Excerpt from Opinari Newsletter – Spring 2008. Sign up.

WRITERS - DEALING WITH REJECTION

IMAGINE - A WRITER’S FORTITUDE - Betsy Tan

Betsy Tan is a published fiction, non-fiction, and drama writer living in the American northwest.

The writer aspiring to see a manuscript transformed into a book needs fortitude to deal with rejection. An aspiring writer usually submits proposals to multiple editors or publishers. Therefore, rejection may come in multiples!

Most rejection notes have no explanation for the rejection. After a while, just the sight of an envelope with familiar names or handwriting is enough to discourage the writer. Multiply the experience by 20 times or more. Clearly, everything that fortitude implies—including staying power, courage, determination, and resilience—is essential for the writer.

Years ago I watched my young nephew at martial arts. He jabbed his fingers into a wok filled with sand heating up over a fire. He continued as the sand got hotter, his face unflinching. When he finally stopped after half an hour, I cautiously asked him the purpose of the exercise.

“To toughen the cells in my fingers so they become insensitive to pain when I have to use them as a weapon,” he explained.

That is the way writers can build up fortitude in dealing with rejection slips, by toughening the mind-set, accepting rejection as part of the writer’s life. If you build a spirit of fortitude, as my nephew built toughness into his fingers for a purpose, you might find that rejections even help build a ladder toward success. Imagine…!

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