The other day, I got a rejection for a short story I submitted to an online journal.
I have been getting rejections for 14 years,
i.e., since I started writing seriously.
Even after nearly a decade and a half, I still feel the sting of rejection each time one lands in my inbox.
The quality/duration of the sting varies. Sometimes it rolls right off my back after a second.
Sometimes it puts me out for a whole day.
Here's what I thought when I saw the rejection on that story:
Oof. And then...Good.
Getting a rejection meant I was in the game.
I wasn't waiting for something to happen. I was putting myself out there.
It had been a minute!
Pursuing a life in books/publishing means you do a lot of creating and a lot of waiting.
I've been doing more of the waiting lately.
That rejection was a sign that I was on the right track.
Have you received any rejections lately?
Maybe for writing, maybe for business, maybe for something else.
If so...good. Way to go.
You're doing it right.
Here's what Stephen King said on his early rejections:
β
"By the time I was fourteen the nail on my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing."
That's the kind of "I'll show THEM" energy you need to succeed at your big goal.
Let's all take a shot of it.