Rejection

Yes, the dreaded "R" word. And I've got lots of experience with it lately. You see, dear friends, I have been a mad, querying fool. I've stayed up into the night sending letters to agents who handle what I write, and the rejections have come pouring in. It's all good, as my brother would say. I can't be rejected if I'm not exposing myself. Okay, so it sucks a little bit, but each response brings me closer to forging a relationship with the agent and/or editor of my dreams. Too many people in my path, people with credentials, have told me my writing is solid for me to quit because of some turn-downs. People say no to me all the time, but for every 50 "no's" there is bound to be a "yes." And I'm going to keep pushing 'til I get it.

I know I'm not the only one facing Rejection Hill. Perhaps the great thing about it is there's no such thing as walking that long mile alone. What's interesting to me is that it works differently for people in other professional writing arenas. Take my dear friend Kay. She's a screenwriter, and a damn good one. That community seems smaller than that of novelists, and it is more closed from this outsider's perspective. She presses on, calling agents even when they slam the phone down, to see if they're accepting queries. I respect that, and she will be my inspiration, my companion up the hill that runs up both ways.

What do you do when people slam the door in your face, hang up on you or put you on ignore? We all have the option to pull the covers overhead and pretend it's all a bad dream. We can rant and rail against the people who are keeping us down. Or, we can be the champions we know ourselves to be, pick ourselves up, dust off and keep on truckin'.

It is impossible to discourage the real writers - they don't give a damn what you say, they're going to write. ~Sinclair Lewis