Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It has been 5 days since my last blog post. I have been a bad, bad (wannabe, struggling, frustrated, you name it) writer. A very bad writer indeed.
I can barely bring myself to say it, but I have committed a cardinal sin. Fed up of form rejections (‘thanks, but we’ll have to take a pass’) I took action. Naive, foolhardy and sinful action. I had the temerity and sheer gall to reply to a form rejection and kindly request a word or two of feedback.
See? Bad, bad writer.
It’s something I’ve never done before and will probably never do again. Rejection is part and parcel of the game; you take it on the chin and move on. Simple.
For some reason, that particular rejection caught me on a bad day, the disappointment hit a little too hard and I typed out a reply (a polite reply, of course) and hit the Send button before giving myself a chance to think.
Naturally, immediate regret and intense shame followed. I waited, cringing in a quiet corner, for the seriously hacked-off reply.
What I actually got was some of the most detailed, helpful and encouraging feedback I could possibly hope for. My sad little story was a ‘regretful reject’ by all accounts. This from a pro-paying market too. It pretty much made my day.
A rejection of course, is still a rejection and I hereby promise never to sin again.
That delightfully brackish tang in the air? Ah… the sweet smell of failure.
10 comments:
Well, that's refreshing. It's nice to know that some professional markets are not cold hearted @#$*!. Some rejections are bittersweet. Hey, maybe I should have you query the @#$*!s I'm dealing with. ;-)
I’ll sort them out for you, Rebecca; just say the word. I’ll have them quaking in their boots, don’t you worry.
I almost said ‘quacking in their boots’ – different image entirely.
That's cool. It's hard to believe someone who didn't take the time to give feedback in the first place would then go back and write out some details for you. That must've been one sweet note you sent.
Lynnette Labelle
http://lynnettelabelle.blogspot.com
Lynnette – Thanks for stopping by. I couldn’t quite believe it either; sometimes you just never can tell. Not sure I’ll be brave (or stupid) enough to question a mighty editor again though...
Boy, you must be one smooth talker. :)
If only...
You have been very bad. Now write five thousand words and your sins will be forgiven, my son. :)
Congrats on getting feedback. Rejections are tough.
I'll get started on that penance straight away.
I don't do well in the rejection side too. Oh well, as long as you enjoy your writing, that matters the most.
Rejections are just something you have to get used to, I guess.
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