I've been reading a lot lately about the frustrations that many writers are experiencing these days. I feel their pain and I share it. We live in a society of fast food, instant messaging, etc. and we've come to expect everything we want to be delivered immediately. Unfortunately, that's not (and probably never has been) the story when it comes to getting published.
Still, we hope for a miracle; that we will be the exception to the rule. We write and rewrite endlessly until we believe we have the most "perfect" version of our novel possible. We compose our cover letter and synopsis following all the rules we've studied. Then, we begin the search for a publisher who will love our book only to discover that, while all of the above is crucial, we need to achieve an "online presence" in order to be taken seriously. It can be a bitter pill to swallow after all of our years of hard work. But, we adapt or we die!
To top things off, our friends and relatives, who have been waiting for years to read our published novels, don't seem to understand that being published doesn't happen overnight and so it's easy for us to become even more frustrated.
I've discovered that the most important quality writers need to possess, just as important as being a good writer, is perseverance. Fortunately, that is not the same thing as patience. Perseverance means trudging on no matter how frustrated and impatient we feel.
I personally believe that God put a dream in my heart and that He wouldn't have done that if He didn't intend to see it come true. I have to do my part and, if I do, I know that He will (and has) put people in my life who will help me along the way.
