Welcome to the third Thursday in May from Ava Pennington!
Have you ever seen an unattractive baby? Even if you think the baby is ugly, his parents would never agree. That baby is part of them. He carries their DNA. More than that, he carries their hopes and dreams for the future.
It’s often been said that for a writer, rejection is the equivalent of showing someone your newborn baby and hearing them say she’s ugly. You persevere through blank computer screens, uncooperative characters, convoluted plots, and uninteresting descriptions. After pouring yourself into your manuscript, you finally produce a work worthy of publication. That was the easy part.
Now comes the hard part: showing your work to others; baring yourself as you wait for feedback from critique partners, editors, or agents. What do you do when:
- a critique partner tells you the dialogue is flat?
- an agent advises you the plot is weak?
- an editor rejects your submission without any feedback at all?
Do you:
- Give up on writing?
- Reject the rejection and dismiss the source as incompetent?
- Ascribe the rejection to spiritual attack?
- Receive the rejection as constructive criticism?
Rejection is not always a bad thing. We can use criticism to become better writers. Or perhaps the writing is good, but the timing is wrong. One project I worked on for several years received several rejections. Rather than giving up, I partnered with another writer. My co-author took a good idea and helped make it a great book. That single book project has now become a series: Faith Basics for Kids.
Don’t view rejection as an enemy. View it as a teacher…one that will help you be the best writer you can be for the glory of God.
What have previous rejections taught you?
Have you experienced a rejection that led to something better?
Now comes the hard part: showing your work to others; baring yourself as you wait for feedback from critique partners, editors, or agents. What do you do when:
- a critique partner tells you the dialogue is flat?
- an agent advises you the plot is weak?
- an editor rejects your submission without any feedback at all?
Do you:
- Give up on writing?
- Reject the rejection and dismiss the source as incompetent?
- Ascribe the rejection to spiritual attack?
- Receive the rejection as constructive criticism?
Rejection is not always a bad thing. We can use criticism to become better writers. Or perhaps the writing is good, but the timing is wrong. One project I worked on for several years received several rejections. Rather than giving up, I partnered with another writer. My co-author took a good idea and helped make it a great book. That single book project has now become a series: Faith Basics for Kids.
Don’t view rejection as an enemy. View it as a teacher…one that will help you be the best writer you can be for the glory of God.
What have previous rejections taught you?
Have you experienced a rejection that led to something better?
I agree that rejections are good teachers, but here is another thought. They are a clear indication that we are working at our craft.
Posted by: Peggy Ellis | May 20, 2011 at 07:16 PM
Good observation, Peggy. We will never succeed if we don't try.
Posted by: Ava Pennington | May 20, 2011 at 07:20 PM