Randi Garner

So I’m sitting here drinking my delicious Pure Leaf Teahouse Collection Organic Black Tea with a hint of wild blackberry and sage, and y’all, it’s amazing. (See, I occasionally drink or eat something healthy!) I’m listening to my “workworkwork 2.0” playlist on Spotify, because my “workworkwork” playlist just wasn’t cutting it for me anymore. The song that is currently playing is, “Hold Me Down” by Yoke Lore. It’s one of my favs ❤

I’m a little jittery due to all the caffeine I’ve consumed thus far in the day. But overall, I’m feeling pretty productive, which a good thing considering it’s Spring Break (even though one of my professors assigned a stupid quiz today in one of my online classes; like what the actual eff? ITS SPRING BREAK!)

Okay. I’m going to stick to the topic from this point on…

Being a writer has it moments of sucko sometimes. ie. the WAITING. I mean, you write and revise something that you love and worked so hard on, and then you come to that point where you have to let someone read it. That could take however long depending on the person, and you are just forced to sit back and wait. No matter how much it’s killing you to hover and read over their shoulder. (me, btw). Like did I create something that’s decent? Good? Awesome? Crap? Should I just scrap it and start on something else? And while you’re asking all these questions in one breath, the person that you gave your work to (that hasn’t even had a chance to read it yet) is looking at you like uhhhh? 

So yeah, it sucks sometimes.

And then you get to the part where you submit your work to agents or literary magazines, and you’re forced to wait for that YES or NO. That’s a little more nerve-wrecking, in my opinion, than letting your friend read your work. Yes, rejections are a HUGE part of what writers do. I’ve got a folder of them (I’d rather not say the amount), but the thing I’ve learned is that you cannot take rejections personally. The business is SUPER subjective, and you just have to hold on to the idea that it will happen for you one day. (This is just a piece of Randi Wisdom that I’m holding onto at the particular moment. Feel free to skim over it.)

And here’s the thing: I. Am. So. Impatient. (Another wonderful, frustrating thing I’ve learned about myself.)

I hate waiting, especially if it involves my work, because I’m so eager to know the response. Yay it worked for me, or nay I wasn’t really feeling it. But, unfortunately waiting just apart this whole thing of Being A Writer. It’s a lengthy process and I’m learning to pass the time when I’m stuck in these situations. Because it’s not about submitting my stuff or the idea of one day getting published. It’s what I’m striving for, yes, but that’s not what it’s all about for me.

I’m just a girl that loves to bring stories and characters to life on paper, and it’d be an honor and privilege to get to do that as an actual job.

So for all the ones out there reading this who are stuck in a situation that brings out the impatient side, or anxious about something in their life, here’s a list of things to do to help you pass the time:

1. Focus on literally anything else. Work, music, driving, family, etc…
2. Make a pros and cons list about anything and everything.
3. Talk it out with someone or yourself. Seriously, it works!
4. Read a good book.
5. Binge watch Stranger Things or The Magicians (you can’t go wrong with either).
6. Write write write write. You don’t have to be a writer (or author or whatever) to write. Writing down your issues and anxieties is like a major relief.
7. Make a plan for yourself. I’m like a strategic planner and scheduler. I have a planner that is like my own personal Bible. Seriously. I don’t think I could keep up with life without one. It’s my saving grace, and it also helps me see past the thing right in front of me.
8. Do, what I like to call, some Window Online Shopping. You pick a store. Go to their website. Fill your basket with everything you like and would love to purchase (if only I were rich…). After your heart is satisfied go to your basket, take a look at the price (I’ve gotten up in the $1000’s before), laugh and take a breath, and then empty your cart. It only sounds depressing, but it’s more soothing than you think.
9. Watch Gilmore Girls. No matter what the circumstances are in my life, the show has the power to make me smile and forget all about whatever it is I’m dealing with. Ahh, the power of Stars Hollow and Lorelai Gilmore.
10. Roll the windows down in your car if the high is 80 degrees. Don’t worry about messing up your hair. Crank up the radio. Sing your heart out. Take a giant breath of the fresh air.
11. Go somewhere near water–a lake or ocean. The water instantly calms my nerves, and as I sit there and watch the waves roll in and the sun set beneath water I’m reminded that the world is bigger than I think.

To sum up this whole thing, I’m working really hard on being more patient in all situations; to chill and watch the waves roll in. Sometimes you just have to let things go and hope for the best (which wholeheartedly sums up being a writer, and life in general).

Until next time.