As much as I love writing full time (which has been my dream for many years), there’s one aspect of it that I positively hate: waiting. Writing gives me the power to control my characters’ worlds, emotions, conflicts, and arcs. In short, I pull the strings. Conversely, during the publication journey, I’m forced to put the ball in someone else’s court and wait for him or her to deliver feedback, a cover design, a response to a query, a decision on a contest, a review, the final PDF of my book.
Usually I can distract myself with another project—revising another manuscript or beginning the first draft of a brand new novel. At the moment (or rather, for the past week), I have not done either. Last Thursday, I submitted final line edits to my publisher for The View from Half Dome, and in the meantime, I’m waiting for tomorrow’s meeting with my critique partners to hear their feedback on the ending of my contemporary novel-in-process, A Nebulous Startup. I have ideas for a fourth novel and have even begun some research and a word file, but I’m not ready to begin a first draft. First I want to finish editing A Nebulous Startup and send it to beta readers + at least one South Asian sensitivity reader early next year.
Another great way to occupy time while waiting is to listen to writing podcasts and recorded webinars. (I highly recommend Donald Maas’ recorded writing webinars and The Shit No One Tells You about Writing podcasts). And of course, reading great novels is a favorite!
How do you distract yourself while waiting?
