Several years ago when messing with script writing I collected a a whole pile rejection letters. From carefully considered, personal comment and advice, to a simple photocopied strip of paper with a standard negative notification, each one each one meant one thing: I was not sitting around allowing fears and insecurity to overcome my ambition.

What surprised me about that first experience with those letters was how impersonally I took the rejection. I took to heart the advice that rejection is a necessary evil for all writers, and simply accepted it. Admittedly, the more extreme, impersonal paper strips sting just a little as they do suggest your work had not even been looked at, but the handful that offered genuine advice and useful information were well worth it.

I have mentioned previously how difficult it will be for me to land a literary agent without a background in the business and before I have a publishing offer, so I cannot hang all my hopes on any one particular approach. Someone out there somewhere, sometime will hook into the project, understand it, and appreciate how it might become successful.

Never fear rejection, never take it personally. Celebrate your rejection letters because they signal that you are actively trying, getting your work under people’s noses, and playing the game.

UPDATE 05/05/09: The third rejection letter arrived a few days ago. Time to tweak the style of the approach and hammer down another three doors!