This is an excursion into life's reality for all writers. You have to face up to rejection. Rejection comes in many forms to a writer. All of them must be dealt with in a way that makes you stronger and better at what you do. Rejection is not the way down, it is your ladder up to success. Get that, and you can't fail.
Rejection is not fun. Depending on its form, it can be crushing, numbing; and it can spin you into a loop of soul searching every time it happens. Understand that rejection is part of the game and accept that you are playing by those rules. Rejection is unavoidable because there will always be people who don't like what you do, what you write, what you write about, and how you write about it. Having dealt with the basis of rejection, lets have a look on how to deal with rejection case by case.
There have been book authors that have faced some rejection. One writer was rejected around a dozen times by publishers before publication. That author is J.K. Rowling, you might have heard of her before. After that, she had to deal with an even harsher blow; all German publishers rejected Harry Potter. But then a completely new and tiny publisher said he would do it. The rest is history. The owner of the tint publishing house claims he took the contract out of ignorance.
Long ago, there was a famous book called Gone with the Wind that was rejected no less than 38 times before publication. These authors never gave up, or we wouldn't be reading their works today.
What do eminent writers have to do with writers earning their pennies on the internet and freelance writers writing for companies? A lot: There is no difference when it comes to rejection. A rejection is a rejection. There is no better or worse kind of rejection. You have to learn to deal with it, live with it, and then move on to the next job. Reasons for rejections are usually pretty straightforward. Figure it out and react appropriately.
You submitted an article or a story and it is simply not what a publisher is looking for. Read their request more carefully next time round. They might also not accept it because it doesn't fit into their publication in form, in length, or in difficulty level. Or they have already covered the topic with another writer. The article is not wasted, find another place to publish it. As you see, this is not such a big matter if annoying. But don't start using it as an excuse when suspecting there was another more serious reason for rejection.
Everyone makes mistakes; learn from them. As a writer, you should be able to learn easily. It is part of the writing process. Get worried when you make the same mistake twice. If you are writing for online companies, making the same mistake over and over again will end in you not writing for them anymore. But even an article with a mistake need not be wasted; rewrite and republish somewhere else.
Freelance writers on a project faced with rejection usually have to face the fact that they had some sort of misunderstanding with the client. In most cases, this is going to cost you time because you will need to get on the same page with the client first and then fix the error second. To avoid this problem in future, clarify everything with the client first time round. Even if you think you understand perfectly well what they want, parrot it back to them just to be sure. Two minutes more of conversation or email writing can save you hours of work later.
So much for the technical part of the writing machine that is you, the writer. That is the easy part. For most, dealing with the emotional side of the issue is complicated. We all have baggage we carry through life, and rejections are big part of that. In the early days of your writing career, you are likely to be feeling more uneasy about your new career. Even after you have been writing for years, a rejection can be a soul crushing experience. Remember that every writer has been rejected at some point in their career. It might not make you feel any better at first but at least you know you aren't alone.
What are the best ways to deal with the emotional aspects of rejection? There are several ways to handle the questioning of your writing abilities. The easiest way is to ignore it. This solution is simple, direct, and fits with the dictates of logic. It’s a lot easier said than done. And when I say, ignore it, I mean just that; don't pretend to ignore it, that will just come to haunt you later.
If you have to work through the rejection process, take a walk. A walk in fresh air will help you put work issues into perspective; what seemed like a big deal when you started the walk is often quite insignificant by the time you return home. And a walk is perfect to get new ideas and soak up sights and sounds you might want to use at one point or another.
Even if you skip the walk, you have to get rejection into perspective. See it for what it is: One person didn't like your work; big deal. It doesn't make a lot of sense to give more weight to their opinion than to any other person. It is an opinion, fine. If you have to deal with that person all the time, adapt; if not, put it out of your mind.
Sometimes, people give the advice that a rejection should be challenged. Don't. It wastes your time, your energy, and your know-how. If they want to be wrong, let them be wrong and sell what you did right to someone else who appreciates it.
Receiving rejections is a part of your life as a writer. Get to grips with the fact. Part of preparation for rejections is having a plan in place to deal with them.
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