Lately, I've been playing a game with rejection notices.
I've been counting them.
And I've been leaving their numbers on my Facebook feed.
Why?
Well, why not? Why take rejection seriously? I started taking it for what it is, a game, and decided to treat it like one. I started doing this at the beginning of the year. I count each notice and leave their numbers on Facebook (#1, #2, #3, etc.), and keep counting them until I get an acceptance. Once I get an acceptance, I start all over again. I clued my friends in to what I was doing, so they would know, but I stopped writing status updates that complained about rejection or made people tell me they were sorry it was happening to me. It happens to every writer and I wanted to stop making more of it than it was.
Since I've been playing this game, it's taken most of the sting out of getting a rejection, and helped me concentrate on sending work out and rejoicing when I get an acceptance. There's no rhyme or reason to this. One acceptance came after 8 rejection notices, another after 7. And in between, I just watch them do what they do, and file them away.
(Sooner or later, I'll probably stop these shenanigans, but for now, I'm enjoying myself.)
