Rejection Reaction Poll

[j_cheney]

Several friends of mine have been having the blows coming in hard and heavy recently, so rejection hs been on my mind. We often can't predict how we'll feel when it hits. And needless to say, some people are better psychologically suited to handle rejection than others (which can be said about telemarketing, as well) and they deal with it more easily, letting it just slide off their backs (duck/water analogy there for anyone who missed it.)

So,
[Poll #1255972]

Any brilliant panaceas out there for wounded spirits?

Comments

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

They used to hit me hard. I've gotten so many now, I just don't care. I log them in the appropriate spots (I seriously have to update two spreadsheets and a doc for each rejection I get, sigh), and plot who to attack next. Getting three or four in a row is still pretty hard, but at...pretty much any point of sending things out, I expect to get rejected. :)

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Yes, the multiple-rejections-in-one-day is never fun, but inevitable at some point....

[rflong.livejournal.com]

I know! Is it any wonder he's so upset?

[orogeny.livejournal.com]

I still get emotional! Actually, it varies, depending on the rejection. If it's a story I'm proud of and have been told works, then something like a form rejection feels like a big step backward. Long holding times followed by rejection? Depression.

I don't drink and I'm on a diet, so I can't eat myself happy! (Although back in my bad-eating days, I'd easily do a bag of double-stuff Oreos.) Now I put the letter on my desk, have a long shower and wallow in a couple of hours of reality tv (or episodes of House, or whatever I'm Netflixing at the time) in my pajamas. The next day, when the pain is slightly less immediate, I make notes on my logs, update Duotrope, and put the letter in my binder. I send it out if there's another appropriate market.

I really wish I could get to the point where I didn't care. I guess that will come! Part of it's volume (maybe all of it). After I'm finished with my MFA, I'll go back to trying to pump out lots and lots of mediocre stories! =D (I'm still getting one or more a month finished, but the lack of revising time makes it sloooooooow getting them out the door.)

[orogeny.livejournal.com]

By the way, thank you for posting this. I really needed it!

[jtglover.livejournal.com]

For all the different takes on Star Wars, from Lego to household appliances, I don't think anyone's ever done a paper Star Wars. :)

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

I need it sometimes too. A reminder that we all seem to get rejections....

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

THe long shower is a good idea, cleans off the dirt thrown on your heart and soul....

I agree about the long holding times. That's the worst. I have a couple that are over a year now, and if they get rejected, by is that gonna be bad!

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Don't give her ideas!!

[jtglover.livejournal.com]

I'll keep my eye on YouTube. :-D

Side note: when I was briefly flirting with drawing and comics a while back, one exercise I did was to edit a favorite movie (Star Wars for me) down to a series of 12 panels. Might have been 16 or something, but relatively small. It was useful for thinking about comics, but it was also INCREDIBLY useful for helping think about the right moments to focus on in fiction, esp. short fiction.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Probably a good idea in general....like an outline