I'm taking my own advice from the quote I posted earlier this week. Yes, a huge part of the writing process is dealing with rejection. It does make you question what you're missing, but the truth is that it's all so subjective. One person's "No" doesn't speak for the entire world. And honestly that's a hell of a lot of weight and power to give one person, or in my case two.
One of my favorite quotes is:
"Stopping to count your stumbles will prevent you from finishing the race."
I believe in it more as a writer than I even did in college, because it's about the time and dedication I give to my stories. The life events I've missed out on, the friendships I've neglected. If I were to give up after a few rejection letters, I would be saying all of it was a waste.
I may be a severely delusional optimist, but I honestly don't know how to believe in anything other than succeeding. It's true no one wants to envision their own failure. I'm sure there are those who fought for their dreams with everything they had and didn't live to see them come true, but I like to believe that they were at least proud of their efforts.
And that's really what it's all about, living a life you can be proud of.
For me, that's sharing my stories with as many people willing to read them. So everyday I write, read, and learn how to make them better. It may take a thousand or more No's before I get there, but I'll never give up.
