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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Most Beautiful Words and the Hardest Words


Some of the the most beautiful words to find in the morning lurking in my inbox:
“Dear Tyrean Martinson,
Congratulations! We are happy to tell you that we have decided to publish your story/poem . . .”




Some of the hardest words to find in the morning lurking in my inbox:
“Dear Tyrean,
Thank you for your submission.

Unfortunately it has not been successful on this occasion and we will not be using it.”



The question is:  do I let words like these affect my writing, or my day?

Well . . . yes, I do. I can’t seem to help it. The best words fill me with a sense of elation and excitement, happiness, giddiness, the desire to shout from the rooftops, or at least from a facebook post. I carry the words around with me all day, and rejoice over them, again and again.

The worst words are the ones I try to shrug off and say don’t matter. Or I try to tell myself they don’t matter with things like . . . “Oh, well, I didn’t really work on that story that long, or that much. I didn’t really expect it to make it. So it’s all right. No big deal. Another day, another story, I can submit something again soon.” But still, lurking in the back of my mind is . . . “They didn’t like my writing. Does my writing suck? Is my writing good enough? Should I have spent more time on that piece? How much time is enough? If I can’t sell a short story, will I be able to sell my novel?

Thankfully I received these two letters in reverse order, with the rejection letter first - one week ago, and the acceptance letter second, yesterday. So, for the moment, I'm flying on elation and excitement, and these words keep looping in my head:

“Congratulations! We are happy to tell you that we have decided to publish your story/poem . . .”
I love, love, love those words.
The moral of my story is: I wouldn’t receive those wonderful, glorious, beautiful acceptance letter words if I didn’t keep submitting my work time after time, month after month, determined to find a market for my poetry and short stories.
I have to write, revise, and submit my work on the days that I find success.
I have to write, revise, and submit my work on the days that I find rejection.
I have to write, revise, and submit when my inbox is full of chatty letters and advertisements and I’m still waiting to hear back from publications.
Write, revise, submit. Repeat x infinity.

News in Blogland

RAOK - Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting Random Acts of Kindness this week. Check it out to celebrate kindness in the bloggy world. Two Kindness Gurus I want to highlight for just a moment today: Karen Lange at Karen Lange, and Alex J. Cavanaugh. These two bloggers have encouraged me and many others. (more about them and their rockin' kindness on Friday)

Flash Fiction Blogfest - Cherie Reich is hosting her second annual Flash Fiction Blogfest on Monday!
Upcoming Posts :
Poetry and Thankfulness (Friday)
Flash Fiction Blogfest (Monday)
Wise and Beautiful Editors Who Say NO? (Wednesday)
Memorial Day Post (Monday the 28th)
Wise and Beautiful Editors Who Say YES! (Wednesday the 30th)

100 Days of Revision Day 16 Update

I've made changes, and keep making them, but I am very happy with my novel at the moment. I know it's not perfect, but I'm loving my characters right now, and revision is going slowly but well. Yesterday I think I only worked on four paragraphs, but I think I fixed some character issues . . .so it's good. Today maybe I'll get through 1,000 words or so . . .I hope.







19 comments:

  1. Beautifully said! Thanks for this encouragement. :)

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  2. Thank you for mentioning the flash fiction blogfest!

    And you're right. If we don't keep submitting and putting our work out there, then we'll never get those beautiful words of "congratulations."

    Good luck with your revisions!

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  3. Congrats on your good news! It's hard not to let the rejection words get us down, but it happens. And it's funny how quick those feelings go away when we get praise or acceptance. Good for you.

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  4. Life is filled with hits and misses, rejections and acceptances. Sometimes it's difficult to get back on ones feet and back on track, but if we give up we will never win. Glad to hear that you are a winner.


    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  5. Ha, what's bad is when TWO or THREE rejections come on one day! That is so cool you got an acceptance! Congrats. All we can do is keep trying until we get that more positive letter. Perseverance rules. :)

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  6. Rejections are a part of the process but I'm so glad you got that acceptance of your writing submission.

    You are 100% right.

    No write. No rejection BUT no chance for learning.

    Write. Rejections may occur but so will acceptances and the receipt of that feeling of confirmation that "Yes, your writing is wonderful."

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  7. Thank you, Tyrean!
    And that is great news! That's why we can never quit. Success is often just around the corner if we keep on trying.
    When you know all details, let me know so I can tell the world.

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  8. yay for you! bad news should always come first, as long as good follows!

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  9. Isn't that the truth? You have to keep trying to be able to get either set of words. I prefer the "Congratulations..."ones as well. :) Happy day!

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  10. life, writing...it's all about balance.

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  11. Congrats. I haven't been there yet so I don't know how it will affect me, but I'm sure I won't be good with rejection.

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  12. Yes, it is those rare occasions where I get an acceptance letter that help me to keep pushing through! :)

    I co-publish a magazine called Vine Leaves. Would love for you to submit there. Just read a couple of your poems :)

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  13. So true that we can't let the rejections completely derail us. Sometimes the rejection can be helpful in letting one know "is it them or is it me?"--some well-written pieces don't fit a publication's vision. Then you turn around and send it elsewhere. Sometimes it's a sign one needs to revise before submitting again.

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  14. You are right - rejection and acceptances aside even, we need to write! I can relate to the rejection thing - wow, sometimes I really let it throw me for a loop. I guess I'm still building character and am a super big work on progress. :P Now acceptances, I like them much better too! Congrats on yours, that is exciting!

    Thanks for the shout out. You are so sweet! You were one of my earlier blog friends, and I am so thankful we met. You challenge and inspire me, that's for sure.

    Happy Thursday,
    Karen :)

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  15. Congratulations on the acceptance! :)

    Good luck with your revisions.

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  16. A huge congrats on the acceptance. Woo hoo!

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  17. L.G. - Thanks!

    Arlee - I'm so thankful that I get awesome encouragment from so many bloggers every day.

    Carol - Perseverance totally rules! And getting more than one rejection letter in oe day is tough.

    Angela - Thanks! I like how you stated that. "No Write, No rejections, no chance for learning."

    Alex - Thanks! I will let you know.

    Tara - agreed! Bad news should always be followed by good news.

    Brinda - Happy Day Back :)

    Jessica S - just keep writing and keep your head up and it will be ok

    Jessica B - Wow! Thanks!!! I will!

    Laurel - I agree. Sometimes rejection letters are blessings in learning, but in the first moments of reading them, it's hard to see that clearly.

    Karen - Thanks!!! You are so encouraging!

    Golden Eagle - Thank you!

    Lynda - Thanks!!!

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Thanks for taking time to share your awesomeness!