Dear Penpal,
Exactly two years ago, my current editor rejected my brand new science-fiction manuscript.
This wasn’t the first time I’d faced rejection. I’ve been writing fiction and non-fiction for two decades now and have a collection of rejection emails, messages and letters.
However, this constantly increasing pile of rejections has also encouraged a stubborn sense of resilience in me. That’s the only way I can continue to be creative and do what I do best – write new stories. It’s my resilience, the ability to bounce back from rejection, to be determined that has allowed me to experiment with new forms of writing.
And that’s what I hope you do too.
Cultivate a sense of resilience to rejections.
For it’s the very nature of creating something new. If it’s an innovative piece of art – there’s a high chance that it will constantly face failure and rejection from the established industry, before someone takes a chance on it.
So never, ever give up.
Don’t give up if someone tells you your path will be difficult. Don’t give up when someone rejects your work. You have to accept it, you have to build resilience. For no matter how many successes you see, you will keep facing the failure of a blank page. Or face rejection by a publisher or an editor, or a gate-keeper to an industry for various reasons. Instead, become free and fearless so you can push your creative boundaries.
Sometimes, this stubborn sense of bouncing back also brings in new opportunities.
The editor who rejected my science fiction story? Sensing that she had warmed up to my work, I asked her what she was looking for to publish. (I didn’t give up) She was looking for good narrative non-fiction. I remembered a book on science I had wanted to write, wrote a pitch and a chapter and emailed her.
Now I’ve become a science writer and am getting new opportunities to write books.
My SF manuscript still remains unpublished with me, but I’m not giving up. Much like a dog, each book has its own day and as a creator, I would not ever give up on things I create.
Have you faced a rejection recently? Write to me with your stories of rejection and resilience! I would love to hear back from you.
