Timing is Everything

The single most important attribute to possess to ensure success in any field is good TIMING.

A scientific report was released recently that stated that different people might see at different speeds. Effectively, some people could see in ‘slow motion’. For example, an electric light flickers on and off sixty times a second (some countries – 50 cycles). That’s too quick to see any gaps, but imagine being able to see fast enough so you could see each ‘on’ and ‘off’.

What good is that? you might well ask. Well, if you’re a cricketer or a baseball player the bowler or pitcher would seem to be hurling the ball that tiny bit slower, allowing you to adjust your stroke. It explains why players such as Bradman or De Maggio seemed to see the ball much earlier and decide the appropriate way to whack it. Most of us have only worked that out as the leather flashes past (or hits) our ear.

How does timing affect you?

Take Vincent van Gogh. If I remember rightly, he managed to sell one painting to a friend. Not counting the pictures brother Theo took. A few decades back a Japanese company stumped up 70 plus million for ‘Sunflowers’. This painting was no different from the moment the last brush stroke had been dabbed until the final auction (give or take some dust, technically called patina by art poseurs), the only real change was TIME.

Is the work any better? No, but Vincent’s ideas, taste, style, technique, whatever it is, didn’t align with the public’s perception of his art.

You may be no literary equivalent of Mr Van Gogh but what happens to your work after you have completed it to the best of your ability has nothing to do with you. Learn, move on and write. If you have an agent, marvellous! Let them do what they do. Your only job is to write, try to get better, but write. If it’s your time you’ll be lucky and may be financially better off but that’s a bonus.

The only thing about TIME as it concerns you while you produce thousands more words is that you’ll get better.