I discovered this fantastic book at the Vancouver Public Library: The Writer’s Book of Hope: Getting From Frustration to Publication by Ralph Keyes. It’s exactly what I need as a writer.
Every week, I send a dozen query letters for my non-fiction articles. Once a week I’ll get a “no thanks, it’s not in our editorial line up.” Mostly I get no response. Once a month I’ll get an assignment. In December, I actually received 4 assignments, and last September I sold 5 articles.
But mostly I hear nothing, so I keep sending article queries out. It’s really really difficult to keep meeting my writing goals when I see minimal growth – but I remind myself there has been growth. That counts for a lot.
Sometimes, writing rejections motivate me to write better. Other times I just want to give up and go kayaking. Luckily, I found The Writer’s Book of Hope!
Writing quotation: “To working writers, rejection is like stings to a beekeeper: a painful but necessary part of their vocation. They understand that the return of their work isn’t meant as a personal rebuff (or seldom is, anyway). It just feels that way,” says Keyes.
Keyes described Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield’s rejections from twenty major publishers (the Chicken Soup for the Soul series). Their agent, Jeff Herman, says, “[Hansen and Canfield] instinctively understood that all those rejections were simply an uncomfortable part of a process that would eventually get them were they wanted to be.”
Writing tip: See rejection an unavoidable part of being a writer. It’s uncomfortable, and it can distract you from your writing dreams and goals, but it’s simply part of the process.
Another writing quotation about rejection: “No rejection is fatal until the writer walks away from the battle leaving dreams and goals behind,” says Jeff Herman (Hansen and Canfield’s literary agent).
Still another writing quotation about rejection: “Writers often feel…that repeated rejections accompanied by reasoned letters mean that in the end there’s no hope. This is simply not true,” says John Gardner.
But mostly I hear nothing, so I keep sending article queries out. It’s really really difficult to keep meeting my writing goals when I see minimal growth – but I remind myself there has been growth. That counts for a lot.
Sometimes, writing rejections motivate me to write better. Other times I just want to give up and go kayaking. Luckily, I found The Writer’s Book of Hope!
Writing quotation: “To working writers, rejection is like stings to a beekeeper: a painful but necessary part of their vocation. They understand that the return of their work isn’t meant as a personal rebuff (or seldom is, anyway). It just feels that way,” says Keyes.
Keyes described Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield’s rejections from twenty major publishers (the Chicken Soup for the Soul series). Their agent, Jeff Herman, says, “[Hansen and Canfield] instinctively understood that all those rejections were simply an uncomfortable part of a process that would eventually get them were they wanted to be.”
Writing tip: See rejection an unavoidable part of being a writer. It’s uncomfortable, and it can distract you from your writing dreams and goals, but it’s simply part of the process.
Another writing quotation about rejection: “No rejection is fatal until the writer walks away from the battle leaving dreams and goals behind,” says Jeff Herman (Hansen and Canfield’s literary agent).
Still another writing quotation about rejection: “Writers often feel…that repeated rejections accompanied by reasoned letters mean that in the end there’s no hope. This is simply not true,” says John Gardner.
Don't walk away from the battle, friends.
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