Rome Wasn't Built in a Day

One of the characteristics that I am *not* known for, and which
I have spent a lifetime trying to develop, is patience. I'm an
"instant gratification" kind of girl when it comes to most things.

Obviously, building a freelance writing career does not exactly
cater to that aspect of my personality. The reality of waiting four
to twelve weeks for a response to a queried article idea drives me to
distraction. The thought that it can take nearly a year between
having a book accepted by a publisher and having it actually
published boggles my mind. And how many hands do you have to
shake, how many business cards do you have to distribute, and
how many cold calls do you have to make, before you can drum up
even an erratic flow of local business writing projects?

That's probably why I so enjoy the Internet. Query responses
sometimes return in a matter of days, or even hours. Ebook
publishing is almost instantaneous. An article submitted to
an online publication one day can appear on the Web the next.
You can bid on writing projects a half a world away without
having to shake one hand or make one cold call.

But even in this amazing time for writers, it takes patience
and perseverance to build one's career, reputation and
income. Sure, we might have the capability to whip up a
meal in minutes, travel to different time zones in hours,
or get published by the end of this week. But to create for
ourselves a fulfilling freelance career calls for tapping
those same virtues that our ancestors survived on long
before the advent of microwaves, airplanes and email.

That's not such a bad thing, though. Homecooked meals still
taste better than six-minute frozen entrees. You see much
more of the world when you walk, or through the windows of
an automobile, than you do from a height of 20,000 feet.
Similarly, the satisfaction you will derive from a career
cultivated on patience and perseverance will run much
deeper and last much longer than if you could just add
water and become an overnight success.

No, Rome wasn't built in a day, thank goodness--look at
how long it has survived. Keep that in mind as you work
to establish your own writing foundation, one building
block at a time.

Here's to your writing success!

About the Author

Mary Anne Hahn is editor and publisher of WriteSuccess, the
free biweekly ezine of ideas, information and inspiration for writers.
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