Thursday, March 24, 2016

Waiting is Good for You. No, really!


Way back at the start of my writing journey, I naively thought it would take a month or two to sell my novel once I’d finished writing it (which I did mid-year 2005).  I scoffed at writers who only managed to sell the third or fourth book they’d penned thinking that would never be me. I laugh now when I look back – I pushed hard to finish my first book thinking that would be our source of grocery money in a month or two’s time. I know, right?! Writer friends – pick yourself up off the floor, stop sniggering and keep reading please.

The transition from that level of bright-eyed faith in my calling to the impossible hope sober reality of getting a book published broke my heart many times over. I argued with God – how can He tell me to do something, then make it impossible for me to do? I fought, pleaded, declared in faith, got my friends to agree with me, still Heaven wouldn’t budge. In those early days, the one thing He did say consistently was that I was going to have to trust Him beyond what I’d ever trusted Him before. Ouch.

Did I ever want to give up? I’d be lying if I said no, and bad things happen to people who lie so… heck yeah. And I did, many times over. And yet, here I am still writing. And the strangest part of it all? I’m grateful that my first book wasn’t published the month after I’d finished writing it. Sounds crazy, but I am grateful to the very marrow in my bones and here’s why:

1) I’ve developed a writing work ethic that doesn’t depend on the acceptance / approval of others. Its a sneaky trap for a writer – there is nothing quite like the charge we get when someone ooo’s and aaah’s over our work, or we get a request for more, or we land that freelance job – it buoys us to keep the words flowing. But I found the energy from each positive would only carry me so far and I’d be needing my next fix of approval. I need to know what is in my gut to say to the world, and be true to put my bottom in the chair and my fingers on the keyboard. Regardless of the feedback I do or do not get.

2)  My skill as a writer has grown. I’ve had time to glean and absorb, to apply and work my writing muscles.

3) I appreciate any writing gaps that I get in my busy days. I don’t scoff at a stolen 10 minutes or a forward push of 500 words. It all adds up, builds and brings your book that tiny bit closer to being finished.

4) I’m getting to know myself as a writer – who my key audience is, what I should avoid writing, where my sweet spot is, the most effective way for me to tackle a project.

5) I’ve let go of the need to manipulate God’s timing and am able to let Him help me wait graciously and productively without the tantrums and crises of faith. He gave me the gift, He will use it best in His good timing. As much as I still get the odd day of throwing toys, I know I can trust Him to help me manage my heart in the meantime.

The process of waiting is a beautiful thing. It causes our roots to dig deeper into our Source, making us less likely to wither at the first blast of a hot wind or drought. It makes us tough yet, strangely, more flexible. It prepares us for the work that is written into our DNA to do.

And so I’ve learnt to trust the process, not only for the process itself, but because I know the Author of the process.

How do you cope with waiting? I’d love to hear from you.




Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters.


Finding Mia is available from AmazonPelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Smashwords.


Find her on FacebookTwitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

10 comments:

  1. It took me nearly 40 years before my English Reformation novel, The Ruby Ring, found a publisher. I spent those years doing research, teaching myself how to write, rewriting, rewriting, teaching writing, rewriting, rewriting and rewriting. I'm also a missionary working in Hong Kong so had little time to write most weeks. Yes, waiting is necessary. But God finally made it happen. Now I'm hoping he'll make the sequel happen as well. So I'm waiting again.

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  2. I so appreciate your thoughts on your work ethic not depending on approval or rejection. If God has called me to write, I must write, and he will use that writing in whatever way he chooses, whether to shape me or to influence a reader. "I am his servant; it is not for me to determine," to paraphrase the author of a memoir I am currently editing. She went from being a famous singer in her region of the former Soviet Union to being a missionary run out of town with her life and family threatened. Waiting on the Lord applies to our professional lives as writers as well as to our personal lives as Christians.

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    1. So true LeAnne. Anything done in obedience will bear fruit and a cake taken out the oven too soon will be ugly to eat. So we wait!

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  3. A brilliant topic, which oddly enough, I've haven't come across before in a blog. Waiting. Yes, that's a giant piece to the puzzle!

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    1. Sara, this has become one of my favourite puzzle pieces. I think we live in such an instant generation, everything is available at the click of a button, flick of a switch, yet character growth takes time. There are just no short cuts. I used to kick against it all the time, but now I (mostly!) hug it close and value it.

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  4. Hi Dianne, took me 10 years to get Angelguard published from the date I wrote the first words. Waiting is good for us as you've outlined. I love that verse: "Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; when they run they will not grow weary, when they walk they will not grow faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

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    1. Ian, I think you've picked up a key thing here - there is waiting, and there is waiting on Him. Waiting in Him. Waiting on His lap, looking at life from His perspective. Waiting but growing. Waiting and watching as circumstances align. Waiting with Him. If all our waiting is done in isolation, we'll become frustrated - even bitter. But in Him, waiting becomes fruitful, essential. Love that verse!

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  5. Thanks for this Di. You're so right. Waiting . . . such a simple concept - and so hard to put into practice. Right now I'm battling with waiting, as I'm recovering from a double whammy of major surgeries back to back. I want to be up and running - and the Lord seems to think I need another period of waiting on Him. Somehow it never gets easier!

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  6. Thanks for this Di. You're so right. Waiting . . . such a simple concept - and so hard to put into practice. Right now I'm battling with waiting, as I'm recovering from a double whammy of major surgeries back to back. I want to be up and running - and the Lord seems to think I need another period of waiting on Him. Somehow it never gets easier!

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