Sunday, December 14, 2008

Secrets

Well, I was just going to let this languish until after New Year's, but thanks to Seth of The Dating Papers, I have doubled (or quite possibly tripled) my readership in a matter of minutes. Hello, new readers!

I thought I'd start things off with a rejection letter. In a fit of self-righteousness, I sent this story to an electronic literary magazine of some repute. The editor sent me a cordial response:

Good evening. Thanks for thinking of [magazine]. This one isn't right for us, but we wish you the best elsewhere.

And there it was, the first of many rejection letters to come. For me, as a perfectionist, polishing a piece to the point where I'm comfortable having someone look at it is the hardest part of the journey. A rejection letter is just a reminder that I am able to put my work out there for the world. It is a reminder that even the hardest part of the journey is not, after all, impossible.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

No languishing! I thought your story was excellent.

Kickstands up, my friends. Melanie is going to be published soon!

Keep putting your work out there. You'll make it!

Best to you!

Seth

Anonymous said...

The hardest part is sending the work. I face that with graphic design now and soon law.

My theory is that the best art is never seen by the public...including writings.

Melanie said...

Seth: Thank you!

Sharon: A lot of my very good friends are lawyers. They're lawyers-who-wish-they-were-acting-full-time, so maybe they're a bit of a different breed...but they have most certainly gotten used to the concept of putting it out there! You can do it!

I have always wondered what the drafts that Hemingway crossed out or threw away were actually like.

Anonymous said...

A rejection letter to you is also a reminder that there are people out there with really bad taste.

Melanie said...

Thanks, Chris. :)