I previously shared that Angela and I teamed up and co-wrote and submitted a screenplay to a screenplay writing competition associated with a major film festival.
Well, today we got our rejection letter. It was very nice and polite–thanking and commending us and explaining that over 8,000 screenplays were submitted and the decision was difficult, etc., etc.
Before you get all teary eyed, you should know this: We were kind of happy to get our rejection letter. Yes–happy! Crazy right? Well, for one thing, we were expecting it. Of course you hope that you’ll get that call telling you how brilliant you are, but in reality we knew our screenplay needed a few edits when we submitted it.
More importantly though, we were happy because our letter was our first rejection letter, and to us, that symbolized something big. We WROTE something that we FINISHED which was LOOKED AT by someone in the industry and was actually READ and REJECTED! “Wow,” we said. “We rock!”
After all, don’t most success stories start off with, “Despite receiving a ton of rejection letters,” dot dot dot? Even Stephen King in his book On Writing tells of his early rejections. He started writing and submitting articles to magazines as a young boy. When he received his first rejection slip, he hung it on the wall. Mr. King shares: “By the time I was fourteen . . . the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing.”
I think Angela and I should nail up our first rejection letter because that letter is proof. It’s proof that we are writers. It’s proof that we made the effort and took the time to do something that we wanted to do and weren’t afraid of failing. It’s proof we are brave. It’s proof that we work well together and make a great team. It’s proof of our friendship and our support of one another. It’s proof that even though we walk to our day job in crappy Trenton, New Jersey under the hanging live wires and downed traffic lights, we dream big.
In writing and in life, rejection means something huge– it means that you pushed aside your fears and took action and risked failure and vulnerability.
I know for a fact that some of you reading this post have been rejected– by men, by women, by publishers, by prospective employers. It sucks, because you made an effort and believed in something. You believed that your love could outlast. You believed that your novel could be enjoyed by the world. You believed that you’d be perfect for that job. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. What is important is that you gave it a try. Your chances of it working out would have been a big fat zero without the try. Giving it a shot, taking the risk, doing the work, taking the journey is what life is about.
So instead of crying over rejection, tack those rejections onto your walls of life with a giant metal spike and display them with pride. These rejections are your proof that you took a forward step. You followed your heart. You wrote a novel or applied for a dream job. You loved someone. What a wonderful thing to have done!
Keep going and fighting and learning and loving and believing. No matter your journey, if rejection happens to you, stare it in the eye, give it the finger, hit the “reset” button, and try again because someday you just might succeed. And imagine what a trip that would be!
Have a nice night and thanks for reading 🙂
Waiting on a Word 
Congratulations!! I’m so very proud of you two for flowing your dreams and for putting yourselves out there! What a great start!! 🙂 I’m looking forward to you refining and submitting to someone else (cause all it takes is the one person who thinks it will work!) or for new works to emerge!
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Thanks Kate! You’re right. All it takes is one person.
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Failure rocks, in a way. If it weren’t for failure, how would you find the boundaries. Honestly, though, I prefer less failure so congratulations on YOUR rejection. You guys did it, tried, and, better yet, know how to make it better.
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Thanks, David.
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Rejection! This is such an inspiring post, with a great oxymoron. Nailing that letter into the wall would be awesome. You should frame it..in a cool boxy frame or something
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Thanks! Great idea about the cool frame! Seeing it on the wall will hopefully inspire us.
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Yes, i agree with you. I think the most importance is that you did it and you will still do it. The acceptance or rejection is just a consequence from what we’ve done and not given up so easily.
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Thank you. I will keep trying!
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What a great post and an even greater attitude you have! This is why you’re the big sis because I am going to put myself out there and most likely get rejected but hey it stops the wondering and the what ifs and gives you an answer. Well done, keep up the faith!!
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I AM the big sis! You keep trying too and keep the faith. We’ll put Ruttsville in the rearview mirror.
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I love your positive attitude. Yes, the rejection letter is symbolic of the fact that you’re actually working on something. You’re putting yourself out there, paying your dues. One day you will succeed and you’ll be ready when you do. 😊
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Thanks, Janine!
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That is great! I am impressed. Keep working. And I am inspired to keep working, too.
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Glad you enjoyed!
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Everyone has said pretty much what I wanted to say. It is true. It is like in a battle…you have to send some test rounds out to see how close to the target you are and from there adjust and try again. I think it is cool that you actually created something and sent it out. Most do not even reach that stage.
Good luck on your next attempt!
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Thanks Steve!
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I am proud of you for trying, I don’t have that kind of courage. I hate any kind of rejection.
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People would be crazy to reject you, sweetness. You rock! 🙂
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awww sis … You rock too 🙂
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I am glad you approach rejection the way you do. I have never approached it that way, but my approach is not as healthy as yours.
One of my worst rejection days had to do with working at a restaurant as a waiter. I received 11 rejection letters in the same day… seven email, four snail mail. I received all 11 letters before going into work that day, which made me into … well… I was not a very nice waiter. I don’t think I was mean, but I was certainly not happy to be there waiting tables. I think I was shell-shocked from the tidal wave of rejections (to an amazing sci-fi novel I’d written).
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Idiots should have published your sci-fi novel! I bet it’s awesome!
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I would have made it into a movie 😉
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You are biased though. But thanks 🙂
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