This weekend my DH and I traveled to Central Michigan University where our 13 year old grandson and his Destination Imagination team competed in the State Finals. The team won the regionals last month and continued to work hard perfecting their presentation for the state judging. When I talked to him last Tuesday, I asked how the practices were going and he said, confidently, "We're ready!" He was sure they would "knock it out of the park."
Saturday night at the awards presentation, he and his team discovered they did not win the tournament or even place in the top three. Their time and work was not enough for thejudge to awad them the trophy. Talk about being rejected. Their enthusiasm and excitement was gone like a deflated balloon. Now they have to process what happened and move on.
Do you remember your first rejection? Was it from that cute boy in your class? an art/music contest?
The one I remember the most is when our high school junior class built a fantastic float for the homecoming parade. Three of us designed it and were in charge of the construction. We were so sure we'd win, but no, I believe the freshmen won that year. Now that really is the pits to have those freshmen win. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.
I hope your first rejection wasn't from an editor, agent, publisher when you submitted your story for publication. I think all the rejections we receive as we grow up prepares us to have our writing rejected. It's not easy to take, but hopefully we have developed some tools to allow us to take it and move on.
I told my grandson that winning first place is not the most important thing. As time goes by, he'll discover he won a lot by participating on the team and competing. Of course at 13, that's not what you want to hear. In fact, at any age, rejection is hard to take.
As a writer, my work was rejected. But instead of burying my head and wallowing in self pity, I decided to work harder and write a better story or article.
If your work has not been accepted, please don't give up. Keep writing. We learn something with every experience. Just like my grandson, process it and move on. You're a winner when you sit down and write words on the page.
Tell us about the first rejection in your life. Did you learn from it? How do you accept a rejection of your work and move on? Leave a comment below. It may inspire someone to keep writing and working on their WIP. Thanks.
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This Week
Thursday, April 10--Paranormal and humorist author Gail Roughton takes a turn at the Seeds of Inspiration Spring Event. She tells us what inspires her stories, and there are many entertaining ones in her collection. Come back on Thursday, leave a comment to enter the drawing for her latest e-book, Vanished.
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| Romance, mystery, humor |
9 comments:
I've had so many rejections that I can't remember my first one. LOL But I hope your grandson and his team mates won't allow this to overwhelm them. He can't imagine it now, but as he ages and matures, he'll look back and see what a valuable lesson this was. :) We all can't be winners all of the time!
Well put, Miss Mae. Experience is a great teacher. Thanks for stopping by.
Your grandson has learned a great lesson, JQ. When I was at school I coasted along with no problems. I left uni during a bad recession, and it was a shock to the system to be rejected time and time again in the job market. Handling rejection is one of life's toughest lessons. Ironically, maybe if I'd failed more at school I would have dealt with it better!
It is so important to have a thick skin! So nice to follow and connect with an a to z challenger, and I look forward to more posts. http://aimingforapublishingdeal.blogspot.co.uk/
Hi Comley, nice to meet you. I plan to do the a-z challenge next year. Thanks so much for stopping by.
As a well published author with several different publishers and an editor of my own publishing company, I just wanted to add: remember it's truly all so subjective. That should help remove the sting, a bit. Also, specific rejections can be so useful to pointing out those flaws that keep an author from selling. But always make sure it rings true.
It's so true. The experience far outweighs any rejection in the long run. But at the time of the rejection itself, it's not easy to look beyond the immediate disappointment.
M. J.
A - Z Co-Host
http://mjjoachim.blogspot.com
http://effectivelyhuman.blogspot.com
http://lotsofcrochetstitches.blogspot.com
Conda, you make important points about rejections in this comment. Thank you.
M J--The sting of disappointment hurts, but looking beyond is good avice. Thanks for stopping by.
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