Rediscovering Hope in My Pen
Welcome Back!It's been four long and arduous years since I last posted on this blog. I was a freshly self-published author then, so full of hope and big dreams. I'd yet to feel the real sting of first rejection. I'd yet to see the hard work before me. Now in the year 2018, I look back on my twenty-two year old self and laugh at my naivity. Did I really think publishing would be so easy? I was so lost in the magic of instant publication that I never stopped to think how short-lived self-publising can be. It's certainly not for those who wish to be immortal on the bookshelves long after they've gone.
Time and a hearty dose of rejection have changed me, and I'm more determined than ever to see my books on the shelves next to my literary heroes. As a sort of New Year's Resolution, I intend to document my journey here in the hopes of inspiring other writer's to never give up. We're all in this together.
How Rejection Revitalized My Ambition"Rejection?" you ask. Yes, dear reader. Rejection. The dreaded "R" word. There once was a time when that word struck fear into my heart on a monumental scale, but not anymore.
I was just finishing up my senior year of college. Writing was still an ambition of mine, but I was on the fence over whether I wanted to continue self-publishing or if it was time to put away my toys and find an agent. At the time, I was living in California doing my second Disney College Program (which doubled as my needed internship to graduate). I spent every free moment at the little cafe down the street from my apartment, holed up at a corner table, writing. I felt so free. So alive. So unstoppable. It was, therefore, only natural that when my aunt sent me the information for an independant publisher back home, I immediately began to compile a submission for the finished novel gathering dust on my laptop.
A week later, I got an email requesting the full manuscript. I was thrilled! This was surely the first step in what would be a long career in writing. I couldn't lose. I made all haste for my laptop the moment I got home and sent the requested pages with every prayer I could muster.
Another week passed. And then another. Anxiety plagued me like some monstrous disease. Had they forgotten me? After six weeks, I nudged the publisher with a polite email inquiring about the status of my submission.
They struck with the force of a canon ball.
The response I'd recieved was a good six or seven paragraphs in length, all of it bad news. Each paragraph picked my manuscript to pieces. It was too short, they said. Several plot points didn't make sense. They even went so far as to tell me how I should rewrite my story. Their suggestions were, in a word, ridiculous. They clearly didn't understand the world I'd built at all.
At first, I was crushed. Five minutes later, I was angry.
So angry, in fact, that I immediately went to my computer and began examining my manuscript for myself. Too short, is it? I thought. I'll show you too short.
I pulled out notebooks and pens. I examined my work with fresh eyes and marked what worked and what didn't. Rejection had made me an unstoppable force. I was determined to prove that publisher wrong. In doing so, I took a half-baked idea and exploded it into a world that would span four novels.
From less than 30,000 words to four novels.
That was the power of Rejection for me, dear reader. I could have let the pain cripple me. I could have given up right then and there. Instead, I found a determination I never knew I posessed.
I've been shopping the new and improved manuscript to agents for over a year now, and I've been formally rejected over twenty times. (That's not counting the agencies who have decided writer's don't deserve a form rejection). Each one brings with it disappointment, but I again feel those flames of stubborn determination stoked.
Rejection taught me three things:
1. My work is not perfect!
Writing is hard work. A good writer can make it seem like words flow effortlessly across the page, but I assure you, reader mine, that is not the case. Good writing is re-writing and writing again. I now have a "three-draft" rule for every project I undertake. And that's not counting the potential fourth and fifth draft edits that may need to be made after an editor or publisher does manage to get their hands on it.
2. Constructive critisism is your friend!
I am a defensive person by nature. Rejection has taught me to listen more to my peers and critics. Does that mean a writer should listen to every piece of advice given? No. Never let anyone dictate your work. But there may be plot points you've overlooked or character development opportunities missed. Sometimes it takes a fresh eye to make your work truly your best.
3. Failure is not scary!
I spent so much time in my younger years being afraid to fail, afraid to fall, never realizing the strength it could bring. In failing, I learned where I stood and discovered exactly how much I wanted to be a writer. Failure has taught me to get back up again. To try one more time. And just one more time. In failure, I've learned to never give up.
