I love inspirational quotes and even keep a journal for those that strike a chord with me. One of my favorites isn’t a saying but a statement written by Gregg Levoy. I found it in a writing magazine which quotes from Levoy’s book, The Business Of Writing. The statement says:
“Rejection is a writer’s best friend. If you are not failing regularly, you are living so far below your potential that you’re failing anyway”.
For me, this single sentence eliminated much of the fear of failing that used—and still sometimes does—keep me from submitting work, especially to popular magazines and contests. Levoy’s remark made me realize that trying is so important that I decided to keep a detailed record of everything I was submitting. (I used to keep track of only publishing acceptances). To date, I’ve submitted work over 1,200 times in the past thirty years, and have even managed to win a few writing competitions, albeit little local ones.
So why haven’t I produced and submitted any new stories lately? The answer is partly because I’ve been so involved in novel writing, but I think part of me still doesn’t want to face the many rejections I’ll likely receive before my loved story finds a home. Rejection is frustrating and sometimes demoralizing, but then so is not trying. I really do need to get to work and start submitting again. Resting on past glories just isn’t enough.
Fatal Encryption is available through amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl and Taxed to Death can be found at http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n
1 comment:
Rejections are tough! But paraphrasing what you said, if you don't try--if you don't stand in the arena and fight and give it your all--then you've been defeated, and have failed more soundly than any number of rejections
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