There is no doubt that most doors in life are closed, especially when it comes to writing. Nobody really hands out book deals. Well, some publishers offer book deals at a cost, and I'd say that's a scam, but more on that on a different blog post.
The thing is, if you want to become a writer, you will have to fail in order to succeed. You might receive rejection after rejection and doubt what you're doing in your life. You might want to give up and that's perfectly normal.
In January 2020, I was at a place where nothing made sense. My PhD wasn't going anywhere, my stories were rejected by every literary magazine I submitted to, my health was declining, and financially, well, let's not go there (because 2021 was much worse). Thing is, that my one and only resolution for 2020 was to be happy. And the only thing I could think of that would make me happy was to get my life together.
That was the moment I decided to quit everything and start a new life. A life that would give my days meaning. For the purpose of keeping this blog post short, I'll only write about what happened with my writing.
So, in January 2020, I decided to submit one last story before I quit writing forever. I sent it away, braced myself for the rejection and started mapping out my life for the rest of the year. Three weeks later, I was at the mall when I received the following reply:
Dear Anne,
We are pleased to inform you that Fresh Paint will be published on April 16th...
I was stunned and I thought I had misread it. So I read it again. And again. And again. Until I got emotional and I just couldn't handle it.
That day at the mall was a huge turning point in my decision to never consider quitting again. Because if I hadn't decided to send out that last story, I would have never gotten my short story published, which led to good reviews, which led to me believing in myself, which led to numerous more rejection letters until I finally got my book deal a year and a half later.
Even though I know this might sound cliché, the good old 'don't give up' is the only reason I am beginning to live my dream. And the next time thoughts of quitting pollute my mind, I know I'll rather think of the consequences of quitting. Because sometimes not doing something is more painful than failing at it.
If writing means to you as much as it does to me, then accept your rejections, learn something from them, and move on to the next publisher, magazine, story. Good luck.
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