OH THE PLACES YOU’LL GO

(0r some advice on life and writing)

 by Dr. Seuss

You can get so confused

That you’ll start in to race

Down long wiggled roads at a break necking pace

And grind on for miles across wierdish wild space

Headed, I fear, towards a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…

…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go

Or a bus to come, of a plane to go

Or the mail to come, or the rain to go

Or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow

Or waiting around for a Yes of No

Or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite

Or waiting for wind to fly a kite

Or waiting around for Friday night

Or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake

Or a pot to boil, or a Better Break

Or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants

Or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.

NO!

That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape

All that waiting and staying.

You’ll find the right places

Where Boom Bands are playing.

With banners flip-flapping,

Once more you’ll ride high!

Ready for anything under the sky.

Hope that helps all of you out there waiting.

Waiting to hear back from agents, editors, publishers and readers about your work, whether it’s a yes or no, enthusiasm or polite dismissal, can be the most difficult part of a writer’s work. The trick is letting go of urgency, letting go of impatience and most of all , letting of any expectations for specific outcomes for our work. In order not to be endlessly distracted and hurt by the constant round of submissions and waiting we have to find a way to release those expectations and just keep on writing, because that’s what we do. Because we love it and find enough joy in the work itself to keep on going.

Easier said than done. But worth a try. Keep writing.

Even when we’re stuck in the dreaded “Waiting Place.”