Don't be Quick to Give-up

Thanks Snoopy! (created by Charles Schultz)

It's been said that you can't succeed unless you fail to fail. If you don't buy into that statement, you don't belong in this business. Do your feelings get hurt easily? Get over it. Editors are people like yourself who must plow through mountains of submissions daily. Don't take it personal. It's all part of the writing process. If you want to succeed at writing you'll need to have the hide of an Armadillo, and you will stumble along the way. So what? Pick yourself up and keep going. If your latest book, essay, poem, memoir, etc. hasn't made it to the best seller list don't give up! There are thousands of opportunities out there for you to employ your writing skills. (Check out the latest issue of Writers Digest and look at the top Writer websites for this year! There are tons of writer helps out there to help you along your journey in whatever genre you enjoy).

My husband laughs when I excitedly tell him "Wow, I just received a 'soft' rejection in the mail." After all, any editor who pen's a short note alongside his "form" rejection slip is of great encouragement to me. Sure beats the dozens of other form rejection slips I could wallpaper my office with! Perseverance is the key. Continue writing and reading a great deal. Study how your favorite author expresses himself/herself. Don't be a copy cat, but do use your own writer's voice to emulate what you love about that author.

Failing is part of the writer's growing process. We learn as we persevere to reach our goals.

It's not a bad thing.

FWA's 2010 conference motto is Go For The Gold! Why not you?