It’s easy to focus on
the negative in the world around us. In observation of a month many dedicate to
counting their blessings, I’ve started a 30-day challenge in which I’ll focus
on one aspect of my writing life for which I am thankful. I’d love to have you
join by sharing about something that has blessed your own writing life in the
comments section below. - Jen
I’ll never forget the day I finished the first draft of my
first book. I was elated. I was inspired. I was ready to take on the world. I
combed through my Writer’s Market searching for the ideal agent to represent
me. I spent hours crafting my first query letters. I checked and rechecked
names and addresses to make sure I had everything right. Then I dropped an
entire stack into the mail and waited for one of them to ask to see more pages.
Every single one of the letters came back with the dreaded
canned rejection. I’d never felt like more of a failure in my life.
Fast-forward seven years. Today I can honestly say I am
truly thankful for those rejections. I learned more from that experience than I
ever did in a classroom. Because of those rejections I learned that just
because a particular project isn’t accepted doesn’t mean I am incapable of
writing anything of value. Those impersonal notes showed me how much I still
had to learn about the craft of writing. I discovered the wisdom of sitting at
the feet of those who had already gone through the early learning stages and
could offer advice in how to avoid making the same mistakes.
Most importantly, I found that I have the drive and the
desire to continue moving forward. That even without a book deal I can write, and do enjoy even the most infuriating aspects of it.
I am so thankful that story never made it into print. It
would have been a disaster. Now I have gained experience where before I had
none. I have a better idea of what it is I hope to accomplish with my writing.
And I’m using these skills to dust off and rewrite the story I started so many years
ago.
I have no guarantee it will be picked up this time either,
but I know now that I can handle the rejections. I can also look for new
lessons to be learned from those short, cryptic responses.
There is something exceedingly beneficial to the first time someone tells you that you aren't nearly as good as you think you are. It gives you thicker skins, helps you realize whether you've got what it takes to face that rejection again and again and, lastly, it toughens you up not only to face more rejection, but to look at what you wrote honestly and figure out how to fix it.
ReplyDeleteOf course, it still sucks when they don't want what you wrote but at least you can know you're learning a valuable lesson from it... ;-)
So very true, Hillary! Rejection will always sting, but when you can take yourself out of the situation and look back at the work to see where it can be improved, it's not just your writing that gets better!
ReplyDelete