Tip for Writers: How to Practice Rejection while Honing Your Craft

First, a disclaimer (or acknowledgement, depending on whether or not you like what I say): I owe the fundamental premise behind this tip to Jeff Somers, author of WRITING WITHOUT RULES (a book every writer needs to read), and a jolly good writer in his own write… rite… right… whatever.

No-one likes rejection. Not really. And when you’re getting ready to query your manuscript to agents, rejection’s the thing that gives you the cold sweats and makes you hesitate over the Send button. You know not everyone’s going to love your masterpiece like you love it. And the thought that an industry professional is going to respond to your labors with “Sorry, not for me,” or “I wouldn’t line the cat litter with this” makes you die a little. Or a lot.

So what can you do to help prepare for rejection?

One answer is to never send your manuscript to anyone and stay locked away in your house/apartment/cardboard box sending out for pizza when you get hungry. (And even then you know people will judge you because you asked for pineapple. Philistines!)

A better approach is to get used to it. Granted, no-one ever really gets used to rejection. I bet even Stephen King feels a little twinge of sadness when someone says, “I just didn’t like THE STAND” or one of his many, many tomes. But I think you can help dull rejection’s sting by exposing yourself to it in a constructive way.

How might you do that?

Here’s how. You write stuff. Short stuff. Short stories. Flash fiction. Poems. Haiku. And then submit that stuff to magazines and journals for publication. Unlike writing a novel, these shorter works take less time and energy to produce. But just like querying a novel, you submit them to people who will make a judgement call and either reject them, or accept them. Also like querying a novel, you will have to wait for a reply. To be fair, most good agents won’t keep you waiting as long as many magazine and journal publishers. And the more prestigious the publication, the longer you might have to wait (6-8 months in some cases). But this is all part of your query training.

Think about it: What’s the worst that can happen? Your work is rejected. In which case, you swallow hard, blow your nose, and submit somewhere else. In time, you develop coping mechanisms for rejection, and learn to appreciate how subjective this industry is.

And the best thing that can happen is your work gets published. That publishing credit on your query might persuade an agent to look at your work. So it’s a win-win. Sort of. And while writing these stories, poems, essays, or whatever, you are practicing your writing and editing skills. So it’s a win-win-win!

In case you’re wondering, I do have some experience with this. While I am not yet a published novelist, I have been in the query trenches a few times, so I’m very familiar with rejection emails. I have also submitted numerous works to various outlets. While I’ve experienced the joy of acceptance, more often I’ve felt the pain of rejection. So far, I’ve won 4 out of the 120 Janet Reid flash fiction writing contests I’ve entered. And only six of the numerous submissions I’ve made to magazines and journals have, so far, resulted in publication (see my ABOUT page for details). As you can see, the rejections far outweigh the acceptances. But those rejections have made me less afraid to put my work out there. They’ve also helped me manage my expectations.

But let’s not forget the icing on the cake: Each piece of writing has made me a better writer.

So if you want to be published but you’re afraid of rejection, I say stare that bully in the face. Don’t hide from rejection. Go looking for him. Have no doubt, he’ll find you often… but not always.

Do you have any strategies for handing literary rejection?