Any real writer should have a drawer or an email
folder full of them. Rejections. The dreaded and unavoidable evil for all
writers. They crush hope and dreams, they hurt, and they are your self
confidence’s worst enemy. Whether it’s a standard letter full of useless but
polite phrases or a personal note from an editor, who took time to point out
what he or she did and didn’t like, it sucks to open a letter or email that
says that you’re not good enough. Because it’s personal. You put your heart and
soul into your work, and then someone just says “no thanks. Next”. It blows. No
question about it.
But. And there is a big but. If you hope to make it in
the writing business, then rejections are part of the game. You need to take
whatever criticism the rejecting editors (hopefully!) give you and learn from
it. Use it to move on. Mope for a few hours or a day at the most, and then let
it be a kick in the ass so you work even harder. Sometimes it’s not just a
cliché to say “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. In writing it’s true.
If you don’t let the rejections get you down, they will make you stronger. They
are valuable experience.
Besides, a drawer or folder full of rejections proves
that you’ve tried. That you’re not one of those people who dream about writing
a book but never get off their ass and actually do it. Rejections mean that
you’re out there chasing your dream and that you believe in yourself even when
random editors and publishers don’t. And that’s what you need to succeed,
because if you don’t believe in your work, no one else ever will.
And remember – battle scars are sexy.
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