"Patience. A minor form of despair disguised as a virtue." - Ambrose Bierce
There are many reasons a writer may be required to pass in an article or column on a deadline. However in the world of story writing it may be important to let the work simmer and revisit the work from time to time.
Most writers will end their book with a fairly positive feeling about the work. They may recognize there may be a few week passages, but the enthusiasm for the story often outweighs a cautious perspective.
Writers will often put a package together for a prospective publisher before their enthusiasm wanes. A cover letter is drafted and the work is sent with a mix of trembling and fear.
It is often after the sending of the manuscript that the author will discover several errors that could have been easily fixed. By patiently waiting to review the manuscript over a period of time an author stands a better chance of supplying a clean manuscript for a publisher’s review.
"Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears." - Barbara Johnson
If you have a manuscript that is waiting to find a publisher it may be to your benefit to let the manuscript age a bit. Come back to the manuscript periodically and take a look at those weak passages from a fresh perspective.
Many editors will receive these manuscripts and key in on several fixable passages, yet if they find several examples of either weak passages or an overly repetitive use of words or phrases they may set the manuscript aside before they finish the first chapter.
"All things come to him who waits - provided he knows what he is waiting for." - Woodrow T. Wilson
Wile there is great wisdom in letting your work find a system of long-term repair through patient review of your manuscript there will also need to be a time when you need to send it in. Don't allow yourself to use patience as a means of forestalling the ultimate submission of your work. Find a balance of patience with an ultimate goal. Patiently work through the issues you find in your manuscript and then release your fine-tuned manuscript to editors who may be waiting for such a well-aged masterpiece.
"He that can have patience can have what he will." - Benjamin Franklin