Choose Hope Over Despair

 

Our photo today shows us two roads we can take. Choose the one that offers the best outcome. It doesn't take much to realize that Hope is the road to take. With the pandemic and other world situations we've faced the last year, I think the road of Hope is our only choice.. But you all know I am one who accentuates the positives in life. 

As writers, we all have hope that our submissions will make it past a gaggle of editors and end up in a publication of some kind. When nothing comes in return from an editor, not even a form rejection, it's kind of difficult to continue to hope that your piece will be published. 

I'm here to tell you not to despair. I've had two instances in the past six months when an unexpected acceptance arrived long, and I do mean long, after submission. Both surprised me in a very nice way.

Last summer, I received an email from an editor saying they had received two stories I had sent and might possibly publish one of them. Then added that it was only a maybe. I checked my records to see when I had submitted the stories and found it had been a year and a half. Never a word from them in all that time. They sent me a 3-page form to fill out but said that it was not confirmation my story would be published. I dutifully filled out the form and returned it as instructed. More time went by and one day an email arrived saying that they had decided to publish my story, but they added once again that it might be pulled at the last minute. The end of the story is that it was published and a nice check arrived soon after. 

This week, I received an email telling me that a story of mine would appear in an anthology coming out soon. When I noted the story title, I checked to see when I had submitted. Turned out to be November 2019. I had never heard one word from the editor until the final acceptance yesterday. 

I remember a friend in a writing group many years ago telling us she had heard from Highlights magazine that an article she had submitted many years before would be published. I seem to remember the number 9 in considering the number of years. If not 9, it was close to that. Surely my friend had written it off, but her story appeared soon after the acceptance letter arrived. 

These three stories illustrate that when you don't hear from an editor about something you submitted, there is still a glimmer of hope. If you do get a written rejection, that's another story. When acceptance comes long after submission, it's a wonderful surprise and a great boost to your writing self. And no, it doesn't happen on a regular basis, but it does happen. 

Hope means there is always a possibility that something good will occur. Don't travel down the muddy road of Despair which only drags you down.