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| Photo credit: mynameisrichard on Flickr |
In response to my post on whether or not writers should delay their gratification, I received many interesting and thoughtful answers.
A common theme I noticed, however, was that most of us agree there isn’t a straightforward
one-size-fits-all answer.
It goes without saying that when it comes to things of the
writerly nature, answers will vary depending on the writer/ manuscript/ season/
day of the week/ what you ate for breakfast/ how many ferrets you have (ok,
maybe not those last few). But delayed gratification is interesting because,
for writers at least, it’s mostly inevitable.
Regardless of whether you choose indie or traditional
publishing, a lot of work goes into a novel before you get anything in return.
Writers spend years honing their skills before anything they write is anywhere
near publishable. Writers work without pay and give up their precious free time
to work on that novel/ screenplay/ poem/ short story/ what-have-you.
So at the beginning of a writer’s journey, at least, there
is no escaping delayed gratification.
The question we truly face as writers, with the rise of
indie publishing upon us, is how long
to continue to delay that gratification. How long, for example, should you edit
before querying agents or uploading to Amazon?
This is where matters start to get tricky. There isn’t a
magic number we can point to and say after x-amount of hours, words or books
you’re ready to be published (although there is a theory that in order to
master any skill or subject, you have
to spend 10,000 hours developing said skill, but that’s another matter
entirely).
The best thing writers can do is practice some patience
while honing their skills. Take your time to perfect your story, to learn about
the craft, to become a better writer. Make publishing decisions carefully and
take all the time you need to make the decision that’s best for you and your
career as a writer.
Keep calm and carry on. Seriously. Whenever you start to
feel rushed, take a deep breath and remember that time is working for you. Don’t
rush the process.
What do you think? Is delayed gratification just part of the process? Can we (or should we) try to avoid it?
