How to Fortify Your Mind Against Rejection as a Writer
Superman your way past it.
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Rejection is the writer’s kryptonite.
You put yourself out there, cards on the table, heart on your sleeve. You desperately hope for that magic-infused three-letter word.
Instead, it’s another “No”.
No to your story. No to what you’re offering the world. And of course, what you hear is “No, because you’re not good enough”.
I know a thing or two about rejection when it comes to writing.
I’ve read plenty of posts from fellow scribblers bemoaning the dozen or so rejections their novel submission received. That’s usually around the time they start thinking about throwing in the towel.
Friend, if that’s you, please keep that sweat-soaked towel in your hand.
I sent hundreds of query letters to literary agents in 2022 for two of my novels. I received hundreds of rejections. The most I ever got was 8 in a single day.
It stung.
But that painful process taught me an enormously-important lesson about how to fortify my mind against the damaging effects of rejection.
It’s a critical skill to learn. Because if you allow rejection to eat away at you, you start to believe things about yourself that just aren’t true. Your inner voice will whisper:
“You’re bad at writing. You’ve just been kidding yourself this whole time.”
“No-one wants your story. It’s not marketable.”
“You should just give up.”
I’ve been there, trust me. Sometimes I still hear that sly voice in the background.
Let’s talk about how to deal with it.
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