It’s true. Rejection is an inevitable consequence for anyone who dares to reveal themselves to the world with their writing. It sucks and it’s painful, but how we deal with it will define our writing career.
We can choose to be stalwart and unshaken, or we can let the fear of rejection kill our confidence and creativity.
How does the beginning writer choose the former, grow a thick skin to criticism and eventually laugh at rejection?
Start by imagining what our lives would be like without the timeless genius of Charles Dickens!
In “Les Standiford Didn’t Invent Christmas, But He Knows Who Did”, JoAnn Adkins writes, “Three failed books left Dickens broke and distressed. Over the course of six weeks, he penned the tale of Tiny Tim and Scrooge hoping the book would keep his family financially afloat. But when the book was rejected by his publishers, Dickens decided to publish it himself. It was met with instant success and critical acclaim.”
If the famous writer had succumbed to the critics of his time, the world would have been robbed of one of the most inspirational stories in the history of humankind. But Dickens took matters into his own hands and rejected rejection.
You must not let the world remain unaware of your words. If you love to write, if you are reading this article and find yourself energized to commit acts of self expression, to inform and entertain with your words, then you must do whatever is necessary to deflect rejection and keep on writing!
Empower yourself every day with expressions of self confidence. Remember the words of Marianne Williamson: “We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.” Truer words were never written. Thank you M.W.
If you are feeling down, reflect on the long-list of authors who’ve persevered in the face of rejection, and ended up with a bestseller on the shelf. Chicken Soup for the Soul was rejected 140 times. Famous western writer Louis L’Amour sold 330 million books, but not before he was rejected an astonishing 200 times. John Grisham’s debut novel A Time to Kill was rejected by 16 agencies and 12 publishers. Seth Godin made a game of how many rejections he could collect before he finally received a “Yes!” It was close to 90.
Believe in your gifts and be proud of offering them to the world. Have confidence your writing is as unique and beautiful with the power to inform, entertain and change lives.
But remember, confidence is misplaced without a strong and formidable body of work to support it. Only by writing will you build your craft. If you write every day, you will gain finesse and build a stock-pile of exceptional well-written work.
Tomorrow’s “overnight success” will one day look easy to the rest of the world. Only you will truly understand the work, sweat and tears that went into it.
Mathieu Powell.
Web: www.writingimpacts.com
Blog: www.writersrhetoric.com
Sources:
http://www.writingimpacts.com/about-writing/rejection-who-cares
http://skdesigns.com/internet/articles/quotes/williamson/our_deepest_fear
http://news.fiu.edu/2016/12/les-standiford-didnt-invent-christmas-but-he-knows-who-did/107254
http://brandonsneed.com/bestselling-authors-rejected-first