I saw a social media post yesterday (I have no idea where, it had to have been on Twitter or Instagram) by a woman who said she goes in search of rejection. That thought was fascinating to me. I've been thinking about it ever since.
Going out in search of rejection.
The thought was terrifying to me at first. But in reality, that's what us writers do. We put out our work, time and time again, constantly, hoping against hope, to just get it read. Whether it's by agents or managers or producers or show runners or anyone who can buy a screenplay or help us sell a manuscript or hire us to staff on a television show.
We go out in search of rejection.
I have been thinking of this a lot lately as I actively go out in search of rejection. I send my first novel out to agents and await the standard (or once in a blue moon, personalized) rejection letter that reminds me there are so many great things about my manuscript that someone else will surely love it. Every time I mark the rejection down on my Excel spreadsheet (that I hate, writers should not ever have to use Excel spreadsheets) I think to myself, one day I will get to throw this away. I will get to never open it again. It just takes that one yes to blot out the hoards of no I've gotten every day since this endeavor started.
But I want to be honest about rejection and about the heartache and heartbreak my creative career brings me. I make sure to share all my wins (tiny, minuscule and otherwise) on social media and in real life so I need to make sure I'm also sharing the hard stuff. Recently, I posted about my feature-length screenplay The 23-Year One Night Stand making it from the first round of 15,200 entries to the quarterfinals of 5,499 entries in a contest. Then it made the cut when they chose 252 semifinalists. From over 15,000 screenplays down to just under 300. That made me very happy, and just a little bit impressed with myself.
This is a script that I have worked on since 2016. The script as it reads today, at draft number 30, is almost nothing like it was when I first typed 'The End' over EIGHT YEARS AGO. Do you know how much I've changed in 8 years? How much you've changed? I cannot begin to describe what this script has gone through. I mean just this year I changed the entire title of the script! BUT...some of the core characters and the main idea are still exactly the same as they were when I first opened a Word document and typed "ideas" at the top.
And the thought that a few people read this script, just this year, and obviously enjoyed it, made me ecstatic. And then some friends and family members read it and told me how funny it was and how different parts made them feel and what they liked and what they wished they could have seen more of and I thought...that is the direct opposite of rejection.
But...had I never gone out in search of that rejection in the first place, by putting my script out there, no one new would have read my work, heard my story. And that's the whole point. To get my work out there. And that means going out in search of rejection.
My script did not make it to the finals of the contest. It did not win as I let myself daydream it might. I let myself feel that sadness and disappointment for a few hours last week as I cleaned the house and sung along with Beyoncé. And then I went back to my desk and clicked over to the new novel I'm working on and got busy. Because I've learned I've got nothing to send out in search of rejection if I don't keep my butt in the chair and my fingers on the keys.
So I'll keep writing. I'll keep sending my manuscripts and screenplays out. I'll keep submitting my short film to festivals (for all of the film festivals we've been accepted into, we've been rejected by dozens more! and the rejections to those keep coming in weekly!). And mostly, I'll just keep reminding myself that all of this rejection is paving the way to something unbelievable. That one YES.
And that search for that one yes keeps me going. Recently, I've been listening to James Patterson's MasterClass and he reminded me to write a bestseller. Because that's what sells. And so I will...write that bestseller. Because anything less is unacceptable. Rejection is important. Rejection is part of the process. And rejection is something to be proud of. In the words of one of my favorite TV writers (and Twitter friend!) Hart Hanson:Be proud of every rejection because every rejection is a sign that you've done something fantastic that very few people can do which is make something and have it rejected!
