Share it Please
You all remember my exciting news I posted a few months ago, right? Well, I finally got the results. (Drum roll please....)
I lost.
*Que very depressing music* Suffice to say, I was very disappointed. Read: doing everything I could to not go into a melt-down and curse the name of the person who won. Don't worry, I didn't do that, but I really wanted to. I'm trying to be supportive of the winner, but believe me, it's hard.
So rejection is, obviously, not my forte. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I expected to win. I actually was counting on the rejection! Yet there was that little glimmer of hope that refused to leave the back of my mind....
I should be used to rejection. After all, I am a writer! No one said this was going to be easy and I would get it on the first try! In fact, no author has been published the first time they submitted their work to a publishing company. And this is only my first contest, there will be more. (I hope.)
Still, this doesn't lessen the sting of losing. I'm giving myself a day to grieve and then I'm going to get right back on track. I'll start setting revision goals, rewarding myself more often, and bringing the fun back into the process. If I'm not careful, I'll get stuck in the "why-am-I-working-so-hard-on-this-thing-if-I-didn't-even-win" mode. I have to remind myself that this is my dream. To write. And I'm not doing this to get money or to be published. I'm doing this because I love writing. And I can't stop now when my journey's just begun.
I lost.
So rejection is, obviously, not my forte. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I expected to win. I actually was counting on the rejection! Yet there was that little glimmer of hope that refused to leave the back of my mind....
I should be used to rejection. After all, I am a writer! No one said this was going to be easy and I would get it on the first try! In fact, no author has been published the first time they submitted their work to a publishing company. And this is only my first contest, there will be more. (I hope.)
Still, this doesn't lessen the sting of losing. I'm giving myself a day to grieve and then I'm going to get right back on track. I'll start setting revision goals, rewarding myself more often, and bringing the fun back into the process. If I'm not careful, I'll get stuck in the "why-am-I-working-so-hard-on-this-thing-if-I-didn't-even-win" mode. I have to remind myself that this is my dream. To write. And I'm not doing this to get money or to be published. I'm doing this because I love writing. And I can't stop now when my journey's just begun.
Ugh... I'm so sorry :( That really sucks.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely ok to have less than stellar feelings about this and take some time to feel crappy about it.
I love your positive attitude of not giving up though. I'm sure there will be other contests and you will knock their socks off!
Thanks for the support. It means a LOT to me. :D
DeleteI'll be honest though, it really does suck. :(
I am so sorry:((( Based on your blog posts, it souds like you put so much time and effort into your story, so rejection must be terrible.
ReplyDeleteDon't give up, though! There's always next year...
Just some advice: Chocolate makes everything better, probably including rejection:)
Hopefully, there's next year, because I will enter! Those judges better be ready! ;)
DeleteDon't worry, I've eaten plenty of chocolate. ;)
As long as you keep going, you won't fail! We all have a lot of hard lessons to learn, but they help us grow and get better. Doesn't take the sting away, but tomorrow always has potential. You're already so far ahead in developing your blogging voice and dedicating so much time to writing. Just because one person doesn't like it doesn't mean it isn't worth keeping!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support! It really means a lot to me! And it really is hard to keep writing after such a big disappointment, but I have to keep reminding myself that it's not my only chance. There will be more. I just have to keep pushing.
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