I'm still struggling to find an agent amid the sea of other desperate writers, but I won't give up until I succeed. My hope for you today is that you too will find the strength to never give up. Rejection can be just as much a beginning as it is an ending. Embrace it and let it teach you how to be the best version of you.
Happy writing and best of luck!
-Ari
Time and a hearty dose of rejection have changed me, and I'm more determined than ever to see my books on the shelves next to my literary heroes. As a sort of New Year's Resolution, I intend to document my journey here in the hopes of inspiring other writer's to never give up. We're all in this together.
How Rejection Revitalized My Ambition"Rejection?" you ask. Yes, dear reader. Rejection. The dreaded "R" word. There once was a time when that word struck fear into my heart on a monumental scale, but not anymore.
I was just finishing up my senior year of college. Writing was still an ambition of mine, but I was on the fence over whether I wanted to continue self-publishing or if it was time to put away my toys and find an agent. At the time, I was living in California doing my second Disney College Program (which doubled as my needed internship to graduate). I spent every free moment at the little cafe down the street from my apartment, holed up at a corner table, writing. I felt so free. So alive. So unstoppable. It was, therefore, only natural that when my aunt sent me the information for an independant publisher back home, I immediately began to compile a submission for the finished novel gathering dust on my laptop.
A week later, I got an email requesting the full manuscript. I was thrilled! This was surely the first step in what would be a long career in writing. I couldn't lose. I made all haste for my laptop the moment I got home and sent the requested pages with every prayer I could muster.
Another week passed. And then another. Anxiety plagued me like some monstrous disease. Had they forgotten me? After six weeks, I nudged the publisher with a polite email inquiring about the status of my submission.
They struck with the force of a canon ball.
The response I'd recieved was a good six or seven paragraphs in length, all of it bad news. Each paragraph picked my manuscript to pieces. It was too short, they said. Several plot points didn't make sense. They even went so far as to tell me how I should rewrite my story. Their suggestions were, in a word, ridiculous. They clearly didn't understand the world I'd built at all.
At first, I was crushed. Five minutes later, I was angry.
So angry, in fact, that I immediately went to my computer and began examining my manuscript for myself. Too short, is it? I thought. I'll show you too short.
I pulled out notebooks and pens. I examined my work with fresh eyes and marked what worked and what didn't. Rejection had made me an unstoppable force. I was determined to prove that publisher wrong. In doing so, I took a half-baked idea and exploded it into a world that would span four novels.
From less than 30,000 words to four novels.
That was the power of Rejection for me, dear reader. I could have let the pain cripple me. I could have given up right then and there. Instead, I found a determination I never knew I posessed.
I've been shopping the new and improved manuscript to agents for over a year now, and I've been formally rejected over twenty times. (That's not counting the agencies who have decided writer's don't deserve a form rejection). Each one brings with it disappointment, but I again feel those flames of stubborn determination stoked.
Rejection taught me three things:
1. My work is not perfect!
Writing is hard work. A good writer can make it seem like words flow effortlessly across the page, but I assure you, reader mine, that is not the case. Good writing is re-writing and writing again. I now have a "three-draft" rule for every project I undertake. And that's not counting the potential fourth and fifth draft edits that may need to be made after an editor or publisher does manage to get their hands on it.
2. Constructive critisism is your friend!
I am a defensive person by nature. Rejection has taught me to listen more to my peers and critics. Does that mean a writer should listen to every piece of advice given? No. Never let anyone dictate your work. But there may be plot points you've overlooked or character development opportunities missed. Sometimes it takes a fresh eye to make your work truly your best.
3. Failure is not scary!
I spent so much time in my younger years being afraid to fail, afraid to fall, never realizing the strength it could bring. In failing, I learned where I stood and discovered exactly how much I wanted to be a writer. Failure has taught me to get back up again. To try one more time. And just one more time. In failure, I've learned to never give up.
I'm still struggling to find an agent amid the sea of other desperate writers, but I won't give up until I succeed. My hope for you today is that you too will find the strength to never give up. Rejection can be just as much a beginning as it is an ending. Embrace it and let it teach you how to be the best version of you.
Happy writing and best of luck!
-Ari
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