Hi, I just want to sit and cry. Is that ok?

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kibkid

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Hi, I got a rejection today. I sent a short story to a magazine and they rejected it. Yes, they rejected it. Yes.

I was really proud of that piece and they rejected it. Yes they did. "Oh, that this too too solid flesh would melt itself into a dew!!!!"
Whew!!! I needed that.

Well I'm really feeling down and just wanted to talk to you, my friends.
Basically, today I just feel like I should pack my pen and give it to someone who could use it.

To give you a little bit of info about my self. I'm a third year Computer Science student in a Toronto University. But I love writing. Writing is one of my favourite pass-times. Today however, I feel that my dreams have shattered and the tiny pieces fell and rolled to unreachable corners. I feel as though a part of me, is dead.
I have days which i like what i write and days which i hate what i write. But now I feel like i should only write checks as compensations to those who read my stuff. I dunno, please share some of your feelings of selfdoubt if you do indulge them.
Anyways, that rejection really got to me. They didn't say anything bad, is just that it's so painfully cliche it made me want to eat my story. Can you relate to this?

I know I'll get over it and probably keep writing but now, I just can't think of ever being a writer. Anyways here is a lil more about myself:
I'm originally from Cuba and have only been speaking English for about five years. The funny thing is that I love writing in English. I have yet to write a piece in Spanish.

Anyways I'll stop writting because I think my thoughts are coming out as coherent as a five year old's speech at a Santa Claus' parade.
Thank you very much for lending me your shoulder to stain it with my tears.

P.S I began a webmagazine about a week ago at: http://www.voicemag.siteburg.com (You can go there if you want to read my stuff. HOWEVER, it hasn't been edited or proofread yet, it's still under construction. And as I said, I'm far from being English-fluent at a writer's level. So bear with me on spelling mistakes and typos.)
Thank you.

edit: Oh yeah I'm Kenneth.
 
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MacAllister

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Hi Kenneth. :) Don't take it so hard, rejections are part of the game.

Hang in there!
 

Chacounne

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Kenneth,

Wear that rejection as a badge of honour; you had the guts to submit, and that is a brave step to take. Remember, that publication is just one of many, so suck up your courage once again and submit away.

In the meantime, if I may be so bold,
Hugs,
Chacounne
 

kibkid

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Hi thank you McAllister (I love your writing), and thank you Chacounne for that hug, I need it. ;)
 

mdmkay

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I vow to give up writing FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER whenever I get a rejection and then I gripe and moan to JD, the cats, anyone who will stand long enough to listen (want to know how fast my house can clear out when there is a letter that even resembles something like a rejection?). Then at my most sobby point I look at myself and start a good belly laugh and say "Oh, God am I pathetic or what? Then I declare myself a day off to read whatever I feel like (usually tabloids because they hire worse writers than me, watch tv, finally get back to work on a painting that has been plaintatively calling my name for some time now to finish) and then by the next day I'm up roaring to go again. If I haven't got lost in painting heaven by then I get back to my writing, or wait until I get some well needed work done painting and then I'm all happy and hunky-dorrey until the next time. It hurts to get rejected but the more it happens the less it bites and you just have to try and give yourself a time limit to get over it and maybe a little down time to do something else you enjoy so your not so focused you can't see the forest anymore due to the trees. So buck up kiddo.....consider this your not a serious writer until you have your own drawer full of rejections and about the time you get enough to paper a good sized wall you should be ready to get published. Go get em tiger.

I forgot something.........no matter how down and out you may feel at the time.........never never never give your lucky pen away. That just wouldn't be right...........
 
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ScottAJohnson

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Phhhhttt...Just remember what rejections are: Someone's opinion. And opinions are like (among other things) strings...every yo-yo has at least one.

Now, seriously, you can't let rejections get you down. Hell, look at every published author you've ever seen, from King to Rice to...Ah, you get the picture. EVERY ONE OF THEM HAS BEEN REJECTED. The difference between them and others who never wrote another word is, they didn't let it stop them. If you have faith in your work then there's a market out there somewhere for it. I honestly believe that. Do what King did...Get a large spike and impale every rejection upon it. Do what others have done and frame it! Do what I'm planning on doing and wallpaper a room of your house with them! You have to have a thick skin and a sense of humor to survive in this business. So what if they rejected you? Now write something they won't reject. Read their magazine, get a feel for what they like, and hit them hard. And if they reject again, lather-rinse-repeat. We've all had rejections. Ask around. If it depresses you, write something nice and violent about an editor being dismembered by a pack of rabid weasles. It's quite thereaputic. Then put that story in a drawer and refer to it for each subsequent rejection. After a while, you'll have a great "rabid weasle attack" novel.

Okay...I'll shut up now...

SJ
 

kibkid

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Hi, thank you very much mdmkay.
It's just that well I don't feel like a writer now and it really hurst because I love writing. I know many rejections will come. But this is what my problem is:
If I was a known writer, and I get a rejection letter, then I might say well maybe it was my off day when I wrote that piece, or I might say well maybe that publisher didn't like it but another one will.
However, now I'm not really sure if that letter means that I'm just not a writer.
Look I believe that you can learn to do many things, you can learn to write for a hundred years, but you might still not be a writer. You have to be born with something. At this point, I'm doubting whether I got it.

