No Thank You

Today I’m writing for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s blog hop. The first Wednesday of each month, we write in inspiration to a question posed by the group’s administrators. We don’t need to write in response to the question posed, but I like to use their query as the springboard for the monthly post.

This month we were asked, ‘What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why?’

Although I typically go with the proposed question for the month, this month I’m going another route and talking about something else. Rejections.

No Thank You

Being an insecure writer – which is why I love this group so much – I hate rejections as much as anyone else. Especially on those days where several of them hit your inbox so close together. It can feel crushing and can make me feel inadequate and less confident.

I read another viewpoint of this last week though that is changing how I think of it. The author mentioned that rejections aren’t a reflection on you or your writing. It’s simply a ‘No Thank You.’ They likened it to going to a restaurant. Your heart is set on a certain dish. Perhaps you’ve been craving a nice, juicy steak. The server offers you their special – grilled salmon. Maybe you don’t like fish. Maybe you do, but it’s just not what you want for that meal. So you simply say, “No thank you.”

She asks – does the cook break down in tears because you ‘rejected’ their offering? No. It’s not a rejection of their cooking, their skills, their talents, or their person. It just doesn’t fill a need you have at that moment.

I need to apply this attitude towards the rejections headed my way. It has nothing to do with my talent, my work, my piece, or my person. It’s simply a ‘No thank you. Not right now.’

 

Check out more Insecure Writer’s Support Group posts here.