Today's topic--rejection letters

Or, perhaps, just rejection. I love reading the conversation and ads over at Writer's Row and checking out Writer's Weekly and have, in fact, picked up a job or two from them. But it's sort of depressing too.

For every one article that gets picked up, I probably get ten "thanks, but it doesn't meet our current editorial needs" notes. Or, worse yet, no response at all. Then I start thinking about all of the writers who visit the same sites I do and end up competing for the same positions. It's overwhelming.

I think on the whole us creative types take rejection very personally. I, for one, have a hard time realizing that just because an editor didn't like my story pitch, it doesn't mean I should stop pitching or that she dislikes me. What's so disturbing is that writers and actors and musicians--those of us who are creative types for a living--are constantly courting rejection. Unless we've signed on to something big (book deals, movies, ongoing gigs) our professional lives are a constant audition.

My point? I may not have one. It's certainly not that we should all curl up into a ball and stop trying. But boy do I feel like it sometimes. Time like this I try to keep in mind that my fellow (but famous) Bangorian, Stephen King, once was able to wallpaper a room with rejection letters. Now he has as many walls as he wants and as many books to wallpaper them with.