It’s cold out there, take this with you.
It’s discouraging to get your project rejected again and again, and even more discouraging when publishers, agents, producers, etc. don’t even have the decency to answer to your query. We get it, you’re busy looking for the next Fifty Shades of Grey, The Secret or Piranha 3D. Just a few of the countless mediocre projects that were relentlessly pushed on us through multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns, convincing audiences that a wealthy sociopath obsessively controlling a woman's diet was somehow erotic, that positive thinking alone could make you rich, or that a harmless South American freshwater fish was about to invade your nearest seashore and bite your ass.
Of course, when bookstores and cinemas are filled with content of questionable quality—work that makes you wonder how it got there and who approved it—it's hard not to feel imposter syndrome creeping up behind you. Let me tell you this: there is nothing wrong with you or your work. Don't let fear, doubt, or self-inflicted paranoia stop you from writing the story that keeps calling to you, the one that won't leave you alone until you sit down at your laptop and start typing. Maybe you're thinking about giving up because your project keeps getting rejected. Maybe a publisher or producer dismissed it as uncommercial or simply couldn't see the vision you were trying to bring to life. But that doesn't mean the vision isn't worth pursuing. There are people out there who will connect with your work; people who are waiting to read your book, watch your film, or experience your play. Your audience exists, and if you keep going, you'll find it.
Someone once pitched a book about a glittery, homoerotic vampire who, despite being over a century old, decided to spend his free time going back to high school because, who didn’t have the time of their lives back in high school? That idea got approved and somehow spawned four films. Someone else walked into a room full of executives and pitched a movie about sharks falling from the sky. Not only did it get made, but it went on to produce seven films.
What can we learn from this? That this industry is utterly absurd. And yet, here we are. Writing. Deleting. Writing again. Revising. Doubting ourselves. Cursing every sentence and questioning every idea. But never quitting. You have tried to quit, out of frustration and disappointment, but you always end up coming back to write that story. That’s being a writer, and the only possible outcome for you is success. Because despite the rejection, the uncertainty, and the occasional temptation to throw the whole manuscript out the window, something inside you refuses to let go. Deep down, you know your story deserves to exist. And deep down, you still believe that one day, you'll make it.
So don't let rejection bring you down, and don't let the people around you convince you that you'll never make it. Here's a little secret: if the people in your inner circle are telling you to quit because you'll never succeed, they're not really your circle. And chances are, you're closer than you think. Keep pushing just a little further.
Now, if you're looking for advice on how to put yourself out there, how to sell yourself and your work, I'm afraid I can't help much. I struggle with that myself.
How do you show people your full potential without sounding arrogant? How do you present yourself and your work to the world in a way that doesn’t feel forced? How do you convince others to believe in you when you're still learning to believe in yourself? I don't have the answers yet, but I'm searching for them and when I find them, I'll be sure to share them with you.
Until then,
eat, Anastasia.
