Thank God for Rejection Letters!
I was going to blog about reviews. I should probably still blog about reviews and whether or not reviews influence people to buy books.
But.
I thought I'd talk about how writing can prepare one for real life.
One thing I acquired pretty quickly when I started writing as a thick skin. Critiques. Rejections. You name it, it hurts, I had to learn how to slough it off.
I never thought I'd say this, but thank God for those fifty-plus rejection letters I have filed . . . somewhere. Because this week, the experience those letters represent has enabled me to pretty much slough off having something I worked very, very hard on (pretty much by myself, thank you very much) picked apart over several days, with more negative comments than positive. Granted, the last two feedback forms I found in my teacher box today did push me to the "Oh, my God, I'm going to cry now" point, but for the most part, I've shrugged off the criticism, looked for the nuggets of constructive feedback and moved on. A few years ago, before I suffered through "Not right for me" or "didn't love it enough" or "not special enough" or "not as special as other manuscripts under consideration" time after time after time, I'd probably have given in to those tears earlier. And they'd have lasted a lot longer.
So thank God for rejection letters!
What writing lesson has helped you in "real" life?
But.
I thought I'd talk about how writing can prepare one for real life.
One thing I acquired pretty quickly when I started writing as a thick skin. Critiques. Rejections. You name it, it hurts, I had to learn how to slough it off.
I never thought I'd say this, but thank God for those fifty-plus rejection letters I have filed . . . somewhere. Because this week, the experience those letters represent has enabled me to pretty much slough off having something I worked very, very hard on (pretty much by myself, thank you very much) picked apart over several days, with more negative comments than positive. Granted, the last two feedback forms I found in my teacher box today did push me to the "Oh, my God, I'm going to cry now" point, but for the most part, I've shrugged off the criticism, looked for the nuggets of constructive feedback and moved on. A few years ago, before I suffered through "Not right for me" or "didn't love it enough" or "not special enough" or "not as special as other manuscripts under consideration" time after time after time, I'd probably have given in to those tears earlier. And they'd have lasted a lot longer.
So thank God for rejection letters!
What writing lesson has helped you in "real" life?
Labels: Linda's Posts
posted by Linda Winfree at 5:29 PM
2Comments:
I've learned to celebrate the good things that happen. Used to be that I'd be wary about good news, so wary that I didn't allow myself to enjoy it for fear that it would be taken away. But see, here's the thing. It's going to go away. Just like everything else. THAT is reason enough to milk good news, triumphs and achievements for all they're worth. Revel in them to your heart's content, because tomorrow may not be as rosy.
Oh, I love that idea! And it's so true.
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