This post was wholly inspired by Space, Time, and Raspberries, the blog of Sue Ranscht, a lovely weaver of words and other beautiful things. In the spirit of her post, I want to make something beautiful every time I receive a rejection, so that I can, well…not look forward to it, but at least have a plan of action for when it occurs.
Knowing that something lovely will come out of despair will hopefully help me to move past it and not wind up in the same situation I found myself in almost ten years ago when I gave up on/shelved my paranormal romance novel The Serpent’s Tale. The veritable decade has given me time to ruminate and realize that I not only should market it as a paranormal romance (I was looking for representation within the dark fantasy subgenre before), but also that I need to heavily edit and refine it before plunging into the deeps again.
Rejection tends to drag me down into the bowels of despair, igniting my depression to dangerous levels. It was a place I couldn’t stay in and remain healthy. This also means the project can’t be overly complicated, but it should be something that will hold my attention and concentration.
This is where you come in, because I’m not really sure what I should do! Since any rejection will be due to writing, it shouldn’t be a writing project. These are the ideas I’m considering:
- Origami – I make some sort of folded paper creation. I’d even be willing to buy a book on this and the proper paper so I can attempt things I’ve never made before. I used to be quite good at this in my youth, crafting paper cranes and what not. Sadly, that knowledge has been lost, but it could be found again, and I’d make something different with every rejection.
- Knitting/Crochet – One of the other. I don’t know how to do either, so it would be an excuse to learn a new skill. Again, I’d be more than willing to buy a book.
- Scarf Making – I could specifically knit or crochet a scarf for every rejection and give them to friends.
What do you lovely people think would be a good “rejection” activity? What would you do in such a situation? I’m not overly talented at making things. I’m reasonably fair with image manipulation (as in I can add words and filters); photoshop isn’t my forte, so any kind of computer project might not be for me. Let me know what you think in the comments!
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
I paint or draw or sculpt. Different media have helped at different times. The outcome isn’t necessarily eye appealing, but appealing isn’t the point. I let the paint or lead or clay or whatever absorb all my negativity.
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This is a really brilliant idea! I love it. 🙂
Whenever I (finally) get around to submitting something one day I am going to have to do this, too. This seems like a much healthier and more productive alternative to succumbing to the disappointment that comes with rejections. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. 😀
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Exactly what I think! I want something planned with all the equipment so I can receive the rejection and just get to work. It’ll give me something to do and it’s a different type of concentration from writing, but it’s much better to occupy your mind with something than dwelling on what didn’t happen.
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I think you should ask some of your hot friends to get together with you on a room, set a video camera rolling and record you all having a pillow fight. You could get all your frustrations out, have a visual record of it all, and provide some entertainment for the rest of us too! It’s a win, win thing, baby!! 😀
(you totally know I’m joking, right?)
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I imagine the creaking of joints for our arthritis lol. I’m not that old, but my body doesn’t seem to understand that 😀
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Hahaha – it don’t matter how old you feel – you just need to have some kinda fun while you’re going through life. 🙂
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I could teach you crochet. I also have a book about crochet and knitting here somewhere. I do knit too, but I consider myself a novice since I’ve been trying to knit scarves for a decade, but always end up scrapping the project, bc to me it’s too slow (of course, if I had kept it up, I’d be fast by now, but I digress…)
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I’d love that!
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Awesome! We should get together for it! June isn’t good though I have so many different family members arriving at different times and all the weekends through the 25 are booked with said family stuff.
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We’ll figure out a time! Let me know if you’re doing anything this weekend. I’m playing that Eldritch Horror game with Tommy, and it’s up to 8 players 🙂
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Oooh… I’m free Saturday!
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I knit. Once yearly. In the winter I knit scarves, just a few a year and give to people that I adore. But I think it’d be a good rejection project.
(My husband keeps saying that I should do more than just scarves but that’s my comfort zone and I have zero ambition to try anything else lmao.)
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Knitting seems to be the most popular one! I like it because it both satisfies my need to do something AND gives me something to give my friends 😀
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Plus, it’s actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it.
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You honor me. Thank you for sharing the idea that our ego, no matter how fragile, doesn’t have to surrender to the forces that beat it up. Snatch that rejection from the jaws of depression and transform it into a victory of creativity.
Origami can be intricate and impressive, and would make great gift decorations. I’ve achieved some sense of success from some fairly complicated projects when I went through my most recent origami phase a few years ago. But then they sat around collecting dust till I put them in a box. Ultimately, my failure of imagination led me to toss them into the recycle bin.
I like the idea of knitting scarves for your friends. I taught myself to knit from a book, and I’ve developed confidence that I can accomplish any pattern I take on. There’s much satisfaction in making a simple scarf, but I have a couple tips to share.
1. Always slip the first stitch of each row (beginning with the second row) from one needle to the other without knitting or purling it. This helps keep the edges from curling under.
2. The simplest pattern is to knit a row then purl a row and repeat till it’s as long as you want it to be, but you’ll have a definite front and back, and the whole project will have a less luxurious feel to it than if you Knit 1, Purl 1 (K1 P1) across the first row for an odd number of stitches, then Purl 1, Knit 1 (P1 K1) across the next row, and repeat that pattern till you’re done. There won’t be a front and back. (You won’t get a front or back if you knit or purl ALL the rows, either, but you’ll get different patterns.) Of course you could do different patterns as different sections of a single scarf if you wanted to.
Whatever you choose, I hope you’ll share the results here. ❤
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It’s a wonderful idea! My friend has offered to show me how to knit or crochet; I can’t remember which one now. I like the idea of using bad news to make something meaningful for my friends. I will definite share whatever I do here 🙂
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My writing has never been rejected officially but just my fear of rejection is holding me back from finishing my novel. It can’t get rejected if I don’t finish it, haha. You are a much braver writer than I’ll ever be. Some publisher out there has to realize how talented you are!! 🙂
Video games are my go to activity to escape any depressing situation. I can’t make anything but pressing buttons on a controller works for me.
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It’s such an awful feeling I’ll tell you, and everyone handles it differently. I totally understand the idea of “not finishing so you won’t be rejected.” It’s the reason I’ve spent the last few years focusing on fanfiction. No chance of rejection there lol.
Video games are a great escape.
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I implore you to KNIT !! I love Knitting and there is a whole community of knitters out there waiting to inspire and encourage you! You can join me at Sip and Stitch, it will be great fun! Plus I believe it has a healing quality to the practice. When I was on modified bed rest while pregnant with M it helped to create and feel useful. Let me know if you need anything to get started. I have lots of resources and suggestions!
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Is this Tree Shark??? I’d love to knit with you! ♥♥♥
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This is a great idea and wish I had a suggestion for you but I know nothing of knitting or sewing or things like that.
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It seems like knitting is winning! I like it because not only can I make something, I can make something to give to people. It’s a win-win situation!
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Hmmm… whoever rejects your writing is a fool! Just sayin’. 🙂
All of the above are great ideas! Maybe you should do a little of all of them and see which one you like best! Since you’ve done some origami before, you might be surprised how quickly it comes back to you.
Since I’m not talented when it comes to drawing on paper (I can draw on the computer though, how silly is that) I like to get those fancy adult coloring books and just color, and that really does relieve a lot of stress. Video games also work wonders for me 😉
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Aw thanks for that!
I think I’m going to go with the crochet or knitting thing, because that way I can make something for someone else 🙂
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That sounds like fun! My mom tried to teach me how to crochet when I was a kid, but since I’m left handed and do everything “backwards” it was too difficult for me lol!
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Ah, that would be difficult to show! I bet if you found a left handed crocheter, you’d be set 🙂
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