Look I know I'm sounding like a whiny baby and I know many of you might have gone through the same rejections. I'm not a whiny guy, it's just that I think this was just the last straw and it opened the door to that fabulouse world which makes so many tissue companies rich.

:) Anyways, thank you, I'll suck it up and I promise not whine anymore, I was just being honest to the way I felt. :)
 

kibkid

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Wow, scott you made me laugh out loud. Thank you. I love that weasel story, i might take you up on that ;)
 

Rose

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Qué lástima, kibkid. Pero hay esperanza y es muy posible que el próximo editor va a comprar tu cuento.

PD - ¡Tu inglés escrito es maravilloso! Espero que mi español tuvo el mismo nivel de competencia.
 

kibkid

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Hola Rose!
Es usted muy amable, ya que no creo que mi Ingles sea tan bueno. Me gusta mucho el Idioma y espero algun dia poder publicar algo, cosa de la cual ahora no estoy muy seguro.
De nuevo le agradezco que escribiera tan bonito mensaje.

Translation:

Hi Rose!
You are very kind, especially since I do not believe my English to be that good. I like the English language very much and I hope one day to be able to publish a piece, although right now I'm not too sure that'll happen.
Again, I thank you for writing such a pleasant message.
 

maestrowork

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If I was a known writer, and I get a rejection letter, then I might say well maybe it was my off day when I wrote that piece, or I might say well maybe that publisher didn't like it but another one will.
However, now I'm not really sure if that letter means that I'm just not a writer.

Why is there a difference? It has more to do with your self-worth than your ability to write. From what I see in your posts, you write just fine. What you're speaking of is self-confidence and the need for validation. It has NOTHING to do with whether you can write or not.

Rid yourself of those feelings. I know, we all have those feelings time to time. I do. But I pick myself up and keep writing. If that's truly your passion, you will do that. Sure, on some days I don't feel like writing at all. I would, however, NEVER think of stopping writing for good.

What the letter means? It simply means your ms. does not fit their needs. They can only print so many things a month or a year. Nothing more. Nothing less. Unless they actually write you a letter to tell you "Your writing sucks. You should write checks instead...." it's all in your head.


English is my second language as well and God knows how many rejections I have received. But guess what, I am having my first book traditionally published this Fall -- it really is about matching the right ms with the right publisher... It could happen, just not overnight. And if it could happen to me, it could happen to you. If I had given up when I received my first rejections (all 15 of them), I wouldn't be here now telling you about my upcoming book.

As writers, sometimes we do have these fantasies that everyone who comes across our mss would jump up and down with excitement and congratulate us on what literary geniuses we are... but that's it -- it's a fantasy. Even a master like Hemingway... there are TONS of people who don't like his works. It's when we "expect" to be loved that it gets us in trouble. Remember, you are the only person who puts himself in the center of his universe. To everyone else, you're just another person, a blip in their existence.

And if you don't love yourself and your own work, you can't ask someone else to do that for you.

When life beats you down, that's when you should fight the most fiercely.

Perseverance.

Remember that. Do it. Live it.
 

rhymegirl

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kibkid said:
Anyways I'll stop writting because I think my thoughts are coming out as coherent as a five year old's speech at a Santa Claus' parade.
Thank you very much for lending me your shoulder to stain it with my tears.
And as I said, I'm far from being English-fluent at a writer's level. So bear with me on spelling mistakes and typos.)
Thank you.

I think you expressed yourself very well. I doubt I could do that in another language.

Rejection does hurt. We can all relate to that. But here's a thought for you:

With each new day, the sun comes up,
the world comes into view,
And many possibilities
are waiting there for you.
 

kibkid

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Hi you all thank you very much for your sweet replies and hopes. Today I'm feeling much better actually.
I just received a phone call from my University. I won a writing contest!!!!!!!!
See, about a month ago there was this writing contest across my campus and I entered it. You could write an essay, or a story, or an article, or a poem, anything.
I was very busy with tests and all to write anything so I submited a poem I wrote about a year and a half ago. Here it is:

Odyssey of love and not.

Nameth it kismet, nameth it wonder;
Nameth it fortune or nameth it dire;
I nameth it love bewildered in ire.

Rolleth the tongue and danceth the words;
Lowereth the orbs, shineth and bloom,
Open thine heart, a flower will loom.

No heart, no flower, no orbs and bloom,
Feigneth a smile, feigneth thy trust,
Hideth in the darkness, buried in the dust.

-----------------------------------------------------------

I can't believe that won it. But I'm pretty happy. Actually that poem is attached to a sad episode of mylife; I met this girl and I fell in love with her (we never went out). We talked for hours and hours and everything was beautiful, but then one day all of a sudden she stopped talking to me. I don't know why because she never told me. It broke my heart and I wrote that poem.

Now I won a contest!!!! Yes!!!!!!! Me goes now and picks up diploma. :)
 

rhymegirl

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Super! Now you see! Good things can happen. Don't give up. We all suffer our setbacks, but if we keep trying, something good will happen. That's one of my favorite expressions.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Rejection

Hey, look at it this way. William Saroyan received nearly 4,000 rejections before selling his first short story, and Erskine Caldwell had so many rejections before selling his first short story that it took a very large suitcase to hold them They made quite a bonfire after he sold his first story.

But 'That Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeeze," and "Tobacco Road," made both famous. So what are you worried about? Another few thousand rejections, and then you can start worrying.
 
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