The writing journey is a hard road. And it’s also an infinite one.

Because you never stop learning. You never stop trying new things and experimenting. But saying that the writing journey is an infinite road can make one feel intimidated. Perhaps discouraged. Impatient? Because an infinite road is a long one.

Writers need patience. If we’re sticking with this writing thing for a good long while, we need to have patience for the journey. I’ve learned that writers need different kinds of patience in order to succeed in this world. I’ve learned this through what other authors say, and also through personal experience.

In my opinion, patience is the most important thing you need for an enjoyable writing journey. Outside of learning about story structure, character arcs, and quality writing, if you don’t have patience, you’re not going to enjoy this writing thing very much.

So here are three different kinds of patience that every writer needs to succeed… 

You need to have patience with…

Yourself…

Guys, this is so important. If I had the opportunity to tell the whole writing community something, it would be to have patience with yourself. I’m gonna pull out my road analogy again. 😉 You are on a road moving forward. Others are ahead of you, and others are behind you. But you are moving forward. You are learning. You are working hard. You are doing your best. And that’s all anyone (including yourself) can ask of you. 

Enjoy the learning process and trust that you’re making progress and will continue to.

The process…

Writing a novel is not a short process (can I get an amen?). And it’s different for each writer. While some complete a novel in a year, others take several. And that’s okay. At some point, you might’ve looked at others who can writer faster and think you have to catch up. Because it’s just this big race to see how many books you can write, right? 

Don’t get frustrated if developing your plot is taking longer than expected. Don’t be discouraged if there are a couple characters that are just not working out right. Don’t get mad at yourself because it’s taking longer than expected to fix those plot holes. It all comes with the craft. It’s a long process, one that should be enjoyed. So don’t rush it. Creativity can only be pushed so far. Stay focused, but remember that it isn’t a short, easy thing you’ve started here. And you’re doing great. 🙂

Others…

This kind of patience is especially important if you want to go into the publishing business. Because that’s not a solo job. There are so many people that will play a part in your journey. Agents, editors, beta readers, cover designers, formatters, etc., etc. The pace of progress will not be only up to you. As you’re relying on others for certain parts of polishing your book, remember that they have busy lives too. And they’re doing their best to take your book to the next level, and quality takes time. 

So I’m sure you can see just how important patience is to every writer. In this busy, fast-paced world where things happen so quickly, it’s vital to be able to be calm and endure the longer processes. 

I hope this post helped you learn how to just take a deep breath and enjoy the journey a little bit more. 🙂

What have you learned about patience as a writer?