Courage, Dear Heart

Friday's series continues with…

7.      Discouragement 

 

There’s a lot of this going around these days, and it saddens my heart (yes, I just said that). For a lot of writers, it’s so discouraging to receive a rejection letter that they give up and never try again.

And that simply shouldn’t be the case.

• Yes. It will be difficult to find your niche and build your audience.
• Yes. It will be challenging to write a piece that everyone seems to love.
• Yes. It will be discouraging when the piece you think is perfect gets three rejections.

But the point is, you can’t just give up after a rejection.

Keep your head up high, and send your work somewhere else.

[An aside for New Mexicans: market to New Mexico. There aren’t many places in the United States that are like this, but most New Mexicans want New Mexicans to succeed. We cater to the little people, all the time. Use that to your advantage. Go out and talk to people. Make yourself known]

As for the rest of you, the web is probably your greatest tool. Use those people skills, and get your friends talking about your writing. It’ll grow from there, if you can keep it up.

I know for a fact that each of you has an amazing story in you. It just needs to be cultivated and allowed to grow to its fullest potential.

(And hey, I can help with that. If you’re having trouble, send me a message and I’ll see if I can help!)

In essence, yes, writing can be very discouraging. Everyone gets rejected. Everyone’s work gets ripped up by editors and negatively reviewed by the pros.

But in the end, you just have to keep going.

At the very least, I believe in you. And I’m sure there are others who do, too.

{RD}