A lesson in rejection

Hey writers,

This is a random post spurred by an email rejection. Yup, you read that right. And it stung.  

At work, I have my personal email up in a tab--I check it when I get into work. After settling into the groove of things, I went to my browser and noticed the blue dot next to the Gmail icon.

I clicked and saw the email. The first line filled in the preview area.

To clarify, I didn’t sumbit a query, I submitted an application to a creative writing program. I thought what I had would get me into the program. The email was general rejection letter explaining why I wasn't accepted, how it's complicated judging process, and how the rejection shouldn't deter  me from writing. 

The email was crack in my confidence--I almost started to cry. I had my thoughts of how it would go if I got accepted. I was ready for that. I was excited for it. But clearly this is not the path I'm meant to go on right now. And that's ok.

I updated the people who knew I applied to the program and they responded with encouraging words. It was helped me feel better. And it also became my fuel to keep writing.

While this isn't a query rejection, it's still one nonetheless. It's something that's a part of the writing process.

I think it's ok to be upset for a couple of days or a week about getting a rejection. But as long as you don't linger on the pain or have it stop you, you will be fine.

Do you what you need to do to move on from it.

And keep writing.