God’s Waiting Room

by Pamela S. Meyers, @pamelameyers

Earlier this week, I started working on my next article for Novel Rocket and now I can’t find it. In my search, I came upon a post I’d written back in 2010, the year before I was offered my first book contract. Oh so much water has flowed under that proverbial bridge since then. But, one thing I learned in the process is that if you want to write for publication, be prepared to wait. Even after you are published.

The article I wrote back in 2010 is till as timely today as it was back then, because in publishing some things never change. Here is the article:

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Hurricanes and Sorries: A Waiting Game

Ane here. I'm pleased to introduce you to Normandie Fischer, a friend and fellow writer. I met Normandie a few years ago and loved her heart for helping writers.

Hurricanes and Sorries: A Waiting Game, by Normandie Fischer

Our neck of the woods acts like a hurricane magnet. I think it’s the sticky-out part of Cape Lookout that does it, hooking that swirling wind to drag it toward land. Those of us in this area of North Carolina have to spend days preparing and then weeks—or months—recovering. Between hurricanes and lightning strikes, our beloved ketch, Sea Venture, has been stuck on land since July 2014, which means she’s un-sailed, mired in the soon-we-hope mode, waiting, waiting, while we long to get on the water and sail again.

Sea Venture in the water, the Sea of Cortez, Mexico

Sometimes our writing life feels like that, doesn’t it?

Our germ of a story has grown to full-length status, and we’ve sent it to friends, to critique partners, to contests. We’ve rewritten it, tweaked it, and now, surely, we’re ready to submit it to the judgment of the gatekeepers, the literary agents and the acquisitions editors.

We start with a few. Then, we try again. And again. And all this time, the silence seems to grow so loud we can barely write another word, a silence interspersed with “Sorry, but not for me” emails that trickle in, one rejection at a time. Maybe we have writer friends who tell us we’re wonderful, that we should just hang in there, it will happen. And maybe we sit in our writing cave and hear only the silence, read only the rejections.

Our words are mired in the un-sailed, soon-we-hope mode.

Add in the cries from the other camp, many of whom have achieved success: “Who cares about gatekeepers? We don’t need them any longer,” as the push comes to head out on our own and self-publish.

Dreaming of the day (Unsplash.com)

I don’t know about you, but I’m grateful for the years of waiting. Yes, I look at writers half my age who are selling and publishing, and I feel a pang or two. But I know a truth about my own work: it’s better for the wait. It’s honed, edited, crisper in some places, more lyrical in others.

If you’re in the waiting mode, have you asked yourself why you’re stuck? (As, I did, again and again.) Is it because your work needs to move to the next level? Or are you mired on land, unable to launch, because there’s something yet to be completed in you?

Solomon said that whatever our hands find to do, we’re to do with all our might (Eccl. 9:10). Couple that with the word from Ephesians 13:6: “…having done all, … stand.”

So, we write with all our might. We edit with all our might (and with the might of experts, perhaps). And then, having done our all (sometimes over years, as in my case), we stand. And we trust that if things aren’t working out the way we wanted, the waiting has a purpose—a different one for each of us, but a purpose that will improve both our writing and that thing in us that needs to learn patience.

My first manuscript won accolades (and an award), but no sales. Twenty-four years after I first wrote it, it’s out there, published—and it’s a better, stronger book because of the intervening years during which I wrote and had published four other books. (One of those four was a work for hire that actually helped hone my suspense-writing skills.) Maybe my time in the trenches is unique to me. In those silent, seemingly unproductive years, I acquired and left two agents. I took a job as acquisitions and developmental editor for a small publishing house. I sailed and traveled—but most of all, I wrote and rewrote and read and learned.

What about you? Are you in the waiting mode—or were you before your words finally became a book? I’d love to hear your stories.

Normandie studied sculpture in Italy before receiving her BA, summa cum laude with special honors in English. Known for her women’s fiction—Becalmed (2013), Sailing out of Darkness (2013), and Heavy Weather (2015)—she ventured into the realm of romantic suspense with the release of Two from Isaac’s House. In early 2016, a novella, From Fire into Fire, will continue the Isaac House saga. Normandie and her husband spent a number of years on board their 50-foot ketch, Sea Venture, sailing in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. They now live in coastal North Carolina, where she takes care of her aging mother.
Normandie's Website
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ADVENTUALLY

by Cynthia Ruchti

Eventually. Inadvertently. Accidentally. Exceptionally. Conceivably. Adventually.

