Got a big fat rejection yesterday. I was crushed. Two months of every spare minute went into that story. Only to have my hopes dashed as soon as I clicked on that email.
The vague form rejection with the name of my story inserted stated that my story was carefully evaluated, but wasn’t quite right for them. No constructive criticism as to where it was lacking. No hint of what was wrong. Even their apology sounded hollow.
Half a bag of Keebler Chips Deluxe cookies later, I’m feeling better. So I got rejected, big deal. I wrote, took a chance, and now, I’ll rewrite.
The basic story is good, so I’ll tweak here, cut there, and polish the characters. I’ll find a new market and try again.
How many times in life do you get a do-over? Baseball players who strike out don’t get a do-over. You’re not going to get a do-over in Vegas if the dice and cards are cruel.
I’m going to redo that story and count my luck stars. Rejections aren’t so bad.
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What did you submit and who did you submit to?
ReplyDeleteSorry about the rejection. Those are never easy to take. But you're right. We get do-overs. Lucky us!
Kudos for bouncing back...ultimately a rejection means at that moment for that editor the story didn't fit. I really don't think we should ever put too much stock into a single rejection. Good luck revising and resubmitting!
ReplyDeleteRita
Much of the time we take a rejection personally. After all, form letters are so...impersonal.
ReplyDeleteAside from the fact we've all established that writing is subjective, sometimes editors have run a piece on a similar theme recently, or are looking for some specific subject or plot that your story didn't fall under.
Unless you think it needs revising, why touch it? Submit several more places first. A good story will be picked up at some point.