How do you bridge the cognitive disconnect of processing rejection when you know the work is good? This is something I’m learning to do with writing, but boy it can be rough. Especially when you’re new at it.
You start off writing because you love it – you’re on fire to get these characters and their stories fully realized on the printed page. It’s fucking intoxicating. After you’ve got your first draft you read it again and again, editing ruthlessly – going over every word and sentence. You want it to flow, to reach a point where it’s undeniable.
As soon as you think you’ve reached that stage comes the realization that any further editing is only going to make it worse, so you declare it ready to submit for publishing. Oh boy – people are going to love this shit as much as you do! You can’t wait…
Then come the rejections, one after another. Your first thought is WTF!? Then you begin to think, Am I deluded, does my writing suck? Or, just as bad, is it because no one finds the stories I write interesting?
At the bottom of this well of disappointment lies this disconnect: You keep getting rejections but deep down you know this shit is great. Sure, you can always get better at the craft of writing, but at the end of the day you just have to accept that no one else may ever read it, much less like it. So what do you do with that bitter pill?
You swallow it and keep writing.