Hanging on to the thought of something we all love doing despite being really bad at it and even royally stinking at it - that's something we should never forget. Enjoyment and even endurance should always come first! Rejection is something I've personally experienced, but it hasn't stopped me from achieving success. Despite being rejected, I've worked hard and persevered to reach my goals. It may sound un-Canadian or impolite to say this, but that's the reality. I am an experienced writer of fiction, having written extensively and been rejected multiple times. Despite the challenges, I have achieved success: winning an international award and signing a second book contract. Rejection and success go hand in hand: while one may lead to failure, the other is a sign of creativity. Through pushing out work that may be rejected, you gain the experience and knowledge needed to eventually reach success. Ultimately, this makes the you a more skilled creator. Making the first pancake of the batch can be quite daunting, especially if you have only ever made one pancake and it has been less than successful. However, if you don't give up and keep trying, you may discover that making pancakes is something that you are actually really good at! Thank you, Rory Gilmore! I'm truly appreciative of your assistance. Your help has been a great contribution and I could never have managed this without you. You are an amazing person and your kindness will not be forgotten. The bad work has been necessary, as it created the conditions that led to good work being done.
Paul Beatty and Marlon James are The Man Booker Prize winners. Paul Beatty's book was rejected 18 times whereas Marlon James' book was rejected 78 times. The books that were rejected are likely not the same as those that ultimately became successful, although the inner workings of this process are not known. Rejected by fools who failed to realize its genius, many famous creations have been comforted by stories of their own past misfortune. Believing that these poor souls must be regretting not recognizing the brilliance in their works, we can only imagine how powerful these creations would have been if accepted. Those rejections may have been tough to take, but they may have served a purpose – leading us to work that is reaching its potential. Failing can sometimes indicate that you are succeeding at trying; even when it feels like an unsuccessful endeavor, it is still a positive outcome. In her article, Kim Lau explains why you should shoot for a goal of 100 rejections annually. She stresses that this is an important milestone to strive for in order to move forward with your work and reach success. She suggests that setting a rejection goal may result in more acceptance; for example, someone has the goal of receiving one hundred rejections in a year. By striving for those one hundred rejections, they are also likely to receive some acceptances as well.
Despite not succeeding at them, what type of activities bring you joy anyway? This is a question often asked of students applying to our undergraduate program and it's one of my favorites because I feel like it reveals something important. It says that you have an admirable level of determination and resilience, as well as a passion for challenging yourself, which allows you to continue something even when it is a struggle and find joy in that endeavor. Card and board games are a real weakness of mine - I love them, but I'm still terrible at playing them. In an effort to boost my pride, occasionally I'll ask someone to join me in playing a new game; showing them the rules before inevitably losing to them right away. I'm a big fan of dancing, although I can only imagine what I must look like - probably something like Elaine from Seinfeld! Complete abandon of something that doesn't matter to me, followed by a willful failure at that same thing, and then returning to the things I know I'm good at but continue to be challenging - just exactly what is the relationship between these three stages? It's like going to the gym, whereby we are working off the spare tire of pride. If we put ourselves out there and accept that failure may occur, then we can eventually see an improvement in our ability. Taking a deep breath afterwards helps us to focus on what is possible. We work off the fat, strengthening and increasing our muscles so that we get better and stronger.
