Waiting

“The Skills we’re looking for is: WAITING”, do you have it???  What the “job description” of an editor, entailed…translated…

We’d talked of how to show off the skills of an editor, it’s not in the creativity, nor the experience, or even, how we’d, handled what came to us, the delicateness of the materials, our abilities for communication, our visions, how much we know, or even, how we can read massive amounts of materials in one setting, the passions for our work………… (of course, all of these are, fundamentals, and necessary),  but, waiting.

Waiting.  It means doing NOTHING, witnessing TIME, flowing right by, like someone paused the buttons of our, lives, and we were, abandoned by time, and can only, stand still, and watch the world around us.  In actuality, that waiting, is NOT a, stand-off, demanding, for instance, zooming in on the writers, when they’d not submitted the articles in yet, to create more pressures for the person, even though, we have our reasons, but it’s, a bad sort of a quality of, waiting.  On the editor side, waiting, is settling ourselves down to the passive (it’s just, that……there’s not, the extra money that came with it), to help the one you’re waiting on feel, that the promises the two of you had shared, is still, valid, that the person will, keep on, receiving the supports, the trusts, the companionship, and, with that settled mind they will be able to, deliver the work as we’d, expected them to.

And, if the days of the editors are, strung together, into a line of, waiting, than, that would be, a precise, description.

The waiting for the editors, aren’t for themselves.  Because, some things, they can’t decide on their own, the contents needed the time to form, and it’s not based off of money, nor energy put into the projects.  And all we can do is, wait.  Waiting for the drafts, waiting for the, copyright signed off to us, waiting for the proposals of the projects, waiting, to revise.  Waiting for our managers to sign off, or the feedbacks from those whom gave their works to us, waiting for the writers, to allow us to print their work.  Waiting for that, deadline (note on my calendar: someone is turning in a draft on some, day), and, what we wanted to have, but not yet received, we’d, waited, some, more, and, send a letter, “when is it most convenient, for you?” note.

Sometimes, it’s not even about the work; waiting on that bad mood, to pass (our own, or someone, else’s).  This is, I suppose, similar to all lines of, work.

We needed to practice to wait.  Toward those, habitual, procrastinators (me), I’d had to, try and adapt to the “not again”, state of mind, to get my temper down; the person I’d asked to send in a draft didn’t respond, I had to find other means of contact, and coming up with a backup plan; to let the person I was waiting on know, that I’m still here, waiting, that I’d not, hung her/him, out to, dry. And I’d had to know, that someone else, is, waiting too—before the work actually got into the hands of the readers, it’s, a biosphere of upstream, downstream, it won’t be just one person who waited.  If there’s something that’s stuck somewhere, then, the whole process would be, delayed.

But, all of these, I must wait, became, a state of mind, because it’s too nitty-gritty, or that, it’s too, hidden, it is, hard to, describe to others———including the editors who’d, gotten, stuck, because this has to do with profits, printing, and how much influence a work has, how the publishing industry had, turned towards—it’d made us, anxious, in the time we were, waiting, the editors’ professionalism, efficiency, along with the ability to improve ourselves, can we, balance it all out, to gain the understandings, to even, becoming, more, mature?

sitting in his office and, waiting…photo from online

Waiting gives off that illusion, that something relating to you, is, no longer, related, to you, anymore temporarily; you now have the extra time, that you can, take a break, or go to, something, else.  In actuality, you can fully rest (because you’re still, worried over what you’re, waiting on, something, or, someone, your minds are still, running), or you feel, that it wouldn’t be proper that you take that, rest now; something else, is usually, waiting, in alternative, forms, on the way, looking back.  You may not be clear, that is the work asking you to, wait, or, is it you, who is, waiting, that you can’t just, do nothing, you need to, do something, to prove, that your waiting is, worthy.

Mostly in the workforces, “wait” is listed in the progress of work, given a reasonable state of existence or time, waiting for one party, it’s to allow the other party to have the time, to move forward or, back.  Everybody meeting up at the next stop, that opened another stage of waiting.  But, sometimes, things come, unexpectedly—no matter how you’d waited, it’d not, arrived, or, when it’d come, it’s not, up to your, expectations……….this made the wait, not quite, worth the, time.

Then, do we wait, or don’t we?  Sure we, do.  As I’d edited the magazines, having the drafts saved on backup that’s, a lifesaver; sometimes, changing the title, or a different way of expression, the drafts that were written slanted, can be, a life, saver.  In waiting for the results, I’d, prepared for three versions of settings of the prints, to try to let that final piece that comes to me, to have its, rightful, place.  But, editing a book, I can’t be, as flexible, the extra wait, meant, the spending up of patience for the writers, and the, editors.

I know well, that some of whom I’d, waited on, I’d, wanted to call out, “I won’t wait for you anymore!”…and it would be wait better, if I could, start all over, from, scratch.  Or maybe, we’re all, waiting, to see, who blurt that out, first???

This is the work of the editor, always waiting, waiting for the submissions of work, waiting, to revise the work turned in, and, unless you have, a ton of patience, this, is not a line of work, for you, or maybe, this, is a good practice of life, because, we’re always, in TRANSIT, in our, lives, constantly, going somewhere, heading somewhere, never at a, stand, still!