5 Great Things About Rejection

Rejection stings and quit frankly it downright stinks. It comes in many different forms in life from not getting that job, or job promotion, to getting shot down by someone that you like. While those types of rejection are painful they are usually pretty easy to get over. It is the rejection of one's work by others that is the most painful and is the most personal. Writers, musicians, and artists alike spend a great deal of time creating their work and in the end feel as though they have created a masterpiece. So it is a surprise when they get rejected by agents and publishing companies. This type of rejection may be hard to swallow and may seem unbelievable but there is one thing writers aren't equipped with and that is an unbiased eye when it comes to critiquing their own work. Since a writer or artist is so infatuated and consumed in their work, it is almost impossible for them to see their own mistakes and that is when rejection becomes a positive thing.

If you are curious as to how rejection can be positive take a look below.

Rejection will give you a backbone. You will need a backbone in any industry that you get into but having a backbone is especially necessary when trying to enter any field in media which includes getting published. Companies receive hundreds of queries a day and it can be a great pain for editors to sort through them all. Editors have learned to grow thick skin. This thick skin has enabled them to easily reject work they believe to be unfit for their company. Most editors will respond in a formal letter declining the writer's work while some may be more candid and express to in letter how awful or unfitting the work is. Rejection will come plenty before any writer or artist breaks in. Every writer will eventually grow a backbone or thick skin which will help them persist in shopping their manuscripts around. Writers without backbones will have their spirits broken easily causing them to give up easily and miss out on many opportunities.

Rejection will humble you. New writers have a certain air to them which makes them feel as though they are invincible and that agents and publishing companies will readily accept their manuscripts. This is not true; just ask Stephen King whose novel The Long Walk was rejected. King took that rejection pretty hard and packed his manuscript away for sometime before trying again. Having humility is a great quality and if you do not have much of it you will have much of it after being rejected a few times.

Rejection influences writers to take an extra look at their work. If your work keeps getting rejected that is a sure sign that something is wrong with you manuscript. It could be the way in which it is formatted and edited or it could be that the manuscript is not fitting for the particular company or agent you are submitting to. Rejection will make you sit down and review your manuscript by picking it apart and viewing it piece by piece until you find flaws. This will be hard to do at first so it is advised to find an extra pair of eyes to help you look over your manuscript or to put the manuscript away for awhile so that you can come back to it with new eyes and an open mind.

Rejection will rouse up your critical eye. You may think that your work is perfect and for that reason you may fall back on the editing. Rejection letters will influence you to pick up your pen and start editing and revising. You may also be influenced to take a writers workshop where you get the chance to have your worked critiqued by the teacher and looked at by your peers.

Rejection makes the victory much sweeter. You will appreciate the moment that you actually sign a book deal. It will be a sigh of relief. When you approach agents and book publishing companies they will see how much you appreciate becoming a part of their organization which may influence them to continue to work with you in the future.