Pain and Writing

I'm a lot like Kelly when it comes to writing and pain. I write because I love it, and, while there are times when I'd rather be napping or watching BSG, I enjoy the process most of the time (okay, okay I HAVE whined about revisions, but I'm mostly still enjoying myself, certainly I've rarely truly DESPAIRED over revisions).

Some of the business bits have been known to make me crazy -- things like publicity and sales figures and all that jazz, but the thing that frustrates me the most about the business of writing is the waiting.

Waiting for a story to come back from a magazine editor.

Waiting for the story (or novel) to appear in print.

Waiting for the deal to be negotiated so I can officially pop the bubbly and celebrate.

I started writing partly because I'm impatient. When I started reading SF/F novels, I was frustrated by the publishing schedule. Who can wait a whole year for another book I'm going to read in three days?? So, I started filling in my time writing what was essentially fan fiction -- the continuing adventures of my favorite Pern and Deryni characters or Star Wars or Star Trek... and then, once I'd satisfied those cravings, I moved on to original fiction.

Impatience served me again when I sent my very first novel attempt out to its first editor/agent query. The guy sat on that book so long, I got frustrated waiting and started writing the next one (which, as it happened, was the novel that became Archangel Protocol.)

So it's a quality of mine I wouldn't want to completely rid myself of, but, MAN, it's hard to wait.

--Lyda (who is impatiently waiting to announce some good news.)