All adverbs. All have their place, although in limited doses. All…except the one that doesn't belong with the others. 

Adventually isn't a real word. Is it?

The Urban Dictionary--not recommended for most endeavors--claims adventually is a combination of eventually and adventure. "You'll eventually get to that adventure."

Other web-based sources list erroneous public uses of the word adventually when the speaker or writer intended to say eventually.

The word adventual, referring to the season of advent, appears in dictionaries from the 1800s and very early 1900s. A more current work--Adventually--Waiting for the Messiah--by Loretta Ross-Gotta, published in 1994, was a sixteen page spiral bound book, a play on words linking advent and event…ually, which coincidentally eventually went out of print.

I'm nearing an important deadline at the end of December this year, a book that has nothing to do with Christmas. But I'm endeavoring to write it adventually, with a clear purpose that doesn't stray from the concept that advent was eventually fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah.

It influences everything about this novel. Not the trappings--seasons, snow, decorations, holiday activities. It influences why the character can cling to hope. Why her relationships are not doomed forever. Why the crises that try her soul have resolutions waiting in the wings.

Because of advent. Because after long years of waiting, so long they traced back to Adam and Eve, Jesus was born. The Savior slipped into our world and changed everything.

As promised.

Before he witnessed the fulfillment with his eyes, the prophet Zechariah spoke as if it were already a done deal. He knew Christ would come…adventually.

Luke 1:67-75, 78-79  CEB

"Bless the Lord God of Israel

because he has come to help

and has delivered his people.

He has raised up a mighty savior for us

in his servant David's house,

just as he said through the mouths 

of his holy prophets long ago.

He has brought salvation

from our enemies

and from the power

of all those who hate us.

He has shown the mercy promised

to our ancestors,

and remembered his holy covenant,

the solemn pledge he made

to our ancestor Abraham.

He has granted that we would be rescued

fromt he power of our enemies

so that we could serve him without fear,

in holiness and righteousness

in God's eyes,

for as long as we live…

Because of our God's deep compassion,

the dawn from heaven

will break upon us,

to give light to those

who are sitting in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide us on the path of peace."

May we approach every moment, every word we write, every song we sing, every deed or crisis or conflict or relationship adventually.

How is that playing out in your life or your writing this month?

Award-winning author Cynthia Ruchti tells stories hemmed in hope through her novels, novellas, devotions, and nonfiction. Recent releases include Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People's Choices and All My Belongings (novel). She and her husband live in the heart of Wisconsin not far from their three children and five grandchildren. cynthiaruchti.com or http://facebook.com/CynthiaRuchtiReaderPage

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Patience For The Virtue Challenged

taken from freedigitalphotos.net

Sometimes I wonder if there’s any business slower than publishing. You wait to hear back from a query. Then wait some more if a proposal is requested. Finally you wait to find out if your manuscript is accepted. And that’s just from an agent. You get to go through the whole process again with publishers.

Why does it take so long???

Even though we live in an age of instant communication, the piles of requests agents and editors must go through aren’t getting any smaller. If anything, they’re larger, which makes the wait time even longer.

So what’s a writer to do besides the clichéd nail biting technique?

Start a New Manuscript

Okay, so this is the most obvious, which is exactly why I put it at the top of the list. There’s no better way to get over moping by the mailbox than to set your mind on a new set of characters with a whole new story full of roadblocks to construct.

Try a Different Venue

If you’re not a blogger yet, begin writing a blog. Or try writing devotionals. Maybe give a novella a shot. Writing outside your ‘normal’ genre can enhance and expand your current skill set.

Work on Platform

When you do finally hit it big and hold a contract in your hot little hand, you’re going to need a way to market your blockbuster. It’s never too late to begin building a network of followers. Pick the social media of your choice and go for it.

Focus on a Craft Book

Between writing projects is a great time to pick up and devour a craft book. May I suggest Self-Editing For Fiction Writers? And if you’ve done that one already, check out The Plot Whisperer.

Update Your Website

Add a new picture. Toss in some new copy. Keep in mind that visitors to your website need takeaway value. Come up with some new word gifts for them. And if you don’t have a website, now’s the time to make one.