I am an award-winning professor, author, maker scholar and artist who also thinks critically. Embracing these multiple identities is important to me because they all come together and create a unique perspective on the world. The creative process is comprised of both successes and failures, and requires intellectual thought from both artists and scholars to truly understand. Rejection can often come hand-in-hand with success, demonstrating that making art involves a struggle. Without collaboration between the two groups, this could not be appreciated. As an achiever, I have experienced failure too. Additionally, being a creative and sensitive person has made it especially difficult for me to cope with when my work does not get the recognition and response that I have anticipated. I have crafted something special, expecting it to fly away from me. Yet I am disappointed by the result that it cannot take off. Creativity is a very personal thing; it's the ability to be open and unashamed with our own ideas, expecting others to love them despite how they look. Some art forms such as poetry, dance and painting can show us at our most vulnerable, allowing us to open up and express ourselves in unique ways. Creativity is often a reflection of our passions and interests; it can be a way for us to express ourselves and share what we care about most. Although it is hard to make a living with art, many people still pursue it as a passion, often in addition to their family and job responsibilities. This is because they are driven by their love of creativity and expression that art provides. When things don't work out, I'm often left wondering: "Why is this so hard?" Don Draper from Mad Men would likely offer this advice: "Be good. Get better. Don't ask for more".
People who want to be creative and access success without having to go through "gatekeepers" (people in positions of creative power) can now find a paradise. These gatekeepers hold the ability to make one's work esteemed and are typically involved with producers, festival committees, publishers, agents and granting bodies. The traditional creative process revolved around working hard to meet certain approval criteria from producers and publishers; however, this power dynamic appears to be shifting as a new creative model emerges. This new artistic landscape is of particular benefit for younger creatives who are growing up within it. With almost any creative endeavor you can now get your work out there faster than ever before, with no need to wait weeks or months for a publisher or producer's approval. You can publish instantly, and receive real time feedback through likes, followers and shares - the immediate approval becomes addictive! Success is often measured by social media approval: happiness stemming from likes, reviews, and shares. This has become the primary way we gauge our level of achievement. In our culture of prosumers, producers and consumers are empowered to democratically collaborate in a creative way. This process allows only the best ideas and solutions to rise to the top, where they can be judged by our peers or “taste makers”.
In Moose Jaw, a creative maker could find out within moments that someone loves their work. Simultaneously, it would be communicated to someone in Brazil that they should never give up on their day job. Despite there being no waiting involved, this could all occur in mere moments. Famous cases of Fifty Shades of Grey beginning as fan fiction, musicians being discovered on YouTube and artists gaining recognition through Instagram are not uncommon. Such stories have become part of our collective culture. In this democratized model, there is a tendency to counteract the reasons why one's work or someone else's work was not chosen by rejecting those who reject it. They talk about marketing, but have no idea what they're talking about. We have all been on one side of this conversation. I'd love to see them try, but suspect they are just living in their mother's basement. Our innermost feelings wish to think that the denial of our efforts was due to a fault either in the process or the people who turned it away; however, we owe much gratitude to all those who have been supportive and encouraging. People feel that insidious monetary incentives, nepotism, and blindness are stopping individuals from perceiving the excellence of others.
The experience of publishing my first book was truly wonderful; the reviews were mostly positive and even led to me getting signed with a great agent. Subsequent to the success of this book, I have written another two books. All my hopes of the first novel being accepted by top-tier publishers were dashed and even the smaller publishers said no; every rejection email from my agent was a painful reminder of my lack of talent. Most of the rejection letters I received said that they appreciated my new talent and looked forward to seeing more of my work; despite the fact that I had spent years working on this project, they implied that there was still more to do; but for the record: there still is! I chose conventional publishing instead of self-publishing, despite the suggestion from many people. I think my decision might be due to my age and coming of creative age at a time when traditional publishing was still the norm. The publishing industry is one that I hold in high regard because of the talent and skills of those making the decisions of what to publish. I firmly believe that these people know what they’re doing, having created books which I continue to love and enjoy; a testament to how much faith I have in this system. I kept submitting but kept getting rejections, with each letter starting with the same courtesy: "Thank you for submitting". My brother, wise beyond his 17 years, once said to me when I was having trouble mustering up the motivation to do some creative work: "No one's going to thank you for not trying."
