So before this year, I'd never attempted to publish before. I consider myself a novel writer, and my manuscript still needs a few rounds of beta-ing before I start querying. But ever since I joined AW, many have been very encouraging and suggested I start small by submitting short stories to literary mags to build publishing credit. While it makes total sense, I'd never really tried my hand at short stories until school forced me to this year. I always figured "I can't do that, I'm not a short story writer, my short stories aren't good enough, etc etc, the normal excuses."
Then my current workshop professor made it a mandatory assignment. Pick at least one story, submit to at least five magazines. Oh, fine. I ended up picking two and submitted several, and wasn't really surprised or hurt when I got a few rejections early on. After all, literally every writer gets rejected, and I know I'm new at the short story craft.
One of my professors was talking about the different levels of rejection, and about how most rejection letters are form letter "dear writer, this didn't fit, thanks for the chance etc etc" and she was talking about how sometimes you'll get a personal note.
Then she went on to talk about how sometimes, you get a rejection letter that doesn't even really hurt and can be kind of encouraging, because you'll get a personal note explaining that the piece just didn't fit even though they loved it. I didn't understand how rejection could feel like that, until I got one of those letters today.
Let me preface this by saying I never really expected anything but form letters. I went to into planning to complete the assignment.
Then I got today's email, and I was like, "wait, what?"
Basically the editor was kind enough to spend a few paragraphs explaining that while they loved my story, and while they thought my images and writing were excellent (a professional editor things I'm a good writer?!?! what?!!?), it just didn't fit their current issue. They even included a bit about the character and why they liked them, and what part of the story they thought I could tweak to make it stronger. They ended the email with a note reminding me not once, but twice, that they would love if I would submit to them again in the future in the same style, just with different themes. I read it a few times to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
I've also gotten one or two letters that were personal, and asked me to submit again, but the one today felt different. It was like the person really took the time. Like even if the story wasn't good enough to publish, it was just good enough to make them care, if only for a moment.
It's so weirdly gratifying to know that even if the story didn't work, someone still had interest in it. Instead of hurting the rejection letter boosted my confidence more than anything. It was less of "Well, I can't write" feeling and more of a "Well, I can write, I just didn't write the right thing" feeling. Maybe I can actually do this short story thing.
Does that make sense? Do I sound insane? Has anyone else experienced this weird feeling, where rejection almost feels encouraging, because you feel like you're getting closer?
Then my current workshop professor made it a mandatory assignment. Pick at least one story, submit to at least five magazines. Oh, fine. I ended up picking two and submitted several, and wasn't really surprised or hurt when I got a few rejections early on. After all, literally every writer gets rejected, and I know I'm new at the short story craft.
One of my professors was talking about the different levels of rejection, and about how most rejection letters are form letter "dear writer, this didn't fit, thanks for the chance etc etc" and she was talking about how sometimes you'll get a personal note.
Then she went on to talk about how sometimes, you get a rejection letter that doesn't even really hurt and can be kind of encouraging, because you'll get a personal note explaining that the piece just didn't fit even though they loved it. I didn't understand how rejection could feel like that, until I got one of those letters today.
Let me preface this by saying I never really expected anything but form letters. I went to into planning to complete the assignment.
Then I got today's email, and I was like, "wait, what?"
Basically the editor was kind enough to spend a few paragraphs explaining that while they loved my story, and while they thought my images and writing were excellent (a professional editor things I'm a good writer?!?! what?!!?), it just didn't fit their current issue. They even included a bit about the character and why they liked them, and what part of the story they thought I could tweak to make it stronger. They ended the email with a note reminding me not once, but twice, that they would love if I would submit to them again in the future in the same style, just with different themes. I read it a few times to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
I've also gotten one or two letters that were personal, and asked me to submit again, but the one today felt different. It was like the person really took the time. Like even if the story wasn't good enough to publish, it was just good enough to make them care, if only for a moment.
It's so weirdly gratifying to know that even if the story didn't work, someone still had interest in it. Instead of hurting the rejection letter boosted my confidence more than anything. It was less of "Well, I can't write" feeling and more of a "Well, I can write, I just didn't write the right thing" feeling. Maybe I can actually do this short story thing.
Does that make sense? Do I sound insane? Has anyone else experienced this weird feeling, where rejection almost feels encouraging, because you feel like you're getting closer?
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