Sunday, July 28, 2013

Crawling Out From Under the Rock: Rejection

I worked so hard and so long at this book, I'm afraid that everyone is going to hate it, and then I'm back where I started.

Sound familiar?  It does to me, because that was me some 4 or 5 years ago.  In the past few years, I've realized something.  (Despite hating this phrase, I have no choice but to use it for this time.)  You only live once.  That's right, Melanie Drake actually said YOLO.  You may mark your calendars because it's doubtful it will happen again.   The point is, there's no time to be afraid.  If your dream is to write, you need to reach out and grab it.  You're not going to get anywhere by being afraid.

 Listen closely here:  Rejection is a good thing.  Now repeat:  Rejection is a good thing.  Before you think I've gone completely nuts, just read for a moment.

  • Being rejected means that you have taken that first step towards your dream.
  • Being rejected means that you've gotten over that first step and have sent something in to be read. 
  • Being rejected means you're one step closer to being published.  
  • Being rejected will help you improve.

There are times when you'll get the simple form letter that states "We're sorry, but we're not interested, blah blah blah blah" and then there's times you'll get very helpful critics by the very people you're trying to get published by.  Shrug off that rejection, read through that submission again, see what you can improve on, and try again.

That first initial rejection may sting a little bit, but don't let it discourage you.  You've finally taken that step and it's all smooth sailing from here.

So, Mel, how do you know this?  Because four years ago, I was still trying to get up the nerve to submit a poem to a magazine when a very good friend took it out of my hands.  My poem was submitted AND accepted by the magazine.  At the time, I was nervous, excited, and (I'll admit) a little upset by what my friend had done, so I never signed the release form they had sent me.  My poem was not published, but it was still the thought that counts.  I've sent in a few other submissions to the same magazine, some that sent back a form letter, others that got a professional critic, but none that had received the automatic acceptance.  But thankfully, I had a friend to get me past that first worry over rejection.  Now, if I just had the time to go through all my old poems and polish them.

2 comments:

  1. Great post! I think that after the initial shock of the rejection sting, the writer's reaction really defines how they will progress in the writing world. If a person looks at rejection as the door closed, no more opportunities, then how are they going to progress? Likewise, if a person takes rejection, takes it as a personal challenge, then at some point, they will achieve their goals.

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    1. Exactly! That's actually what prompted this post. I have a close friend that received their first rejection letter on Friday and they were feeling pretty down about it. I figured that if just one person stumbled across this blog and happened to find this message, maybe it would prevent them from giving it all up because of a rejection.

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