A Positive In Rejections

Do you love your rejection slips? Probably not. Usually, we'd like to tear them into shreds and throw them to the four winds to never be seen again. At least, that's how we feel when one arrives. 

High hopes are so easily dashed when the notice from an editor thanks you for submitting--ever so polite--but then goes on to tell you that the story just isn't right for their publication. Sometimes, they even invite you to submit something else another time. It's a long drop from those high hopes to the floor and the crash hurts more than our backside. Our ego suffers. Our self-confidence plunges. Our temper flares. 

So, we get through all that and then what? Maybe we should take a hard look at what Sylvia Plath, the American poet, novelist and short story writer, says in today's quote. Go ahead look at it. Read it aloud. Then take a little time to think about it. 

Perhaps we should take some pride in our rejections if, for no other reason, they let us know we made some effort as a writer. We wrote, we edited, we revised and edited again and then, we took a great leap of faith and submitted our work somewhere. And we waited to hear from the editor. And we waited and waited. 

Those writers who submit their work are the courageous ones. Far too many write and write and never submit a thing. Those writers are thinking What if they hate my work? What if it isn't any good? And worse yet--What if they accept it and want more? Can I produce more? Can I deal with success?

You'll never know the answers to those questions unless you actually submit your work. Every rejection you receive shows that you made some effort to get your work published. Those who do are the heroes/heroines. The longer you wait to start submitting your work, the harder it might be. 

Submitting is no assurance that you'll be published but you'll know you gave it a try. Who can do more than that? The one thing that you should do is to submit again and again. I've often referred to the Submission Ferris Wheel. Keep it going round and round with a new piece of writing in each seat. 

Whether you're successful in having your work accepted and published or not, derive satisfaction in knowing that you gave it your best. You did not let your stories, articles, book manuscripts and poetry gather dust in a file. 

Go back and read that quote one more time. Then start searching your files and markets and submit something. Today!