| So before getting your big break and grabbing that brass ring known as publication, there is rejection. And that rejection sucks because each and every one becomes a blow to the ego, which furthers a new author to think "OMG WTF BBQ I SHOULD BURN MAH BOOK NAO!" Hopefully, this feeling doesn't linger, but the grand accomplishment of having written out 100,000 words does get diminished a little by these blows. Now here is the fun part: Once you have the brass ring? It ramps up to a whole new level! Cuz now your work is in the public eye. There's gonna be a lot of people who will come to adore your work, which is terribly ego boosting. Then there will be those who don't love it and that's okay. The odds are against the entire world loving it. The point should be that YOU love it, and if it entertains some people, that's a good day. I've come to write for me first, the reader second, but this doesn't mean they are exclusive of each other. I try to write being mindful of how others will take it, which is something I think I took away from growing up on Stephen King. He's excellent at hitting the right points in an almost universal way in peoples minds and I'd like to think I do that. I think the best coping mechanism for dealing with rejection is trusting in the confidence of the people who do like your work or are willing to take a chance on it. They're your target... but listen to your detractors, too. They might be telling you something that you need to here and as I learn every day, there's always something new to learn to better yourself. The writing world has little use for ego, at least for the mindful author. |
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That's deep, man. Deep. I may even be inspired to write something today. Maybe just a shopping list since the fridge is empty, but it's a start.
You make that the most harrowing, action packed shopping list you've ever written, mister!
Slowly the milk started to turn, but who was there to notice! WHO????
"So we meet again," said the jar of pickles with its one lone pickle in it.
Good timing, Anton -- I needed to hear this. I was spoiled rotten as a fanfic writer, because a lot of people enjoyed my stories and showered me with praise and I...kinda believed them.
So I wrote an Amazing and Glorious Novel, which promptly got rejected by a slew of editors with sniffy form letters. It shredded my confidence to such an extent that I'm still recovering from it, so it's good to know one can bounce back from these kinds of blows and go on to success. Between the two, I think I'd rather the published angst than the unpublished kind. :0P
YAY for self-gratification! My skin is thickening. Yesterday I received an "I like your writing but not this story. Got anything else?" rejection, and it felt like progress.
"I am so pleased you enjoyed my writing, excluding the story which I wrote. Alas, I don't have anything else to offer you at this time. As a matter of fact, the story you don't like is the first in a series of three, which I'm going to write regardless of whether this book ever finds a publisher because I love the story and plan to see it through completion. When I finish something different, in three or four years, I'll keep you in mind."
Yeah, now they're on pins and needles waiting for ME! Booyah!
Also, YAY for day jobs!
Posh and Kerry-
As long as we're learning something along the way, I think it's all good. New writers see a lot of form rejections, but should they get any criticism out of people, they should consider it carefully and be honest with themselves as to whether the critiquer has merit to what they suggest.
And, Posh, if your fanfic is at all slutty, by all means pass it on!
Your description of my fridge is scarily accurate.
I think your comment re: comments is right on (of course.) La Vater once answered a query with (and I paraphrase) "I don't have time to fix this; you need to tighten a lot." Once I figured out what that meant, a few words were both encouragement and an agenda for future revisions. Which are still sort of future, but that's my procrastination in effect...