Yesterday I went to my mailbox eagerly awaiting some news of a story I had submitted to a magazine. Yesterday I opened my mailbox to find a rejection letter.
I have gotten my fair share of rejection letters since I started submitting my work usually with the "Does not fit our present needs" box checked.
Yesterday was a little hard on me because the box checked was "It involves stereotyped roles." So now I need to decide do I rewrite the story and try to get rid of "stereotyped" roles or do I scrap the story all together or do I not change a thing and just hope a different magazine will not be as picky about "stereotyped roles". The added challenge is that it is a story about Christmas so I am not sure if I have enough time to completely revise it to eliminate some of the things that might be considered "stereotyped" roles.
The rejection did help me make other decisions like "Which story should I send to writing group?"
The rejection did not help me with the decision of taking a writing class this summer which I want to do but the only ones that fit are on Mondays-my only night off. It's hard to give up the only night off.
I am trying out a second writing group which is nice because it gives me a new set of eyes looking at things. I am trying to remember in writing group to do my best to bring out the best in other people's stories. I think sometimes it is hard to remember not to just praise the story but to give suggestions. I think the thing is hard is knowing that these stories are like people's children in the way that they feel about them. I sometimes feel like if I have a suggestion is like insulting someone's child.
1 comment:
"Stereotyped roles?" Did they explain a little bit as to how your writing fell into this category? Seems a little vague, but I guess it's hard to convey context sometimes in blog posts.
I'd love to read your story, by the way!
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