So I have this thing called a flaw where I take rejection personally. The most common advice I see is to grow thicker skin and appreciate that every No gets you closer to a Yes. Alas, my skin is still as brittle as tissue paper. So I started a blog series to force me to process my literary rejections. Each post involves 1) acknowledging the rejection and 2) talking about something random as a distraction and palate cleanser. It’s like cleaning a cut before sticking a Spiderman band-aid on your knee. Turns out taking the time to process is more useful than keeping a stiff upper lip while dying inside.
Yes, I could scribble in my journal or rant to friends and family. I’ve tried, but hiding my emotions behind closed doors is damaging. My goal of this project is to make the pain of rejection a little more acceptable to feel in the writing world. Am I advocating writing furious screeds to agents, publishers, and reviewers? Absolutely not. The point is to acknowledge the hurt and move on. Some people can let rejection slide off their back. I am not one of those people, so here we are.