Good Morning, Rejection

/ Nova Ren Suma

I woke up far earlier in the morning and blearily checked my email only to find a rejection from one of my favorite literary magazines. I promptly went back to sleep.

But I forced myself up again. I have the best of intentions to write—and write hard—today. So far so good. I try to trick myself on weekend mornings by going to write at the cafe first. Then, when I get winded, I leave and go to my weekend writing spot to start again. I need these fake-outs to keep myself moving. This morning I was going strong in the far back room of the cafe until a man started polishing his shoes at the table next to me. I didn’t realize shoe polish has such strong fumes.

So I’m here, past noon, hoping for that second wind. I will not let the early-morning rejection get to me. These things don’t matter so much anymore. Shoe polish is far more damaging.

5 thoughts on “Good Morning, Rejection”

  1. Not MY favorite method of waking up–still, onward and upward and all that. I pretty much given up on the submission process, too much of a crap shoot. Still, have a look at a couple of Canadian fiction markets, sub-Terrain and GRAIN (Google them for addresses). I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, the most important thing is to know your marketplace, don’t waste your postage on a story that doesn’t stand a chance with an editor/publication. But keep heart and keep writing, that’s the main thing. Perseverance, not talent is what wins out in the end.

  2. Oh, I’m sorry. That’s a sucky way to greet the day. But good for you for getting back on that horse! Write away!!

    Easy for me to say. I haven’t submitted a story in years. (essays, yes, but fiction, not)

  3. I think Cliff is completely correct — have heart and perservere and you’ll wake up pretty soon to a nice email or note about your work having found its home. It’s a comfort really, when you think about it, to know that you can make up for a niggling feeling that you are not THAT talented (not you, I mean me) simply by not giving up. Keep writing. And don’t ever forget how much you love writing stories.

  4. Nova, I echo all on the perseverance front. Always good to keep in mind how many good writers were turned back repeatedly, yet kept submitting, and then succeeded.

    But wait, back there a minute … polishing his shoes? In a cafe? In a closed room?

    What an odd thing to do.

    It might even belong in a story with two characters in animated dialogue and one of them highly sensitive to the fumes, who must then contend with a neighbor polishing shoes. Incredulously.

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