15

May

Writing Tips: What to Do When Nobody Likes Your Work

Rejection is a terrible thing. I imagine many of you have experienced it in one form or another. Perhaps you have asked somebody out on a date and have been turned down, or you have applied for a job and received a letter telling you ‘thanks but no thanks’. Rejection can be very disheartening.

Recently I attended a seminar on ‘rejection’. They highlighted our emotional responses to being rejected, how we can be hurt, made to feel vulnerable and less likely to take risks. I raised my hand to ask a question and the speaker acknowledged me and said they would be with me in a moment. I waited for them to return to me, then waited and waited. Ultimately they forgot. I felt as if I was rejected in a seminar about ‘rejection’. How ironic!

As writers, we become used to rejection. A publisher or website may not be interested in our work, be that fiction, poetry, factual writing or something else. They may in fact return your work with a plethora of comments on why it’s not suitable or how you should improve it before resubmission. For some of us this can be a frustrating experience. As writers we are often proud of our words and question the wisdom of those criticising us.

Possibly occasionally we are victims of our own arrogance and should welcome the advice of those who maybe, just maybe, know a little better than us.   Perhaps we were right in the first place. No matter what, we should eat a little humble pie and prepare to persevere and make any necessary changes so long as our work is not altered too much from our original vision.

Despite being rejected at the ‘rejection’ seminar I learned that we should not give up. Take the hurt and hold your head up high. While the day had nothing to do with writing as a subject, it did offer a little inspiration. If one publisher or website does not favor our work at all, that does not mean that another will have the same attitude. Perhaps they were not a good fit for our precious work in the first place. It is possible that another publisher will understand our work much better than those who rejected it. Just as if that person we asked out on a date was not the right one for us, or the job we applied too was not worthy of us in the first place.

Remember too that you are not alone in being rejected. Indeed consider some of these people who were rejected before becoming accomplished figures in our world.

Emily Dickinson wrote around 1800 poems. However only a dozen were published and she did not gain any real recognition for her work until after her death.

Stephen King’s first novel, ‘Carrie’, was rejected around 30 times before he eventually grew tired and threw it into the trash. His wife retrieved it and convinced him to keep trying, which he did, and he is a much loved writer today, and many of his works, including ‘Carrie’, have been made into Hollywood films.

Rudyard Kipling was fired from the San Francisco Examiner in 1899 and was told by its editor that he didn’t know how to use the English language. Being fired was probably the incentive he needed to become the world class author he is now known to be.

Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star in 1919 because his editor believed he lacked imagination and good ideas. Surely he was taking the mickey!

There are many more such rejection-turned -success stories.

So do not give up. Do not let rejection rule your life. Persevere and hopefully somebody will recognise your greatness but still take note of the feedback you receive. It may just be helpful. Love yourself and love your writing. Do not reject your own abilities. You may only be a short step away from greatness.