I’ve done a post about this before and it certainly won’t be the last time I ever touch on this subject, but the real question for writers after they’ve finished their rough drafts and polished their work is this; how do I make it?
This all inevitably leads to the publication of your work, whether you choose to self-publish or take the long and arduous journey to get published by a real publishing house. My older brother who is a writer was given advice by a woman that had published several books by a publishing company. She said that certain writers have to conform strictly to what the publishing house wants to publish. They had a list of genres and requirements they wanted more of, but that wasn’t entirely what I had in mind for writing. Yes, certain houses have a type of genre they look for, but I didn’t want to write merely so I could get published. I wanted to write to tell a story. Also, she pointed out that it took her ten years to get published by this house. The only author I know to have been published by a house at an early age was Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon, and he had his parents as publishers in the business long before he even thought about writing.
Now to my point.
Is rejection really the end? Do you write after? Is there an afterlife for the writers that didn’t quite make it and still feverishly type away on their keyboards? Rejection can make or break you. It can fuel you to write the best story you’ve ever written and demand to be heard. Or it can crush your spirit and wilt your ego into a mere speck that whispers feebly whenever that burning desire runs through your fingers, thus extinguishing your match long before it was lit.
Don’t be the soggy, limp, little piece of splintered wood not able to catch a spark. Burn. And burn brightly.
Nevermore 