Rejection

Often in the life of a creative, we will want to get our work out for the world to see.  We'll want to display our art, share our drama, or submit our writing or music.  Sadly, rejection then becomes a fact of life.  As a composer, I have received far more rejections of my work than I have acceptances.  As a writer, I've received infinitely more rejections, since any number of rejections divided by the zero acceptances I've received is as close to infinity as you're able to get.  With a constant stream of people telling you, "No," how is a creative to carry on?

Here are some of the things I think about and use to get past the rejections:

Be grateful you heard something.  For me, the hardest part of the whole publishing process is not knowing what's going on, or not hearing anything from anyone.  I've reached a place in my creative life (and it took a while to get here, so don't expect this to happen over night) where I look on any response from a publisher as a good thing, whether it's an acceptance or a rejection.  The fear of the unknown (and it is a fear, trust me) is so much worse than having an answer -- even a negative one -- that a rejection to me is just as welcome as an acceptance (though I don't do my happy dance with rejections, I just smile). 

I've also realized that a rejection is just a step on the path to acceptance.  Much like Thomas Edison and his 999 incorrect ways to make a light bulb, each "failure" (and I use this in the loosest sense of the word) gets me one step closer to my goal.

Believe the publisher.  Almost every rejection I've received from a publisher has included a line something along the lines of, "While we are unable to use your piece in our current publishing program, please be aware that this in no way is an indication of the quality of the work."  In other words, the piece itself isn't necessarily flawed, it's just not right for them right now.  For the creative, we so often take these rejections to heart and pound our chests and rend our garments, when the truth of the matter is it just wasn't what they wanted.  A chef who makes an absolutely stunning pasta dish is going to fail miserably if he enters it in a cookie-baking contest.  While we don't have the clairvoyance to see what each publisher needs at any given instant, the idea is the same: the piece may be just wonderful, outstanding, top-notch ... but just not what they need at the time.

I've had publishers tell me when they reject a piece that the reason is they just accepted a similar piece (in one case, just a week before my submission).  That tells me that I had what they wanted, just not at the right time.  Remember, a rejection from a publisher isn't a rejection of you, it's a rejection of the piece; in no way does a rejection mean you're not good at what you do, not worthy, or not on the right Life Path.

Keep writing.  Early in my composing career (long before I had anything published), I was in the bad habit of writing a piece or two, submitting them ... then waiting for a response.  In that time, I'd do nothing in terms of composing, focusing all my attention on the response I would receive to that submission.  When the rejection came, I'd assume the pieces were terrible and set them aside, while also shunning composing for a few weeks or months. 

I've since discovered the secret to sanity is quite simple -- keep writing.  If I get an acceptance, I keep writing.  If I get a rejection, I keep writing.  If I get no response at all, I keep writing.  By focusing on the work (and let's face it, the money and publishing credits are nice, but I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't love doing it), I focus on what's really important about the whole process: bringing something new into the world to share with others. 

Gut check.  Most pieces, when I get a rejection, the piece is back out the door to another publisher within the day, and sometimes within the hour (the joys of being able to submit pieces via email).  But every so often, I'll get a rejection, and something in it will cause me to revisit a piece.  On these pieces, even when I submitted them, I had a feeling there was something "off" with them, and the rejection only gives me cause to revisit and revise.  Sometimes a piece is rejected because it's just not the right fit at the right time, and sometimes there's something actually wrong with the piece, and it's up to me to make it right.  Part of becoming a creative is learning to tell the difference.


Sometimes, even these tricks aren't enough to get over the sting of rejection.  At that point, about all you can do is commend yourself for your bravery in exposing your work (your creative soul, if you will) to the world, then lick your wounds and move on.  Many people create, but few have the courage to put their work out there for scrutiny.  The fact you did is laudable, but don't let a rejection keep you down forever.  Creating is an on-going task, so let the hurt fuel you and drive you to new heights of creativity.