On Patience and the Writer
As a writer, time can be your greatest ally or your most dreaded enemy, depending on how you look at it . The publishing industry works at a snail's pace. As author and screenwriter Richard Curtis once said, 'Most writers can write books faster than publishers can write cheques.' Oh, how true. I get a lot of emails from writers who have urgent problems they want fixing NOW. I myself have to sometimes drop everything to do some research, to find answers to technical issues or just to get some advice. But publishers don't work this way. Ask them a direct question and they behave like my ex. Either they don't answer at all, give you the brush off or make you feel small and grubby for daring to bother them with your pathetic request. It can be very frustrating to have to wait for a reply that may never come - but such is the life of a career writer. Life as Bottom Feeder As a writer, you're the lowest in the foodchain. The most abhored, the most misunderstood, the m