Day 11 - (Motivation) Rejection is Redirection. Mistakes are Teachers

Every "no" carries wisdom. Every mistake holds a lesson. The audition you bombed. The correction you didn't want to hear - they're not failures. They're feedback. You're not behind. You're becoming. Keep learning. Keep trusting. Every detour is shaping the dancer - and human - you're meant to be. ~Ayca Anil

Rejections letters are tough to handle. I get it. I personally hate writing rejection letters. They are especially tough for an agent because when I receive them for my client, I have to deal with it first and then I get to share the rejection letter WITH the agent. A double whammy. It is tough being told no. It is tough being told that you might not be good enough. 

In recent years, more and more writers have gotten a bit hostile with rejection letters and have been writing back or taking it out on editors and agents (and even in the employers in the business world) so much that now many have taken to using the approach of not writing a rejection letter and using the policy of "No answer means no." Personally that is a shame and something for another post. For these people, they have felt that a no was a personal attack on them "as a person" instead of really listening to what the editor/agent/employer was trying to say about why they passed on the individual. 

We need to know that we learn from mistakes. We learned that the stove was hot, not from mom or dad telling us, but from us touching the stove, even after mom and dad told us. We never did it again. 

If you remember from a post earlier in this series, I mentioned the line from HAMILTON "Talk Less. Smile More." That is what we are talking about here. In fact, one recommendation for how to answer the question in interviews of how you responded to a critique from a supervisor was similar to this. "Smile, listen to what they have to say, and then follow up with what are suggestions to make this better." What a wonderful suggestion.

This is a business with a lot of no's. This is a business with a lot of people giving you critiques and feedback. Do not take it personally. Learn from it. Grow and become better. Some of it might not be enjoyable to hear but take a breath and listen. It might be tough to hear, but it may be what you need to hear to become so much stronger and so much better as a writer and as a human!