You didn’t really think it was going to be easy did you? Besides, what’s the real goal here?
If the goal is to grow, express myself, and write cool shit, then I’m succeeding. If the goal is for me to publish in literary journals, so far I’m failing. I would like for the things I write to be useful for someone else, and I think they could be. I’m just not yet sure how to make that happen.
See, whenever I get a rejection I try to send something else out right away. But this process is surprisingly time-consuming. I’ll always reach a point where I think, “Fuck this – I just want to get back to writing.”
So I do.
You can (and should), constantly try to improve. But you can’t control how others will interpret what you’ve made. So if you feel compelled to do it, and the process is gratifying, what’s stopping you?
Nothing.
So damn the torpedoes and carry on. Failing means you’re on the right track, it forces you to become better, stronger, and more resilient.
Besides, I’m working on this great short story…