Rejection happens, unfortunately. It’s an endless struggle to avoid it in everyday life, but you’ll be thrilled to know you can’t hide in the literary world. Even if you’ve poured your entire heart and 10,000 hours into something, people you share it with may not realise how hard you’ve worked.
Talk to any aspiring or established writer, and we’re certain they will be able to reel off numerous rejections. It can be upsetting, but it doesn’t mean the end of your career. This article will (hopefully) be a guide on how to adapt and deal with rejection, and harness its power for improvement!
Dealing with literary rejection
The best of us have all been rejected — The Life of Pi was rejected countless times, as well as Harry Potter having a rough start. But dealing with it and having the strength to bounce back is where these so-called failures found success!
Here are five top tips to keep in mind when you get that dreaded email:
1) Don’t take it personally
Rejection hurts. But sometimes it’s necessary. It might not even be anything to do with your writing; the publication may have already reached the number of entries they need, or your work might just not be the right fit for their vibe. Magazine editors must upkeep their company values, and always have their audience in mind, so this may be a contributing factor.
If you are dead-set on having your work in a particular magazine, you can always resubmit after the cool-off period. Just make sure you make any adjustments according to any feedback they may give, and triple-check their rules to make sure you’re not missing out on publication due to something easily fixable.
2) Be resilient (and ready to try again)
As you read before, there are probably reasons for your rejection. Accept the rejection — it happened, and there’s nothing you can do to change it. If they offered you feedback, now’s the time to tweak your work and send it in again. However, it’s important you don’t dwell on this bounce-back, or swear off writing completely — chances are, you’ll get accepted somewhere else.
Again, there are multitudes of reasons as to why; many of them completely out of your control. It’s recommended to give your piece a little break of maybe a few days, and come back ready to attack it again with a fresh pair of eyes. Even better if you let a finished piece ‘marinate’ before you take another look, so any errors you may gloss over are easily seen in the cold light of day.
3) Don’t try to convince them
It’s over. It’s not you, it’s me. Yep, although it sounds like dating advice, what’s done is done. Whatever reason they chose to reject you, they are likely going to stand by it. If you submit to this publication again in future, make sure you’ve changed your work if you were offered feedback.
Roll with the punches and come back stronger! Remember, even if you’re doing it as a hobby, every submission is added to your career portfolio, so you are still trying to come across as a professional. If you submit again to the same publication in future, you’ll be thankful you earned your spot fair and square.
4) Believe it — and build on it
As Naruto said, maybe they have a point. Although it can be hard to hear, see if there’s anywhere you can improve. Your work might need another look-over to iron out any creases, so consider sending it to a friend and asking for improvements if you didn’t get any from the place you originally submitted to. Maybe there’s a glaring spelling error you missed, the formatting wasn’t quite right, or another word choice that would propel it to publication!
Personally, I have an issue with overusing semicolons, and using the wrong type of dash (a punctuation guide is in the works for my own reference)! Sometimes, it takes a second point of view to make you notice something, so peer feedback is definitely the way to go! Swap your work with a circle of friendly writers, and they’ll be able to pick out your work’s strengths and where it may need tightening.
5) – Practise makes progress
Don’t let a rejection dishearten you — get right back out there and try again! If everyone who got rejected (think Jennifer Aniston) never tried again, nobody would get anything done. After a short rest to recoup and get your mind in the right place, you should try again.
It can be hard to get back up on the horse, but once you’re back into the groove, you’ll start seeing progress — and hopefully, net yourself some acceptances! If you’re getting unmotivated, try switching prompts, styles or writing with a time limit. Even if you don’t make much progress, you’ll be out of your comfort zone, and this will refresh your creative spark.
Ow! It stings!
Dust yourself off, and feel free to come back to this list when needed. Remember that a rejection isn’t necessarily related to your work at all — sometimes the magazine will already reach its quota for entries, or they feel your work isn’t a good fit with their theme. It’s important to keep trying, so after a short break to collect yourself, get back on the horse!
Impish Fen 
Leave a comment