 I've noticed two very distinct qualities that describe many of the writers I know. In fact, I wholeheartedly fall into this group as well. What is particularly amusing about this is that these qualities tend to be at opposite sides of the spectrum. The first quality is procrastination. There are some mornings where I would rather do just about anything than begin my day at the keyboard. Even scrubbing toilets and washing floors appeals to me more on those days. I will clean house, gab on the phone, check emails and even surf the web. Unless I have a particular deadline looming over me, procrastination is an easy area for me to fall prey. The second quality is that of impatience. After all the time procrastinating, and finally doing all the hard work it takes to get a manuscript ready, we tend to be a little short of patience on hearing back about said work. Whether we have sent it out to a critique group, agent or publisher, it is an agonizing wait until we hear of its success or failure. Even starting a new work doesn't always help in building our patience levels. Perhaps we writers enjoy being tortured souls, even if it is self-inflicted. |
