Who would have thought that the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger would ever appear at this blog? But here is the man who made the line, "I'll be back" famous, sharing some very important motivation for aspiring authors.
"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you go through hardship and decide not to surrender, that is strength." - Arnold Schwarzenegger
Writers must be very strong people because they deal with rejection and criticism so often. How many times have you poured your heart and soul into a piece of work only to be told by your critique group where it fell short? What is the number of times you've submitted a piece to an editor only to receive a form rejection letter?
Writing is not an easy gig, and anyone who thinks so is fooling herself. But, as Schwarzenegger reminds us, those struggles develop our strength, and after a while, critiques and rejection letters get easier to handle because we realize that they make us stronger and better writers. Perserverance is what will win the game.
Keep these words from California's governor in mind this week as you work toward your goal of becoming a published author. Go through the hardship, and never, never surrender.
2 comments:
I believe that rejection helps us better our craft. Of course, some rejection has nothing to do with the quality of the work, but we can still learn something about the publishing process.
Authors who want to improve their manuscripts and the query process may be interested in my book The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. It IS easier to learn that way than with so many rejections that it becomes discouraging. (-:
Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Blogging at Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites pick, www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com
Writing isn't easy, but I guess I like a challenge.
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
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