The theme of the month (or maybe of life) is…
PATIENCE.
Being a birth doula for almost two decades taught me patience. Sitting with a woman in labor hour after hour after hour. Rubbing her back, whispering soothing words. Reassuring anxious partners.
Would that I could have the same degree of patience with myself when it comes to my creative work!
But I can.
I am in the (enviable, I know) position of having two novels drafted, each begging for me to take it to the next stage. It’s a race! For now, I’m devoting myself to the earlier one, for which I’ve received comments from an editor. My job for the next few months is revision. “Re-visioning” the story to make it even better, so it can find the audience it deserves.
As with birthing a baby, this process can’t be rushed. As impatient as we become (“Why isn’t it done already?” “I want to start querying agents!” “I want it in bookstores, stat!” “I want the baby out, NOW!), the work takes time. Day after day, week after week, we go to the page and do the writing, revising, editing.
So that’s my plan: go to the page. Every day. The books will get done one word at a time, just as labor progresses one contraction at a time.
In the meantime, I’m lucky to have other “children” to tend to.
38 of 52 episodes of The Last Storyteller, my speculative thriller, are now out on the Kindle Vella platform.
I’m participating in another BookFunnel giveaway where you can get the title story of my short fiction collection, Tiny Shoes Dancing, and 56 other free samples from an eclectic group of authors.
I’m teaching and coaching, helping other writers get their work into the world.
Another sample–this one of a free class introducing the Birth Your Truest Story workshop series I’m offering with Jennifer Browdy. You can join month-to-month and the next month begins this Sunday, October 24, with a master class on character. Register for the monthly workshops here.
I’m ruminating on patience (my own, or lack thereof, and others’).
I’m offering a session for “prompt-haters” (or, more charitably, “prompt-doubters”) for #SelfPubCon21. It’s prerecorded, but it goes live at 7 p.m. Pacific on Saturday, October 23, and I’ll be answering questions live on Twitter.
What tests your patience? (maybe reading all the way through a long blog post…)
AUDREY KALMAN 
I look forward to your new books, Audrey. 🙂
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Thanks! I’m looking forward to getting them out into the world!
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I have absolutely no patience at all! I have less and less patience as I get older. I am impressed by all that you are doing! I often feel as if I am very busy spinning my wheels. I am switching writing genres (partially anyway), so I am going to need some patience.
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Yes, I saw you’re moving into romance! It sounds fun. I try to remind myself to have fun and not take everything so seriously all the time, but that’s another battle for me. Maybe my next video will be on that!
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Romance is hard; it sounds easy…I don’t know how successful I wi be as a storyteller. I admire you storytellers! Grammar is pretty cut and dry, no plot or characters needed!
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But a story is pretty confusing without grammar (or incorrectly applied grammar)!
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