“I am sorry; your story is not the right fit for our publication “.
“Powerfully written, but not fit for me.”
“I am going to pass on this for now. Please feel free to submit again.”
REJECTIONS are every writer’s worst nightmare. You put in all the effort and craft a great masterpiece and then when its gets rejected, you feel as if you have lost a new born baby!
So What do you do after getting a Rejection mail?
Do you absorb your disappointment, TRASH your rejected work and start a new work again?
I don’t do that!!!
I love REWORKING on my rejected story again and again.
Here is why. — -
Rejection is 20% Acceptance
Let us say, you send your story to a busy publisher. The publisher gets thousands of requests every day.
Three things work out in your favor-:
• The editor clicks your story because he is impressed by your TITLE
• He is also able to relate to the amazing PICTURE, which you have put in your story
• He browses through your post and may leave some comments on where things are lacking.
So Do you see my point here?
The very fact that the editor covered all the above steps means that YOU ARE ALMOST THERE.
You just need to work on the remaining 80% and GO TO the next level of acceptance
Writing is a labor of love and unparalleled creativity. You have to be eternally OPTIMISTIC at all times and should keep on trying. The EDITOR is your customer and you need to SELL your product to him There are no shortcuts here (not that I know)!!
Improving something is always easier than Creating
Creation as you know, always requires new perspectives and new thinking altogether. This is like starting from scratch altogether. Whereas Improving becomes the bit easier, as the creative framework is already in place. You just need to plug in the gaps and VOILA !!! it is READY.
DO NOT trash your existing story just because it was rejected. Rather improve it, polish it and remove all its flaws so that it shines like GOLD. Remember, Improvement is the first step towards GLORY.
I FEEL, I am among the GREATS
J. K Rowling got her work rejected 6 times before it was finally accepted. She almost succumbed to depression.
John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was passed on because le Carré “hasn’t got any future.”
Rudyard Kipling was told he didn’t know how to use the English language.
Agatha Christie had to wait four years before getting published.
Sanctuary by William Faulkner was called “unpublishable.”
So do you agree that, you are in great company?
You are not the only author who got rejected. All GREAT authors have had a lot of rejections before they made it big. So the key learning is to never let the passion of writing die within you due to some rejection slips. Keep on trying and improving and One Day the vagrant breezes of fortune from the windmills of the gods will blow on you!!
I GO back to BASICS.
Whenever I write a new post, the narcissist within me goes to the 7th heaven
I read my post again and again and I get cocky sure that “Hey this time,100% I will hit the jackpot. The story is far too good to be rejected. The editor will be jumping in glee reading this amazing bit of work.”
Then the rejection comes, I come back to earth, licking my wounds.
I go back to BASICS again. I start reading great posts written by amazing authors like Shaunta Grimes ,Tiffany Sun and Sand Farnia , to name a few. These posts give lots of insights on how writing can be improved with practical tips’n’tricks to reach the next level. I would have read each of these posts at least 10 times, but every time I read, I get something new to learn and imbibe.
So the key learning is to know your deficiencies and continuously work on that till they are eliminated. Writing is food for the soul, but for that food to be made suitable for public consumption, it has to be readable. READABILITY is the key. The more people understand, the more you succeed.
The One Lesson I learned
Perseverance, Persistence and Proactiveness are the 3 Ps which are the essential ingredients to be a successful writer. GREAT writers are simply GREAT because they NEVER GIVE up and proactively improve themselves at every opportunity.