You want to talk rejection letters? Well, no, I know you really really don't. Neither do I. But they happen. It's not a sign of being a bad person, or a talentless idiot, or an incompetent poet. Because you're none of those things. And you know that.
They're just hard to take. That's all. I'm not going to tell you how many rejection letters I've gotten in the past two and a half years (well, I will, but you'll have to come ask me in person), but I hate them all. Every single one of them. It always feels like a sliver of glass going into my heart, even if it was inevitable, even if I think the editor's being an idiot (as in my vast egotism I often do), even if they say really really nice things about the story. We hates them! We hates them forever! And I think it is harder if it's someone you know (even worse if it's someone you like and respect), just as the hardest person for me to show things to is MH, because I value his opinion on levels that have nothing whatsoever to do with my writing
( ... )
Post office date not actually do-able yet; I sent this particular batch out as a simultaneous submission to the journals that take them (most don't), so I can't send them out again until I've heard from the other place they've been sent.
(Dammit! I wanted you to help bolster MY resolve. Dammit, dammit, dammit.
(Joking, actually, although it is amazing how much it can help having someone to accompany one through the grind. Shall struggle bravely on regardless. *g*)
Much as it may feel like it, (and I know you know this, but you have the competing voices in your head and I want it to be clear to everyone in there) it's not a rejection of you, nor of you as poet, only of these poems at this time by this journal. I absolutely adore you for starting with the top, most personally fraught, place to submit - that's my beautiful, brave, talented girl! *smooch*
And maybe now is the time to mention again the rafts of famous poets rejected over the years by the journal in question? Like a certain U.S. poet laureate who had poems rejected at the peak of his recent national fame? I mean, okay, he has that poet laureate gig at the Library of Congress and teaching wherever he teaches to occupy him in the aftermath, as you do your dissertation and your work, but the point is that this is an equal opportunity sting that you're experiencing. And you will keep writing and keep submitting (to this journal and plenty of others) and you will be published and the accomplishment
( ... )
I know there's nothing rational about my initial reaction to the letter, and I know it's not a personal slap. It's just that the knowledge doesn't always help.
But friendship does. Thank you, favorite-of-mine. *hug*
Yeah, rationality can go fuck itself when the issue at hand is an emotional one. So I'll just *hug* you again and tell you you're my favorite. Consider that stuff on an endless loop to be consulted as desired.
But it sounds like you're coping with it in a totally reasonable fashion. My advice: collect all the hugs you can, and have a good friend make you a nice dinner.
Personally, I consider the mere fact of you having the gumption to submit your work anywhere for possible publication a *huge*, amazing thing. That's guts, man. Don'tcha forget it. Lots of us never get that far.i
Comments 8
They're just hard to take. That's all. I'm not going to tell you how many rejection letters I've gotten in the past two and a half years (well, I will, but you'll have to come ask me in person), but I hate them all. Every single one of them. It always feels like a sliver of glass going into my heart, even if it was inevitable, even if I think the editor's being an idiot (as in my vast egotism I often do), even if they say really really nice things about the story. We hates them! We hates them forever! And I think it is harder if it's someone you know (even worse if it's someone you like and respect), just as the hardest person for me to show things to is MH, because I value his opinion on levels that have nothing whatsoever to do with my writing ( ... )
Reply
But thank you. Very much.
Reply
(Dammit! I wanted you to help bolster MY resolve. Dammit, dammit, dammit.
(Joking, actually, although it is amazing how much it can help having someone to accompany one through the grind. Shall struggle bravely on regardless. *g*)
Reply
Much as it may feel like it, (and I know you know this, but you have the competing voices in your head and I want it to be clear to everyone in there) it's not a rejection of you, nor of you as poet, only of these poems at this time by this journal. I absolutely adore you for starting with the top, most personally fraught, place to submit - that's my beautiful, brave, talented girl! *smooch*
And maybe now is the time to mention again the rafts of famous poets rejected over the years by the journal in question? Like a certain U.S. poet laureate who had poems rejected at the peak of his recent national fame? I mean, okay, he has that poet laureate gig at the Library of Congress and teaching wherever he teaches to occupy him in the aftermath, as you do your dissertation and your work, but the point is that this is an equal opportunity sting that you're experiencing. And you will keep writing and keep submitting (to this journal and plenty of others) and you will be published and the accomplishment ( ... )
Reply
But friendship does. Thank you, favorite-of-mine. *hug*
Reply
Reply
But it sounds like you're coping with it in a totally reasonable fashion. My advice: collect all the hugs you can, and have a good friend make you a nice dinner.
Personally, I consider the mere fact of you having the gumption to submit your work anywhere for possible publication a *huge*, amazing thing. That's guts, man. Don'tcha forget it. Lots of us never get that far.i
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment