As we approach Winter Solstice and Christmas (and just enjoyed Hannukah), your thoughts are likely drawn to the way we crave light in the darkness.
If you are a writer, this means your thoughts drift to rejection.
I wrote a guest blog post on how to triage rejection pain over at The Debutante Ball. After you read it, come back here and let me know what you think!
Thank you for that post! I love your advice about reading the last five books that the editor worked on, but I was wondering how you find out what these were?
Thanks again.
Your rejection truth is eloquently put Laurie! Indeed the main thing to remember is we are still alive and have the capability to create and renew.
Love your winter picture too.
Thank you for sharing!
A rejection is an open door to improve our stories. Nicely said!
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for this!! What a great reminder that as writers it is important to control the things we can.
This was truly a fantastic, helpful blog post. Reading about rejection never makes the pain of it easier to deal with, but the encouragement keeps me going. And continuing to write – no matter what – is the only way I can improve my manuscripts. So thanks for spending so much of your own time helping other writers improve their craft!
Thank you for that beautiful post. I’m a long way from being ready to submit my work, but I’m ready to keep on working to make it better. That’s what I hope for my 8th grade students as well. At least one success I’ve had this year is getting your books in the hands of my students. Right now, they don’t make it back to the bookshelf because they are being passed hand to hand.
I just finished Forge last weekend. Amazing! How long do we have to wait for Ashes?
Great post. I really liked using the stages of dealing with death. Seems appropriate, since it is a form of death, death of a fantasy. I know some of my early rejections have made me go back and really rework my book.
It was even worse with my attempts at writing short stories. But I’ve found that the rejections I’ve gotten have forced me to re-examine my work and realize I really could do better.
Best piece of writing advice I found; the mantra “I can do better”. And rejection helps me see that I can still do better. Whether it’s better writing, a better query, or doing a better job of researching agents or editors, I find I can do better. And perfecting my stories, my art, has become the goal, more than the 6-figure advance and hoards of fans. The stuff would be nice, but the odds are against it, even with talent. So I just keep hoping to do the best I can for my stories, my characters and my readers.
Thank you! Inspirational as always. As a person with 2 rejections pending (my first), I suspect I’ll be referring back to it in the next few months…
I love how you put it as triage, because it is kind of a wound, at first. Your post was great, and I appreciate knowing that even great published authors have those moments now, and in their writing career.
🙂
That was excellent. I actually saw it on The Rejectionist and printed it up, and just got a chance to read it.
I remember the day I gave up all hope of financial reward from my writing. It lifted such a weight and actually made the writing more authentic and risk-taking, since I didn’t think I’d ever show it to anyone.
It’s the difference between baking cookies to compete with those at the local supermarket – getting caught up in how healthy the ingredients are, fretting over trends, trying to stand out, and worrying if anyone will like them made that way – and simply making them out of the wish to brighten a friend’s day – infusing them with care and love. Who knows if they’ll sell, but the batch you made for a friend will surely taste better, and you’ll enjoy the whole process for what it is – not what outside reward might come from it.
Great post, Laurie. I, too, like the idea of reading books edited by the people whose attention you’re trying to attract. Not only does it give you an idea of what they’re interested in, but it has helped me to better judge how close to ready my WIP might be.
Thanks for that Laurie! I needed to hear that. I really appreciate how you nuture and guide us down this path to publication. I really wanted to toss my manuscript after a rejection and I’m grateful for my friend who talked me down from the “ledge.” We need people like you to keep us going. Thanks for sharing your story. It’s so nice to know the story behind your publications.
Laurie, thank you so much for writing such a brilliant guest post for The Debutante Ball! We’ve been flooded with enthusiasm, kind words, and blog hits from new visitors who are incredibly inspired by your words. What a fabulous post! We feel very lucky to have you as one of our guest bloggers.
Thanks again!
Tawna (er, that’s Deb Tawna)
Thank you so much for joining us at the Debutante Ball, and for writing such a lovely post that so many people clearly needed to hear.
What a GORGEOUS picture. There is nothing like snow falling.
Your story is not good enough. Yet ~LHA
The most powerful words spoken within your article….Thank you