Rejecting Rejection with author Sarah Aronson

This week’s Rejecting Rejection Post comes from author Sarah Aronson and demonstrates just how lucky a writer is to receive a rejection, even if it doesn’t always seem that way at first. For this week, take a page out of Aronson’s playbook and celebrate your rejections as a sign of trying, which is a triumph in itself.

 

With a Little Bit of Luck

by Sarah Aronson 

When I was in high school, I wanted to be Barbra Streisand. I played Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly. I won the Drama Award. Most people who knew me knew my love of theater.

But after one disastrous audition, I never tried out for another play again. I let rejection psyche me out. Or maybe: I didn’t really want to be Barbra all that much.

I knew I wanted to be a writer when rejection did not discourage me. Actually, my early rejections thrilled me. It was proof that someone had read something I wrote. As the rejections became more personal and regretful, they were proof that I was getting somewhere. They showed a pattern: I was becoming a better writer.

I celebrated each one. I felt very lucky. For each letter, I made favorite foods. I saved them in a special drawer. I kept a list of compliments and suggestions. And of course, I kept revising. I didn’t give up. I put stories in drawers;  I rearranged plots. I killed more characters than I kept. I kept reminding myself: these readers weren’t rejecting me. They just thought I needed to work a little bit longer.

So today, I urge every author, no matter where you are in your writing journey: have hope. Keep writing. Be tenacious. Don’t think of those rejections as proof that you should not be writing. Consider them votes of confidence. Consider them validation. Consider them a sign that you are doing what you should be doing.

In 2003, I wrote a manuscript called WAYNE TIMCOE, WHO ARE YOU? It was about soccer. And friendship. And what happens to athletes when they have to stop playing. At the time, it was the best thing I had ever written.Don’t believe me? This happened to me:

It got some pretty nice revisions. And a whole lot of form letters.

After a while, I put it in a drawer to work on other things and get my MFA. I played with some of the ideas here and there, but was pretty sure it was a novel that had served its purpose. And that was okay.

Fast forward to 2008. My first novel, Head Case, had been released and I found myself on the schedule at a spring SCBWI conference. At the faculty dinner, I sat next to an agent. I didn’t recognize her name (and won’t divulge it now). She was convinced she knew me, but I assured her that I’d never sent a manuscript to her agency.

After a while, she snapped her fingers. She said, “I know you. You wrote a soccer novel.” It turned out that before becoming an agent, she’d been an editorial assistant, and that one of the editors I’d sent it to had solicited her opinion. (It was a house that sent a form letter.) Four years after reading the manuscript, she remembered some of the details. She asked me what had happened to the story.

I almost fell over.

As soon as I got home, I opened the file and read that manuscript. And you know what? I’m glad they rejected it. It wasn’t very good! Yes, I’d had some good ideas, but after a few years, the themes still resonated, and I was a better writer. I re-imagined the story from beginning to end. I found a story that wasn’t just about soccer. It was about family. And heroism. And the presidents.

The story became Beyond Lucky. It was released in 2011. (That same house still rejected it!)

Motto of the story?

Don’t give up. As my son would say, “You never know.” Luck is a part of every publication story.

What I’ve learned from my rejections?

Everyone gets them. If you let them get to you, it’s hard to focus on the work.

My message to you:

Don’t be afraid to submit; don’t be afraid to put novels in a drawer. Write the stories that are meaningful to you, that reflect your compulsions and obsessions. If you keep writing and revising, you invite opportunities. You might just be lucky. Thomas Jefferson once said, “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” I love that.

The best way to reject rejection? Keep working.

Sarah Aronson’s mantra is “Try Everything” and for good reason! She worked as an aerobics instructor for Jack La Lanne, a physical therapist, religious school director and bookseller before taking the dare to write.  Although it hasn’t been easy, she is so glad she was determined to try. In 2006, she earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. In 2007, she published her first novel, Head Case, named a Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Since then she has published two more novels: Beyond Lucky, which was named a VOYA Top Shelf for Middle Readers and, Believe, a story about faith, fame, and a girl who is the sole survivor of a suicide bombing, named a Top Ten in Religion for Youth by Booklist. When she is not writing, Sarah loves talking about the craft of writing. She teaches online classes at www.writers.com and organizes an annual novel writing retreat at VCFA. Learn more about Sarah and her books at www.saraharonson.com.