Writers--Look for the Lesson

One thing writers all have in common is failure at some point in their writing journey. I don't mean once or twice but numerous times. Someone once said that to be a writer, you must have a few masochistic tendencies. I don't think I'd go that far since hardly anyone enjoys failure. 

What kind of failures am I referring to? A spate of rejections from editors. A story you're writing that sounded great in your mind but could not be transferred in print with the same terrific idea. Wanting to be published but failing to submit your work so it can happen. Failing to give yourself the time to write. These are a few. I'm sure you can think of others. 

How are you going to react to any one of the negatives mentioned above? You have choices that range from anger to sulking, crying to throwing whatever item is nearby, sinking into depression to denial. Ever been guilty of any of these reactions? If you're honest, you'll have to answer yes to some of them, and I'm right there with you. I think that the reactions mentioned are part of our human nature. It's not easy to handle failure of any kind. 

Once you get through the initial backlash, try to find the lesson to be learned from whatever failure you are facing. There's a golden nugget somewhere in those individual washouts. Granted--you may have to search long and hard to find it. 

One way to begin the search is to set your mind to be objective. Step back and look at the situation. Ask yourself what you might tell a fellow writer who has experienced the same kind of failure you have. Would you tell him/her to give up? Would you pat him/her on the shoulder and suggest another line of work, or hobby, whichever the case may be? I doubt it. More than likely, you would look for a positive way to encourage that writer to learn from the experience, to soldier on, to show some determination. So, the first step is to talk to yourself as though you were encouraging another writer.

Lets' look at the individual failures cited in the second paragraph of this post:

1. A spate of rejections from editors means you are not doing what they ask for in the Call for Submissions. Perhaps, you don't read the guidelines with great care. Maybe the topic you wrote about is not what they asked for. It's possible your writing was fine, but they'd already published something recently in the same vein. Could it be that your story idea was alright, but your mechanics of writing were not? It might be that your writing did not come across as professional enough to an editor of a large circulation magazine or a top publishing house. It's your job to figure out what went wrong and to come up with a plan to fix it. Remember, however, that not all rejections can be explained. If you're fortunate enough to have an editor include a note with the rejection, pay heed to what it says. 
2. What about those stories or poems that sound like masterpieces when they come swirling through your mind but look kind of lame when you write them? How can you fix this problem? One thing you can do is to jot down phrases and thoughts as they come to mind. Don't wait a day or two before you begin to actually put the idea into print. You'll lose something along the way. Or write it immediately, and when it doesn't feel the same, work on revisions over and over until it compares with your initial thought. Don't be afraid to let those emotions in the mental version come through when you write the story.
3. If you dream of being published but run into the wall of fear when it comes to submitting your work, that dream will never come to fruition. You'll need to conquer your fear. Give yourself a mental talking to. Tell yourself you have as much of a chance as any other writer does. Look at the positive things in your writing life. Give your ego a boost in any way you can. Then, submit with the idea that if the story is not accepted on the first try, you'll submit it again. And again if necessary. We've all heard multiple stories about famous authors who subbed a manuscript dozens of times before it sold. Determination and believing in yourself come into play here.
4. No time to write, so you feel like a failure as a writer? Whose fault is that? Look for the lesson here. You are in control of your time. You can find time to write if you have a strong desire to do so. You might have to give up something else in your life or get up an hour earlier. Sometimes, people use the 'no time to write' thought as an excuse to avoid failure. If I don't have time to write, I don't have to face rejections and more. Make time to write.

Lessons can be learned from our failures. It's up to us to figure out the lesson and act on it.