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Last week, we chatted about resolutions. The main part of keeping writing resolutions, of course, is writing. For many of us, another big part is submitting. Which means risking rejection.
Writers deal with rejection in all sorts of ways. Chocolate has legions of fans, of course. Going to the gym and hitting things (hitting things elsewhere generally has major downsides) works for some people. So does brisk, angry striding down the street, sometimes even talking to oneself.
After the first zap or thud, though, comes the need to start over. Revise the manuscript, if need be. Send it out again. Most of us learned pretty quickly that editors weren’t going to hear magically about our work and beg to publish it. That’s a great fantasy, one many new writers entertain, but it doesn’t last very long for most of us. So we have to put our work in front of them in order to see it in print.
One author I know picks his next submission when he sends a manuscript to his first choice. That way, he’s ready if the book or article doesn’t sell. Most people I know have lists of choices in varying degrees of formality, so they know where they want their manuscripts to go. They still have to send them, though. They have to stick them in envelopes, trek to the post office, and send them out to a place where their likelihood of rejection runs high. They do it anyway, time after time, month after month, year after year, and with no guarantees of success.
“Nothing in worth having in life comes easy,” my grandfather used to say. I think all the writers out there submitting are hoping he’s right. They want the prize badly enough to run the necessary gauntlet to reach it.
For me, chocolate, exercise, and a new purse or CD help boost my spirits and put me back on the ladder. How about you?
3 Comments
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Gerri 
That “not easy” part is true enough. Nonetheless, as long as I don’t hit myself in the head too hard, I keep at it. There may even be a sale someday, who knows?