Rejection Gives Value To Acceptance.

"Every writer faces the challenge of work being accepted or denied. Take the position of one of those challenges and discuss the possibilities, opportunities and disappointments a writer would experience throughout."

 

As writers, we write from our hearts and truly believe in what we have written. Still, I only really started taking my writing seriously when friends gave me a push to follow through. I began dutifully submitting to contests and anthologies, but, in two to four weeks time, I would get emails back, saying "Sorry, we aren’t sure this will work." But in addition, each time my work came back, it was accompanied by a review and, if I was lucky, some tips on how to make it better. Then, it became a matter of polishing my craft.

 

A year ago my first piece was published in a book with many other writers from around the globe. It was a really big thing for me, because after all the rejection, it finally felt that someone liked what they read.

 

I have been rewriting the same book for almost two years now. Through all this I have come to deal with the rejection: It can either break you or it can make you fight back like a warrior that knows that her book is worth being in the book shops. And so, I keep going. Rejection only exists because the opportunity of success exists alongside it. I just sent another draft out to publishers in South Africa, excited and hopeful that someone will read my work and perhaps give me the chance to let my book see the light of day. 

 

Frequently, rejection can be the start of a relationship, rather than the end of one. I know there are many writers out there that think that when they get a rejection letter it means that they have failed, that they didn’t do their best. But I know that it's just the tricky part of the business, and that you should never give up. One editor said “Just by saying you believe in your book, it makes me realize that you are good at what you do, that you have the potential of becoming an published author.”  By saying this, he motivated me to push and push until my breakthrough comes along.

Writers are all on a journey.  We travel along a road over many nights, rewriting draft after draft, but we should never go off that road, even if at times, it can feel as if it has simply led us to a dead end. Travelers do not plan on getting lost, but even when they do, they don’t give up traveling forever. They simply take time to gather more information and devise a new route. And sometimes, getting lost offers a much more interesting journey. In that way, rejection is the path to success.

For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, Kit Mackie challenged me with "Every writer faces the challenge of work being accepted or denied. Take the position of one of those challenges and discuss the possibilities, opportunities and disappointments a writer would experience throughout. " and I challenged Sir with "How do you look at the woman you love, and tell yourself that its time to walk away? "


This revised by the Editor's of IndieInk