Been rejected lately?

About a week or so ago I received yet another rejection for a short story that’s been out and about for a bit with pretty favourable feedback but not getting picked up and I had one of those moments – you know how it goes: ‘You’re crap – give it up’.

I drank coffee, as you do, and sat in silence, staring at the wall.  I think I might have even sighed in there a few times J and thought:  ‘Give it up – give writing up because it’s just too bloody hard!  The hours, the sweat and tears, to what – get rejected yet again! ‘

How many times would you put up with your best friend or lover, husband or wife – reject you over and over and over?  You wouldn’t right – so why do we keep writing?

I don’t know about you, but for me I think sometimes I’m just plain and simply, quite mad.  Crazy loon, insane, lunatic!  So where was I?  Oh, yeah, sitting, staring at the wall.  I mumbled and grumbled a bit and I definitely swore a few times – Mitzi my cat understood and then it was like – ‘okay, so when was the deadline for that play?’



Mitzi practising the art of patience...



Yes, I told you I’m insane.  Here’s why – I’ve been working two jobs of the day job variety in recent weeks - if you count writing then I was juggling three.  Anyway, I’ve been pretty knackered of late, with working nights in one job and getting up at 4.30am for another and of course writing towards this deadline!  The deadline was the 31^st March and I was running out of time – oh hell, I hadn’t even finished the play on Tuesday and it was supposed to be gone on Thursday and oh, wait – I need to sleep coz I’m working two jobs!

Somehow, I pulled it off.  I made the deadline and even rewrote the ending twice, and still woke up in time for work!  I can’t testify to the quality of the play but I was passionate about the story when I wrote it, so from an organic level it was good work.  From an editing, and beautifully polished masterpiece level – well probably not so.  But there ya go – it’s gone.  I was happy I pushed through even though I’m severely sleep deprived but that’s pretty normal for me anyway.

And what was the point of this blog post?  Oh, yeah – seems I don’t let rejections get to me after all.  Just when I think I’m ready to give it all up – I just shrug and get back to work.  Unlike the rejection of a friend or lover, of which I would not put up with, I find the rejection of my stories as the universe’s way of letting me know I have to work harder!  That’s just crap, I know – haven’t I worked hard enough?  Of course, but then it’s all subjective anyway – so sometimes it just means getting on with it, not rewriting it, or ditching it, but getting on with the next project.  Persevering and rising to the challenge which in the end just makes me increasingly determined.  So I do what I know my peers would advise me to do.  Write. Edit. Submit.  And do it again and again and again until…

Yep, I told you I was insane.  How about you?  How do you deal with rejection?

Midnight rambler getting ready for the next project….