The Write Tuition

Dogged persistence is an admirable trait in the face of repeated rejection, and to a certain extent the old saying ‘if you throw enough mud against a wall some of it will stick’ is true.

However, I recently read the phrase ‘I have a teflon back, rejection just slips off so I’ll keep trying’ and it made me stop and think.

A teflon back is good, but sometimes a writer can get into the habit of accepting failure as ‘paying his dues’.   Paying your dues is fine, ‘if you want to sing the blues’, but there’s no point in paying any more than you really have to.  The only time you’ve really failed is when you’ve stopped trying.  It sounds like Hippy philosophy, but it’s true.

So think about this for a while.  Don’t brood over it, but give it some serious consideration. You’re not one of those writers who subconsciously begs for rejection are you?

There’s a world of difference between a covering letter/enquiry which asks ‘Would you be interested in a series of short articles about…’ and an almost identical one which says ‘I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a series of short articles about…’.

The first one asks even the busiest of editors to think, even if only briefly, and may catch his attention. The second virtually guarantees a simple reaction of “Quite correct, I’m not interested”.

You still need to have something worth selling, but the first approach is offering, the second is begging.  In an editor’s mind an author who is begging for publication is just as likely to be begging later for extra time to complete an assignment.   First impressions count, so keep it positive.