The Bane of Most Writers’ Lives: Waiting
The new Glimmer Train bulletin is available, and in it you’ll find a lovely piece by Olufunke Grace Bankole, called “Going Solo.” Here’s a small snippet: There is a time,…
The new Glimmer Train bulletin is available, and in it you'll find a lovely piece by Olufunke Grace Bankole, called "Going Solo." Here's a small snippet:
There is a time, a season for each thing: a time to act, and a time to wait. When I forget this, I struggle to make progress with work that requires not force, but patient, gradual persistence. In this waiting season, it is as if nothing at all is happening, and it can feel as if the things that are, discourage us from continuing on. The bane of most writers' lives, this waiting time asks that we be alone with the very things we are waiting—wading—through doubt, stagnation, aching self-consciousness.
Jane Friedman is a full-time entrepreneur (since 2014) and has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. She is the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest. In addition to being a columnist with Publishers Weekly and a professor with The Great Courses, Jane maintains an award-winning blog for writers at JaneFriedman.com. Jane’s newest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press, 2018).
