The other day a friend mentioned that she'd gotten her first bad review. I offered sympathy, but she
said no hugs were required -- it's a milestone for every writer.
So it is. There are many milestones that show we're writers -- finishing a first novel draft, getting that first agent. Those are worth celebrating.
But so are the milestones we don't want. Often writers get excited for their first query rejection -- they are real writers, with the rejection to prove it. We should celebrate those too with battle decorations of kind. They show we keep going.
So let's all celebrate all those unwanted milestones that prove we're really trying.
First terrible critique
First query rejection
100th query rejection
First trunked novel
Fifth trunked novel
First ex-agent
First bad review
First snarky GIF review
First Internet kerfuffle
First royalty statement with unearned royalties
First royalty statement where returns exceed sales
First remaindered book
First time rights returned for lack of sales
It keeps going. But that's because WE KEEP GOING.
3 comments:
I love this post. The colder and more bitter the winter--the more glorious the spring. Sometimes people only trumpet their successes and it leads others to believe that's all they have while the rest of us suffer discouragement after discouragement. Thank you.
This is fantastic!!! Thanks so much. This message really made me smile.
I am so sharing this! Yes. I remember my first rejection, my first one star review, my first troll. I keep them all as a reminder ... to succeed, sometimes you have to fail first :)
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