Writing is often an extremely personal act, a way of exposing some part of yourself to the world. Most often, your readers don’t know what part of a story is yours, but you do. This is why so many writers fear the act of submitting a piece for review.
What is difficult to learn – and accept – is the fact that a rejection of your writing is not a rejection of you.
Contrary to popular belief among writers, editors are not sitting at their desks, rubbing their hands together and considering the many wonderful (and truly terrible) ways in which they might tear apart your work.
Editors are professionals. They deal with you, the writer, in the same manner they want to be dealt with. Professionally.
They look at your piece to see if you’ve followed the formatting guidelines set out by their publication. They look at spelling, storyline, style, all of it. And if it doesn’t fit, it is not a personal attack.
J.K. Rowling submitted Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to scores of publishers. Charles Bukowski had reams of rejected poetry. Robert Frost first became well-known in Europe. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick was panned at the time of its printing.
The point is, taking rejection personally, is like taking an act of nature personally. There’s no reason to. Sure, it’s disappointing – and often a blow to our ego – but you keep writing. You keep submitting.
Writing, like anything else, requires practice. The more you work at it, the better you get.
Keep writing, everyone!
Help Support Cross, Massachusetts!
Hello! I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did, please consider putting a dollar in the pot. 🙂 Every little bit helps, and each dollar allows me to spend more time creating posts and stories for you to read. Thank you for your support!
$1.00
