One thing I have never been accused of in my short life, is being a patient person. A situation arises and I take care of it, immediately. I go on a diet; I want to start losing weight that night. I choose to exercise; I want results the next day. I want a pizza; thirty minutes is too darn slow. I set out to write a book; I want to publish it right now. You get the idea. The same can be said of difficult or painful decisions, like how much of a chapter should get tossed during revision or deciding the future career you would like to have, or choosing the perfect place to settle down and live. Sometimes though, these decisions or obstacles cannot and should not be rushed into.
“I have zero patience,” is an odd thing to say as a writer (and obviously not 100% true), after all it takes a lot more work and effort to write a book than it takes to read one. It would be like a race car driver saying he doesn’t like speed. It is a natural part of our everyday lives and yet many of us either lack patience or have little desire to put it into practice.
My first story was an eye opener for me. To be honest I had to learn to fly very quickly. Months of hard work, night after night of pouring out my ideas onto the page. I wanted to tell everything all at once! I thought my ideas would evaporate like dew in the morning light. When I had finished my story it came to 65,000 words, a small but herculean effort. That first long form story laid the ground work for the things I do today. It is the reason I have a story journal and have copious notes stored alongside my character profiles and city layouts. I had to learn that not everything can be done in one night, and that that is alright.
As we face down adversities throughout our lives it is tempting to want to rush through them. We all wish that we could overcoming difficult or painful things with the snap of our fingers. They are hard. They are painful. Duh, why wouldn’t we want to just get it all over with? Overcoming the hard choices that life throws at us requires patience.
You might notice that I mentioned my journal and other side projects as things I do now. This extra writing is usually not seen by readers, but you can tell when it is done right and when it is not done at all. It takes a lot of (fun) work to develop a story and characters and a world they inhabit. These days my story notes are usually at least as long as the story I am attempting to write. For many this would seem counter intuitive. I am talking of having patience and yet doing all of this work. Why? We seem to believe that patience involves a lot of doing nothing. Waiting around, kicking a can down the street, watching the grass grow. No. Patience requires work. Remember what we always say here, “Only you can achieve your dreams!” That won’t be possible if you sit around doing nothing! Did you know synonyms for patience include: persistence, resolution, perseverance and assiduity*? None of those are passive and inactive.
If we want to get through hard times, or hard choices, or if we simply want to overcome a difficult obstacle or task, we need to work through it. Gather your materials. Take notes. Think through what it is you are doing. Apply. Test. Apply again. Test. You can do this! Brick by brick, day by day you will get closer to completing your goals.
*Assiduity – “showing great care and perseverance” is officially my new favorite word!