Tuesday's Inspiration - If At First... #MFRWauthor

We've all heard the old saying that begins with If at first ... This means Persistence. I'm sure somewhere out there there's a writer who sold the first story or book they've ever written and never had their words rejected. That's not the way with most authors. The real name of the game is persistence. Trying again and again is the usual story. So being persistent is one of the things a writer needs to be.

Rejection letters hurt. They drag a writer down but the trick is to get up and try again. These days it's harder to  follow the rule to keep trying. Why worry. The story was rejected two, three or even ten times. All a writer has to do is publish the book themselves. Not that there aren't a ton of great books that have been self-published that are wonderful. I've read many and have found the authors to be ones where I want to read many more stories.

My career began when editors were willing to give positive and negative feedback on the story they had been sent. These grains of advice were helpful in helping me make the story better and eventually they sold. But not without persistence that began by listening to what had been said. It's a shame that this happens so seldom these days. But that's the writer's life today.

My advice is to be persistent but when a story comes back with a rejection letter, re-read the story from beginning to end and try to figure why the story went wrong. Check the plot for holes and to see if it's just ordinary. Look at the characters and maybe make changes in their object or their motives. Is the setting ordinary or does the setting become an integral part of the story.

Be persistent and maybe after many re-writes the story will reach an editor who will say. "I'll buy." So if at first... You know the rest of the quote.