Writing Takes Time

We always hear writers talk about "putting in the time." There is a big misconception with this though. For most, they seem to think if you wait long enough your manuscript will get published. Wrong! What this means is that over time, after a lot of writing and maybe a lot of manuscripts, AND if you are learning and growing along the way, you are increasing your chances of getting published.

Writing takes time. You can not expect to get that first manuscript finished and immediately find yourself on the top of the NY Times Best Seller List. Sure, it can happen and we can all rattle of a list of authors that did that, but those are unique situations. For the rest of the world, it will take time.

I have talked to a lot of published authors about this and they all say the same thing. They loved their first book. They thought it was the best dang thing out there, but you know what? It is still sitting in a file at home, unpublished. They may take it out and plan to "clean it up" but it never makes it there. Why? Most of the time, it is simply because the story is not good.

But what makes it good is the sense of completiton. It was the first thing you fully saw to the end! Keep it. Relish it. There is nothing wrong.

Publishing takes time. It takes time to get that story finished. It takes time to find an agent or an editor. It takes time for those people to read your manuscript and get back to you. Have patience. This is not a business for the impatient.

And by the way, while you are waiting? Keep writing.