Yesterday, I finished the latest draft of my book, THE EUGENICIST’S ASSISTANT, and sent it off to my agent. After I hit send on the email, I stared at the screen for a moment, thinking about all that mouse-click contained. Hours at my laptop. Hours with my notebook in hand. More hours talking to myself, either out loud or in my mind, as I tried to work through a plot point. There were moments of joy when great ideas popped into my head and the writing flowed, and there were moments of frustration when I had no idea how to fix a problem or what should happen next. But though it all, I was patient. I knew it would take hours, days, months, a year, but I was willing to do the work, and I was willing to be patient until it was done.

Only a few hours after hitting send, I almost lost my patience with my daughter; my three-year-old Spunky Brewster was refusing to let me change her diaper. It had already been a long afternoon of whining and “no”-ing and fake tears, and I was worn thin. Temper flared in my chest and I was this close to letting it out of my mouth.

And then I thought, how could I be so patient with my writing over years and years, and so un-patient with my daughter after one afternoon?

Of course, the comparison isn’t quite fair. I can make a choice to write or not write, but I don’t have much (any) control over my daughter’s behavior. It’s much easier to have patience with a creative project than with a full-bodied, demanding little person. But it still struck me, in that moment, that patience is a muscle that can be exercised. I do think I’ve become more patient with my students, more patient with my own kids, and more willing to work on long-term, high-reward projects. Maybe that comes from writing novels, or maybe all of the disciplines feed each other. Either way, it’s a skill I’m learning to appreciate.

But I’m not so patient that I’m willing to sit around and wait for things to happen. After I hit send on my novel and thought about the long journey for a moment, my next thought was, “What’s next?” Some people would take time off from writing. But I love it too much; I’m miserable without it. So I decided to launch my December week-long blogging streak, starting today. (If you recall, I did this in October and loved it so much that I wanted to do it on a monthly basis, but November was all about finishing the novel, so I missed a month.) I’ll be blogging every day until next Thursday.

I don’t yet know what I’ll be writing about. But ideas will come… if I’m patient.