Rejection: The Silver Lining Edition

When I first started this writing gig, I knew fame, and fortune would follow my every move. It didn’t help this fantasy to have my first two submissions published. Okay, so the fortune didn’t follow (one was for free in my college journal and the other was for a kid story that I was paid $5 for), and neither did the fame. But it still felt awesome to be accepted.

What I wasn’t prepared for, was the rejection letters. Each time they come, they sting. The helpful ones give you direction, and that is amazing. But others just hurt. How do we handle them?

First of all, let the rejections sting for a bit, but then realize that you were brave enough to show your work to someone. That is amazing and something to be proud of. But rejections are also tools of learning.

There are many more benefits, I’m sure, but here are six great things that rejection has taught me.

1. Rejections make you stronger–If you stand back up. It takes a lot of strength to do this gig. We will all get rejected, but what matters is that you stand, roll up your sleeves, and keep going.
2. You learn to wait on God and His timing. I was going to be a multi-published author by now. But here in 2020 I’m not even a one-published author. God has His own timing when it comes to this journey. Watching others get published can be discouraging and induce visions of the green monster. But God may have something amazing to teach you before you’re published that will impact many readers. It feels like wasted effort and wasted time when you don’t know what’s ahead, but thank goodness He knows the end of the story, and it will all be for His glory.
3. Rejection shows you where to improve. Not everyone who rejects you will give you advice, but if they do, listen, and act on it if it rings true to your story. Even if they don’t give you specifics, rejection can inspire you to take another look at that manuscript and consider where it can be improved.
4. It keeps you humble. Oh, have I been humbled. One note at the writer’s conference simply said, “PASS.” That one stung. A lot. Pass? But they were so right. I had a lot to learn.
5. Rejection may help you focus. The end product might not be anything like you imagined. It might be it a whole different genre, or perhaps you’re really supposed to write non-fiction, or commercials, or—the list goes on. The skills He’s teaching you today might be ultimately transferred to some other calling. Continue praying and waiting to see if He has something different ahead.
6. Rejection helps you appreciate the success when it comes. Victory is always more appreciated when it was preceded by struggle. When you get that acceptance letter from a magazine, or the call from that agent or publisher comes, or that first reader tells you your story meant the world to them, the struggle pales in comparison with the accomplishments. Just don’t let it go to your head. Remember to keep humble!

Rejection is hard. But it’s part of life, especially the life of a writer. Keep writing, and keep relying on God even when the rejections pile up. If He’s called you to this writing gig, then search for the benefits of rejection and let them empower you to keep going.

Have you learned anything amazing from rejection? Let us know in the comments and be entered to win a book!

And now for an inspirational quote from the great Teddy Roosevelt! 🙂

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Teddy Roosevelt