This poster made me think of my writer friend who subbed one personal essay seventeen times before it was published. I wrote about her a couple days ago. If you missed that post, read it here.
I emailed her after the post was published and she was pleased that I'd used her experience as a blog post. She said that I had gotten it right, that the reason she persevered for so long and subbed so many times was that she believed in what she'd written. Undoubtedly, she had faith in herself as a writer and in the essay she'd worked on for so long.
I'd label her a strong, determined woman. Were you to meet her in person, you might not realize the inner strength she has. Outwardly, she is small, and kind, and a lovely person. Inside, there is steel and I learned that through her long submission process and the fact that she never gave up. I have liked her a lot but now, I also admire her greatly.
Will you try subbing a rejected piece again? You will if you are convinced it is a good piece of writing and if you 'believe in yourself' as a writer. No one can make you believe in yourself. Each of us has to do that on our own. We're a committee of one when it comes to that/
One way to come to believing in yourself as a writer is to continually consider your successes. If you were published once or a hundred times, doesn't that say something about your worth as a writer? Sure it does.
When you finish a writing project and you feel satisfied with the end result, shouldn't you think you're a worthwhile writer?
Too often, we tend to tear ourself down instead of building ourself up. How about that old song, words and music by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer that gives us all good advice. The refrain goes:
Accentuate the positive,
eliminate the negative,
and latch on to the affirmative
and don't mess with Mr. In-between
Good advice to help us believe in ourself as a writer. Try it!
No comments:
Post a Comment