Fear Is Natural
Working with writers, many confess to feeling fear about the prospect of getting rejected. This is natural. No one wants to be told their work is not good enough. But if you want to get your writing published or produced, this fear is something you will have to get over. But how do we do it?? Check this out …
1) Prepare Yourself
First up, you need to be prepared. ALL writers get rejected. Literally, all of them. It doesn’t matter how famous or renowned they become, there will always be failure in their lives. Whether those writers get rejected by other industry pros or their target audiences, NO ONE leads a charmed life 100%. They just don’t.
What’s more, the lower down the ladder you are, the more likely you are to be rejected. But this is okay. Feel the fear … Do it anyway. MORE: Top 5 Beliefs of Fearless Writers
2) Acknowledge The Pain
Some writers pretend to themselves it doesn’t matter they get rejected. This is an okay strategy and got me through some tough times early in my career. But when I started acknowledging the pain of rejection, a remarkable thing happened … It hurt, but only for a short while. But crucially, I only allow myself one evening of wallowing. The next day I get back on the horse, feeling much better and able to move on.
3) Find The Good Stuff
Sometimes, you don’t get officially rejected – only radio silence. That sucks, because you’re not entirely sure whether you’ve been rejected or not. That’s why I always recommend following up on your submissions 8-12 weeks later. If no one gets back to you 2-3 times, there you go.
If you DO get good feedback with your rejection, don’t just tell yourself they gave it ‘to be nice’. Time is at a premium in the industry, NO ONE gives feedback if they don’t have to. So grasp what you can, when you can. Use it to bolster your ego if nothing else, why the hell not? Celebrate the wins where you can.
If you get critical feedback with your rejection, consider whether you think it has a point or not. If you don’t, consider the source … Is this some anonymous A-Hole trying to ride roughshod over your vision of the story? Or does this person know what they’re talking about? Even if the latter and they offer great notes, are they USEFUL? Or do they go against what you’re trying to do? MORE: 5 Ways To Use Feedback Effectively
4) Transform Your Perception
Most writers are afraid of rejection because they fear it will feel like the end of everything and put them off. But if you grasp the first three elements on this list, it will help change your perception. Instead of feeling like THE END OF EVERYTHING, you will start to realise nothing can stop you. You have not been rejected, you just have not advanced this time.
You will also notice that even rejections can lead you to new opportunities. Each rejection then makes you strong, because ‘Each NO feels like a slow YES.’
5) Feed Your Growth Mindset
I am a big fan of what entrepreneurs call a ‘growth mindset‘. The opposite of the growth mindset is the FIXED mindset. Now we’re all very British around here (apart from all the B2Wers who aren’t, hi) so isn’t this a load of mumbo jumbo??
NOPE.
If you have the former, then that means you believe you can develop your natural talents and abilities with hard work, good strategies and input from others. If that sounds like what B2W has been saying on this site for aeons, then you would be right! Do whatever you can to BELIEVE IN YOURSELF … But don’t fall for toxic BS positivity that says it will all come to you somehow by magic. It won’t. You need that hard work … And to implement those all-important strategies … Plus you need to surround yourself with allies.
SO DO IT! Decide what you want, find out how to do it and set a WHEN BY deadline. GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO! MORE: How To Set Meaningful Goals & Stick To Them
