j_cheney: (The Thinking Angel)
J. Kathleen Cheney ([personal profile] j_cheney) wrote2008-09-08 02:24 pm

Rejection Reaction Poll

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?

[identity profile] orogeny.livejournal.com 2008-09-09 08:30 am (UTC)(link)
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.)

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2008-09-09 01:40 pm (UTC)(link)
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!