody cares about their work half as much as they do. We have ALL felt that way. You don't have to take my word for it. I have researched it and there are hundreds of entries on hundreds of blogs and interviews and so on where authors who have "made it" talk about their early days and all of their rejections and so on. Are we all going to "make it?" Nope. Statistically that just is not possible, of course. Can we all find some successes, no matter how small, to bolster our self esteem and reaffirm our decision to publish a piece of ourselves for the world to see? YES. Absolutely, positively yes.
Patience. It all comes back to patience. Writing, like every other craft, takes time and practice and determination. Above all, it takes patience. We keep plucking away and putting pieces out because we as writers have things to say, ideas to share and nothing, nobody can bottle them up. So keep plugging away at your work in progress, keep editing the drafts on your shelves, keep taking the feedback you receive and polishing your work until YOU are satisified with it and then wait. Wait for that one person or ten people or a thousand people who read your work and relate to it. Somebody out there will and that is all it takes.
Perhaps I am nostalgic as I approach the one year anniversary of my first published novel. Perhaps it is just self affirmation to remain patient with everything (and everyone including myself). Perhaps it is just because I have read a lot of posts from frustrated writers lately. Does it matter?
Take what you will from what I wrote and leave the rest at the door.
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