another thought on rejection letters
Feb. 18th, 2004 09:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
truepennyBecause this morning I find myself preparing to send two things out again--one a traditional ghost story, the other a vampire poem (I know, I know, I promise I'm ashamed of me, too--but I really like the damn poem). Both of which are looking at a long, arduous, uphill battle to find a market.
And there's a part of my mind that wants to know why I'm bothering. Why am I sending these things out when I know full well all I'm going to get in return is a slap in the face? Why am I doing this to my ego and my peace of mind?
One answer is: it's part of the business.
Another answer is: I'm too stubborn to know when to surrender.
A third answer is: if I don't submit them anywhere, then they will never be published.
And while I do, yes, write for myself (I have to, or I'd go stark barking mad with boredom and everything I wrote would be flat and dull and entirely unreadable), I also write because I have this insane egotistical idea that other people might like to read what I've written, that I might be able to give back some of the pleasure I've received over the years.
When you get down to the fundamental underpinnings of my psyche (turtles--turtles all the way down), I write because I love stories. Or, perhaps a little more accurately, because I am addicted to stories. And I know I'm not the only one. I consider myself incredibly fortunate that I can get paid for writing stories, but the brutal truth of the matter is I'd do it anyway. And I'd want people to read them anyway, because part of the whole idea of a story is that one person tells it and at least one other person listens. That's the point.
I'm getting very philosophical and should probably shut up now.
But I'm going to go submit these things and worry about the rejection letters when I get them.
And there's a part of my mind that wants to know why I'm bothering. Why am I sending these things out when I know full well all I'm going to get in return is a slap in the face? Why am I doing this to my ego and my peace of mind?
One answer is: it's part of the business.
Another answer is: I'm too stubborn to know when to surrender.
A third answer is: if I don't submit them anywhere, then they will never be published.
And while I do, yes, write for myself (I have to, or I'd go stark barking mad with boredom and everything I wrote would be flat and dull and entirely unreadable), I also write because I have this insane egotistical idea that other people might like to read what I've written, that I might be able to give back some of the pleasure I've received over the years.
When you get down to the fundamental underpinnings of my psyche (turtles--turtles all the way down), I write because I love stories. Or, perhaps a little more accurately, because I am addicted to stories. And I know I'm not the only one. I consider myself incredibly fortunate that I can get paid for writing stories, but the brutal truth of the matter is I'd do it anyway. And I'd want people to read them anyway, because part of the whole idea of a story is that one person tells it and at least one other person listens. That's the point.
I'm getting very philosophical and should probably shut up now.
But I'm going to go submit these things and worry about the rejection letters when I get them.
