Coping With Rejection Letters
Writing Quotations About Failures, Hope, & Not Quitting Freelancing
Jan 24, 2008
The Writer’s Book of Hope: Getting From Frustration to Publication by Ralph Keyes is what every writer needs. Whether you’re writing nonfiction articles, creating poetry, or taking freelance writing courses – and no matter how many times you’ve already been published – you’ll get rejection letters.
One of the best writing tips you'll ever get is how to cope with rejection letters effectively.
Let’s call coping with rejection letters “rejection desensitization.” When you’re desensitized to something, you notice it exists but it doesn’t bother you. Psychologists use desensitization to help people get over their phobias. Writers can use desensitization to cope with rejection letters (with a little help from these inspirational writing quotations!).
Dealing with rejection letters is also about building resiliency.
Writing quotations about rejection letters
In The Writer’s Book of Hope Keyes says, “It’s a rare writer who doesn’t have to hack through a jungle of rejection slips before (and after) getting published. Some of history’s best-known books were rejected many times before finally being accepted.”
“No rejection is fatal until the writer walks away from the battle leaving dreams and goals behind,” says Jeff Herman. He is Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield’s literary agent (they created the Chicken Soup for the Soul series).
It’s not the rejection letters that can dash your dreams of writing for publication or earning a living as a freelance writer. It’s quitting writing and giving up hope that you’ll be published that kills your dreams.
Coping with rejection letters
Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield’s Chicken Soup for the Soul received rejection letters from twenty major publishers. Their agent, Jeff Herman, says, “They instinctively understood that all those rejections were simply an uncomfortable part of a process that would eventually get them were they wanted to be.”
3 practical ways to cope with rejection letters:
- Understand that this is a natural part of the writing and publishing process. It’s normal, and can even be good for your writing career.
- See rejection letters as learning tools. If you’re lucky enough to get a publisher or editor’s reasons for rejecting your writing (other than the standard “it doesn’t meet our editorial needs at this time”), use their comments to re-evaluate your work and write better.
- Remind yourself of the great nonfiction articles and the famous literary novels that received dozens or even hundreds of rejection letters before they were published. These writers include J.K. Rowling, John Irving, Ursula Le Guin. Saul Bellow, Alice Munro and many, many others.
One last writing quotation about rejection letters:
“To working writers, rejection is like stings to a beekeeper: a painful but necessary part of their vocation. They understand that the return of their work isn’t meant as a personal rebuff (or seldom is, anyway). It just feels that way,” says Keyes.
Don’t take those rejection letters personally. Use rejection letters as springboards to success.
If you found Coping With Rejection Letters helpful, try:
- Writing Quotations & Writing Tips
- How to Build a Writing Platform
- Oh! The Places You'll Go
- Inspirational Quotations for Women
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