I was never the type of girl that made a guy wait for me to respond to a text message. I know, I know, this makes me look vaguely pathetic, but I was just never one to play games. If you want to text me, text me. If I want to respond, I will respond. To be honest, it felt like more work to try to time my response than just send one off.

Oddly enough, as an editor, I have kind of become the girl that makes a date wait. Yes, I respond to my clients in a timely way, but they tell me that it is hard to wait for their edits to get back. It is hard to wait when someone has your masterpiece in her hands. Scary thoughts inevitably run through a writer’s brain. Will she like it? Will I get a ton of edits back? Is my dream of being a writer crazy? 

I am a writer. I get it. When I sent out my novel to my first editor, I felt vaguely sick to my stomach for a few weeks. It took me several minutes to open the email with her feedback.

It was exactly like the early stages of dating.

Now that I have sent off my manuscript off to my new editor, I am really calm. It is like I am in a long-term relationship; I am not worried about what the other person will say.

What is the difference? Three major things have contributed to my calm.

1. I have kept busy.

I have done the same thing that I did when I was waiting to hear from a guy when I was dating: I have kept busy. I have visited friends, worked on my clients’ projects, and rode a carousel horse. I have even done the movie theater trick. What is that? You go to a movie in the theaters. There is no way for you to check your phone without being ruder than Kayne West at an award show. It is a great way to not only stay distracted but force restraint on yourself.

2. I have confidence in myself.

As I said before, I know this book is a mess. That’s okay. I know I am a good writer. I know that I am not my latest draft. She doesn’t like this project? That’s okay. The next draft of the manuscript will be better. Or the next novel will be. No creator ever hits it out of the park 100% of the time (just take a look at the brilliant Tina Fey’s movies with Amy Poehler). Even if my latest draft is a dud, I can fix it. If I can’t, I will move on to the next one. I am not my work.

3. I trust my editor.

I am going to be honest: my first editor was not a good fit. She hated humor; she was really into dramatic manuscripts. I will let you guess what kind of books I write based on these emails. (If you guessed comedies, you are right). I was really naive and didn’t research my editor well. I didn’t know that the editor that you choose should be aligned with the genre and plot of your book. Now I know better. My new editor loves to laugh (she is like Donald O’Connor like that), so I know the story is in good hands.

Are you looking for an editor that will understand the hard wait? Do you need one that will send you movie and book recommendations to keep you busy? Do you want an editor that understands the art of a perfectly placed GIF? Look no further! We are here to help with our Shia LaBeouf GIFs and love of pop culture.