Just Say Yes, Won't Ya?

Other than "wait," I think one of the worst words a writer can hear is "No!"

And trust me, it's a word that a writer hears a lot...whether you're a beginner, an expert or somewhere in between.

Sometimes, no matter how fabulous your manuscript is, a fellow writer/editor/agent simply isn't going to catch your vision...even if it is nothing short of brilliant.

Before my first novel, Around the World in 80 Dates was published back in 2007, I heard the words "thanks, but no thanks" by two other publishing houses. Now I'll be the first to admit, hearing those words, even by e-mail, stung. I'd worked so hard on crafting my proposal and getting those sample chapters just right, but whatever reason, they just didn't see what I was so confident about.

But after sulking for a few days, I used that rejection as a springboard for seeing if there was a way or two that my work could be improved. And low and behold after having some time away from my WIP, I identified a few different places were my writing could be more engaging, my characters more developed, my dialogue more life-like. And low and behold, a publishing house eventually "got" me and Sydney Alexander's life journey became more than a vision in my head.

I guess I'm sharing that because as writers sometimes rejection can get the best of us. After hearing "no" time and again, we might give up on something great we have in progress. But that "no" may also be an opportunity to improve upon what you've got already...and maybe even enough for that important editor to finally take notice.