I received my first rejection letter, which means, as my husband Joe said, that I am officially a writer. The letter came via e-mail from The Writer's Eye, and, as rejection letters go, I suppose it was fairly gentle. It merely informed me that "unfortunately, we have decided not to publish" my short story and expressed hope that I would submit to them in the future.
That's pretty much the whole deal. But, of course, I did not write the story because I wanted someone's approval; approval is welcome, but the main reason for it was because I could not hold it any more... It was necessary for me.
Good morning Katya,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations;-) You now are in that esteemed group including John Steinbeck (whose first book was rejected over 25 times), Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King,etc.
I am trying to think of a famous woman writer who got to enjoy the compost pile too. Oh here's a popular one--Sue Grafton who now has sold millions of her mysteries wrote 7 books before she was ever published! It took her years. Both rather depressing, yet encouraging, right?
And here's my poem to rejections, since I got half a dozen the last couple of months:
Getting the Slip
Another
Editor’s slip
Pulled success
Out from under me--
But since scientists
Say over 50% of our
Genes inhabit bananas—
I must be the human
Peeling out
--As I slip--
Laughter Pealing,
Tolling time;
Foraging
In my roots, branching out,
Redwooded though fired,
Bristleconedness
Up growing above
Rejections littering
Underneath--
So much compost.
Now I'm off to write on my second novel (that I didn't get to read the first couple of pages last night because I got the call.
And happy writing to you too.
In the Light,
Daniel