Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Contest judges, agents, editors, readers—writers get lots of constructive and not so constructive feedback on our work. Sometimes, it’s downright cruel.
But it’s also part of the job. Want to land those freelancing gigs? Want to publish that book? Then develop the tough skin, learn to deal with rejection, keep calm and carry on.
Yeah, writers are right up there with sales people where enduring rejection is concerned.
So with all this rejection and school of hard knocks, I think it’s only necessary to have someone totally biased in your favor, in your corner.
We need it. We need people who can offer the encouragement and support that’ll keep us bouncing back up in the ring, ready for another brutal round.
For example, after finally beating my contest submission into some semblance of acceptable writing—and becoming completely sick of the smelly old piece of crap in the process—I took a break, called my mom and told her what I was up to.
“Oh,” she said. “How wonderful! I think it’s great when people can weave together plots and subplots to make an idea come to life.”
Then I read her my novel summary.
She gasped, ooohed, and ahhhed in all the right places. When I finished reading, she demanded I send her a copy right away so she could read it. I told her I was still working on the final revisions, but that I hoped to get everything done in the next couple of months.
“Well hurry it up, would you? I’m not getting any younger here,” was her response.
I promised I’d get my backside in gear. She seemed satisfied and I hung up the phone with a big smile on my face. Yeah, I know I’m gonna get smacked around a lot in the publishing world, regardless of the route I take.
But by golly, my mom likes my book.
