Coping with Rejection as a Writer
Rejection is a nine-letter word to many people, but there’s a special relationship it has with writers. Our work is often personal and things we’ve spent weeks if not months or years crafting and refining, and occasionally we recruit our editor friends to review our work to further improve it. It’s hard enough to share your writing with the world because rejection exists, and it can be shattering to know that the work you put so much heart into was rejected by someone.
Rejection is unavoidable in life, just like change and other unpleasant life experiences. I’m always nervous when I send work out to get published. I’ve had dozens of stories rejected from publications, likely more than I’ve had accepted. It’s hard to know exactly what an editor is looking for and why they may not decide to go with your piece. And the unknown or why someone rejected your piece can sting just as much if not more than the rejection itself.
But rejection is inevitable, and it’s something I’m starting to embrace. Before I first started submitting my work, rejection terrified me. I was so scared of what people would think that I didn’t submit it anywhere. If you don’t submit after all no rejection right? But that also means you’ll never be published because you aren’t putting yourself out there.
I think the last piece is key. You have to put yourself out there to even open the chance of getting published. Rejections happen but so do acceptances and the more you submit the more likely you’ll have something published. And that’s always a great feeling, whether it’s your first or twentieth article you’ve published.
Of course, there are things you can do to increase your chance of getting published. Screening publications to see what they like to publish reading their published stories, and tailoring your writing style and topics to ones similar to the ones they’ve already published are all great things to take in mind before submitting. But at some point, you have to bite the bullet and dip off the bandage and submit. That’s liberating.
So go ahead. Find a publication you like and submit a story you think would be a great addition to their publication. Accept rejection, give yourself time to be upset, and even embrace it if you can. Just put yourself out there. It’s the scariest thing for any writer but also the best and most liberating thing you’ll do — overcoming the fear and just doing it.