Read

Devour a book or two in your favorite fiction genre. Then live large and read one that’s outside your usual genre box. Need a suggestion? Take a trip back to the Viking age for a rollicking romantic vacation with UNDERCURRENT (yes, shameless promo plug).

The secret of patience is doing something else in the meanwhile. Pick one or more items from this list and voila…instant virtue!

Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas…professionally, however, for the past 10 years. Her latest release, UNDERCURRENT, is available by Risen Books. You can find her at: Writer Off the Leash, www.mmgriep.com or on Twitter, Facebook, or 

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Still Waiting?

I've been in waiting mode for years with this novel I'm writing. Waiting for me to commit the time to it (note I didn't say find the time). Waiting for inspiration to strike. Waiting for God to extend His finger from the sky and emblazon my manuscript with the perfect words.

Waiting. Yes, for these things, but mostly for the courage to continue.

So, anyway, I'm browsing through the Novel Rocket archives (as I like to do) and I find this post by Anita Mellott from March of 2010 on waiting. (Feel free to enjoy it again.)

Anita's waiting was of a different texture than mine, but this line leapt out at me: "I had a choice--to allow the tentacles of doubt and anxiety to tighten their stranglehold on me or to 'travel steadily along his path' (Psalm 37:34; NLT)."

I, too, have a choice--and it's the same one.

Then, in my mind, a song started playing (I'm a regular jukebox, most days). John Waller's While I'm Waiting from the movie Fireproof. It's totally out of context from my brand of waiting, but here's the line I heard:

And I will move ahead bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

It's that "bold and confident" part I have trouble with. But I think I'm nearing the end of my self-imposed time of waiting.

How about you? Have you been waiting? Letting fear of (fill in the blank) rob you of your writing?

I think it's time to take a step in obedience. Are you with me?

Michael Ehret is the Editor-in-Chief for the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild. He has written for newspapers and other print and online outlets. He edited several nonfiction books, was the senior editor for a faith-based financial services and insurance organization, and is the editor of Afictionado, the ezine for American Christian Fiction Writers.

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Waiting

Anita Mellott continues to wait on the Lord as she homeschools and writes. She blogs “Words of Encouragement and Hope” at From the Mango Tree.

“Why is waiting so hard?” I sighed as I glanced at the calendar. Weeks had stretched into months without any word from editors or agents. I knew waiting was an inescapable part of life, especially that of a writer’s. Yet my anxiety and agony deepened.

Dejected, I picked up my Bible and began flipping through the Psalms. Here was a writer who understood the angst of waiting; but anticipation, even exultation coursed through each Psalm. “How could he be so jubilant in the midst of waiting? How could I “wait in expectation?” I wondered (Ps 5:3).[1]

My curiosity piqued. I began to search the Scriptures and a common theme emerged: “We trust in the name of the LORD our God” (Psalms 20:7). “O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength,” “For the king trusts in the LORD” (Psalms 21:1, 7). As the truth of the Psalmist’s source of strength began to soak into my heart, I embarked on a slow journey from self-absorbed waiting to…

1. A place of rest: The turning point came on my knees. After several rounds of correspondence with an editor and a publisher's marketing director, the futility of my striving sank in. As I surrendered my writing journey and its outcome to Him, powerlessness gave way to trust; anxiety turned into peace. I could rest in His sovereignty. He knew best. “My soul finds rest in God alone… Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him” (Psalm 62:1, 5).

2. A place of renewal: The months of silence and then the sting of rejections launched a relentless assault on my strength. As doubts attacked my mind, I clung to Isaiah 40:31: “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.” Somewhere along the way, renewal began to spark. It didn’t come in the tangible form of a contract, but rather a gentle whisper, “Keep writing the book.” These words ignited a deep excitement and eagerness. I could soar on the wings of His creativity, assured that the One who called me is faithful.

3. A place of faithfulness: Waiting isn’t to be a place of stagnancy. Rather it’s a time when faith is tested and perseverance determined. I had a choice--to allow the tentacles of doubt and anxiety to tighten their stranglehold on me or to “travel steadily along his path” (Psalm 37:34; NLT). It wasn’t the outcome that mattered, but my obedience and willingness to walk the path He had chosen for me.
And so, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. (Luke 1:46-47; 50).

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