Monday Motivation: Embrace Your Inner Rejectionista

Late last week the topic of rejection came up among some of my twitter friends. 

Like many people, I began to query CLOUD 9 much too soon.  It had gone through several revisions and I'd received feedback from a couple of readers, yes, but it wasn't the story it was meant to be (it even had a different title).  This was in June of 2010.  And of course I queried my "dream agent" first and blew that chance.

Fast forward to December 2012.  The last two years have been a bit of a rollercoaster for me as far as being able to dedicate the amount of time necessary to my writing career, so there were huge chunks of time during which I did not query -- or write, for that matter.

I'm still unagented, although CLOUD 9 is in its best shape after several more revisions and many more rejections. I've had a few requests for fulls and I've received terrific feedback.  It's currently in the hands of an agent after a recent contest.  

Querying is scary.  Putting your work out there for criticism is terrifying.  Rejections hurt.  But rejections are a necessary part of the process.  Rejections mean that you've been brave enough to put yourself out there.  Rejections will make you a better writer.

I'm not going to go into a ton of detail of what to do and what not to do when you're querying.  I'll just say that it's okay to make mistakes and learn along the way -- I'm still learning.  And I'm not going to make a long list of all the things I've learned from the querying process -- there are other websites and other bloggers who have already done that.

But I will say this -- something I've said before and I'll keep saying:  Do not give up.  When the rejections come in, no matter how much they hurt, have your little pity party -- whatever that may look like -- and then keep moving forward.  Use rejection as a way to motivate you to do the hard work to make your manuscript -- and your query letter -- better.  Lean on the other writers in your life for help.  Get feedback.  Revise.  Again.  Never give up.

"Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again."

And, you know, just imagine Dylan McDermott singing it to you.

So embrace your inner Rejectionista.  You're rejected, yes, but you are fabulous.  You are brave and amazing and you will succeed.

If you're proud of your Rejectionista status, feel free to use the badge on your website.  Someday you won't need it anymore. 

How do you feel about rejection?