So you’ve decided to become a writer.  Welcome to the hardest “easy” job on the planet.  Or you’ve written a book and you’re ready to start submitting your work of art to publishers.  Are you ready for rejection?  It’s a sad reality we all must face and in the beginning of your writing career it can be very heart breaking. But, you will get rejected.  Expect it.  According to some of the greatest and most well known authors on the planet, if you’re lucky, you’ll get hundreds of rejections.

Why would getting that many rejections be good?  Because it means you’re writing consistently and getting your manuscript or article in front of editors and publishers; it means you haven’t given up, you have passion.  You will need that passion and that excitement to stay the course.  If you don’t have it now, you might as well give up on being a writer or just hang out with your blog until you do get it.

Stephen King, one of the greatest writers of all time, and whether you like his work or not, you have to admit he is the master, received hundreds of rejections and was even told to give up writing.  Did he?  Well obviously not or he wouldn’t be so well known.  If you’ve never read his book, “On Writing“, you need to.  I was under the impression (once upon a time) that writers like Stephen never had a rejection in their life.  Turns out, the greats have  had more rejections than anyone because they kept writing and sending out submissions.

Do you have the passion it will take to get those rejections?  It’s not easy and it can hurt your ego, but if you’ve got the passion to ride it out and keep at it, great things can happen.  You will go through periods that you want to quit- it’s understandable, but you’ll never get published if you quit.  Find a support group if you need to, but don’t stop working on your dream and passion.

Even if you want to strictly write online as a freelancer, don’t give up.  Sometimes a hiatus is necessary, but you need to keep writing during your down time.

What’s your tips for staying focused and keeping the passion alive through rejection?

Share/Save

If you’ve been writing very long you know about rejection.  It really doesn’t matter how you’ve been writing either–you’re going to get rejections.  One of the most painful parts of rejections happens when they come in waves.  I’ve received more than my share lately.  It’s reminded me that Stephen King received an ungodly amount of rejections before his big break, and it also reminded me of a post that Angela Swanlund did recently.

But even knowing all of this, the sting of rejection still takes a little bit of soul away, or it seems like it does.

Enjoy Angela’s article:
Dealing With Rejection

Happy Writing!
Patti Stafford

Share/Save