I was learning the craft; I didn't study writing in school. Rejection was my motivation, and failure is what taught me.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
My failure, during the first five or six years of my art training, to get set in the right direction, and the disappointment which it caused me, drove me the more persistently into writing as an alternative.
I felt a failure because I couldn't sustain myself from what I earned from my writing. My day jobs were what mattered, and it was hard to even get those because universities wouldn't hire me as a real writer.
It's not easy. I got lots of rejections when I first started out. If you want to write, you have to believe in yourself and not give up. You have to do your best to practice and get better.
Rejection just motivates me to keep trying and to try to do better.
I didn't know it was possible to be successful as a writer, so I wasn't afraid to fail.
We all learn lessons in life. Some stick, some don't. I have always learned more from rejection and failure than from acceptance and success.
As a writer, you can't allow yourself the luxury of being discouraged and giving up when you are rejected, either by agents or publishers. You absolutely must plow forward.
I have been rejected 120 times, probably because I didn't write the right book.
In my early career I was like a goldfish. Rejection didn't affect me; I'd just forget how bad it was and keep going back for more.
As a writer, the worst thing you can do is work in an environment of fear of rejection.