I had kept trying despite the many rejections I'd received. That experience taught me an enormous amount, so when I wrote another book it was much better. The reader saw something different than what I saw and the result was so much better. What a gift it is to have people with keen eyes, ears, and reading skills be able to experience your work! They can see what you create, hear how your words sound and read the stories you share. I revised the book countless times and created countless drafts. I added, edited and polished it until it shone, but alas, my new novel was rejected multiple times. However, I didn't give up - I kept revising and working on it. Also, having submitted to the Half the World Global Literati award, an international contest for unpublished works featuring the inner lives of women, I have put forward my work in the meantime. This summer while I faced numerous rejections, I unexpectedly received a phone call that let me know that out of the sixty other countries - I had won the prized competition granting me an astounding amount of money. While my family and I were sitting on a rock in the north, CBC informed us that they would be interviewing me within the next half an hour. Hence, we had to go down to the lake so I could get better reception for the interview.
My book was undergoing revisions when my life changed instantly; yet, I kept on striving for improvement. When I initially began this conversation, the rejections I encountered motivated me to set higher goals and pushed me to make revisions that would improve the book. As a result of these continuous efforts, the book has grown tremendously. Rejections have thus become an integral part of my success journey. The initial version of this talk was not as effective as the current one. In fact, it was quite inferior. However, through a process of improvement, it has become much better than its original form. My agent called me as I was drafting my speech about rejection, and gave me some much-welcomed news: HarperCollins was going to be publishing my novel! My joy was so intense in response to my success that it might have deafened her on the phone; my demeanor in situations of success is not as calm and collected as it is when I'm dealing with failure. The book was difficult to complete, but that made its accomplishment even more satisfying. Without ceasing, I'll continue to perfect it until the powers that be deem it ready for publication. We should be thankful to those who reject our work, instead of scolding them, because they often make it better. By rejecting it, they play an important part in the refinement process.
Your best work now could be improved upon, and what you think is your worst work could become your highest achievement in the future. There is no limit to how much better you can make something, and what has taken you years to perfect today might be viewed as only the first step in a long creative journey. Rejections and failures can be seen as part of the journey to success. They provide the sustenance that is needed to reach our goals and should not be thought of as our destination. Instead, view these moments as a stepping stone that gets us closer to where we ultimately want to be. Doing a PhD is anything but easy; it involves long periods of lonely work and often feels like being out at sea alone on an ice floe, with nothing but your own thoughts to keep you company. I'm still trying to get my head around the idea! The advice I received was that my PhD should be the worst piece of work I do. At least, that was what the person I spoke to had heard. Receiving the highest level of education is not the end, but merely the start of a challenging journey. It certainly was for me, a beginning with plenty more to come. I recently had coffee with a former student, who is early in his creative career. He wanted to meet with me because he was already highly discouraged from the rejections he’d been receiving from various granting bodies, festivals, and contests. Of course, in 10 years, he will likely look back and see how many successes he's had that seemed insignificant when they occurred but now appear huge. Although he may still experience rejections, these will help him become even better at what he does, motivating him to set goals way beyond his current reach. The rejections we experience should not be regarded as failures, but instead as essential stepping stones to our eventual success. Without learning from the hard times, any triumphs we achieve would not be worth celebrating.
Set both reasonable and impossible goals to reach your destination. Don't just focus on the reasonable ones but challenge yourself and try to achieve the impossible. Any act of putting your work out there is not only an opportunity to experience success, but also a valuable platform for learning. Be open to feedback and listen gracefully, expressing gratitude both for successes and setbacks. Change is inevitable, so making an effort to accept it with thankfulness will benefit us in the long run. We're in this together. As a community, let us absorb, listen, watch and enjoy the work of others. At the same time, let us all remember: sharing is caring! Our heroes have stories of perseverance and courage, even when they felt filled with despair and lacked confidence. Yet, they kept going and never gave up - the same strength that can be found in each of us. We thank those who give us rejections, as they are the rungs on the ladder to success. Difficulties should not be seen as a hindrance but instead embraced and viewed as stepping-stones to achieve greatness. Without these challenges, we would never be able to climb so high in life.
See also: https://mygodsentangels.com/