How to Handle Rejection as a Freelance Writer

Video Transcript

"REBECCA SATO: Hi. I'm Rebecca Sato with ExpertVillage.com. We're going to talk about something that's kind of personal, and it can be something that is very tough to deal with, and that is rejection. What do you do when your writing is rejected or you feel like you as a writer had been rejected? You know, this is important because every writer, no matter how good they are, is going to be faced with rejection. And you are going to submit manuscripts or send query letters or you'll even sometimes get the job, do the writing, and they won't like it. They'll hate it. So at one point or another, you're going to have to deal with that. And the thing to remember is that your writing is not you. Your writing is fluid and it's always changing, and so are you. And that's why your writing is always changing. But what you put on paper is not just you. It's a combination of who you thought you're writing for, what you thought the client wanted. A lot of times writing doesn't turn out to be what they wanted or your query letter turn out to not what they're interested in, and it's nothing that you have any control over. It's just where they're at. And as far as I know, no one can read minds. So we're just all doing the best we can. And if you thought you were doing a job and you worked hard and they didn't like it and you got rejected, "Oh, well." And as a writer, you really need to learn how to just do whatever you need to do, do some deep breathing, do some yoga, do some meditation. If you come up like a really big disappointment or a perceived rejection, it's important to acknowledge that it's upsetting. I don't think you should just say, "Oh, well, move on," necessarily. I mean, it's okay to say, you know, I really wanted this. But then what do I do now? You always just think about the next step and move forward. And just remember that the best writers in the world, they're filthy rich and their name is everywhere, they've been rejected a lot, too. And they're good writers and so are you."