R is for Rejection-itis

R is for Rejection-itis

I suffer from rejectionitis. It's a crippling ailment that causes much suffering and mental anguish. It's so miserable that I do anything I can to avoid it happening. And you know what that "anything" is -- no submitting. This is the catch-22 of submissions. You can't get an acceptance if you don't submit. You can't improve your writing if you don't practice and try and learn. Sitting in the corner and crying and lamenting about how mean the world is doesn't get you out of that corner. I know this. I understand it. Putting it into practice is really hard for me. I can't grow thicker skin. I have thin skin that is very sensitive (oh poor me! ;-D). I keep thinking I need to "learn" to not be sensitive, but sensitive is who I am. Yes, I can become harder --there's a lot of truth in that familiarity breeds comfort, so if I just would do it more often, it would help to make me more immune to rejections. But for me, the key is time. I will swear to myself that I'm done, and I quit submitting. And then in a week or so, I've forgotten the sting, and I'll get back to it again. Time, for me, is the greatest healer of all. And then there's the greatest tool any aspiring writing can have -- sheer, donkey stubbornness. And that, I have in spades. In the end, I always refuse to quit. Just because I'm obstinate to the point of being obtuse.