Process versus Outcome

After a frustrating writing week last week, during which the progress on editing Chapter One, Scene Two still didn't feel like it was enough, and the results were not what I wanted them to be, I finally came to my senses.

See, if you're like me, the reason why you get frustrated with your writing is because you have expectations–expectations around what your writing will look and sound like, but especially expectations around how long you'll spend working on something before it's finally finished.

The reality is, getting something right in your writing takes as long as it takes.  You might get it right immediately, and you might need to work on it for days, weeks, even months before you're finally happy with it, before you know it's what it should be.

So the moral of this story?  Focus on the process and not the outcome.  As long as I focus on completing something by a specific time, I invite frustration, because, chances are, I won't achieve my goal.  But if I focus on what I'm doing right now, without telling myself that, by the time I'm done today, this piece will be right, then I give myself over to the process.  And I open myself up to whatever the process has to teach me, as well as the pleasures it holds.

We live a a time when we want everything right now.  But some things are worth waiting for.  One of them is seeing your writing turn into the best it can be, through your patience and hard work.