I used to think my characters were waiting on me. Impatiently pacing around in my mind until I could take the time to sit down and tell their story. Now I think maybe they’re just… patient.

They don’t complain when I disappear for a week, or even a month, because work gets busy or my focus gets pulled in other directions.

They don’t get frustrated when I rewrite the same chapter ten times or refuse to listen when they tell me where their story is supposed to go.

They’re still there every time I come back. Every time I turn on the computer and open my manuscript, their voices are there waiting for me to put their words on paper.

Just waiting.

If I’m being honest, I wish I was able to give myself that same grace. I’m so much harder on me than my characters ever could be.

I know I’m not failing if I miss a scheduled writing session, and yet, that is what my brain tells me.

Maybe patience is just part of growing as both a writer and a person, and I just haven’t stopped growing yet. Maybe with time, that grace I long for will become normal.

I know logically that writing a story isn’t the same as running a race, at least not a sprint. Writing is more like relationship building. It takes time. It takes trust. It takes practice. But once you do it, that relationship… that story can survive just about anything, including time away.

~Nina Soden #TheRedheadedAuthor

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