Do I want too much from the very start? It's possible. Maybe if I had taken things slowly and done things properly from the start than I would be more successful now. Who knows? That's the beauty of it. Any decision we make involves taking a risk. It's one of the topics in one of my Advanced English classes at the moment. Risk is all around us. It's unavoidable. We take a risk every time we get out of the shower, get into the car, ride our bike without a helmet, light up a cigarette or avoid exercise while indulging in greasy food every day of the week. Risk is a fact of life. It's unavoidable.
Writers take a risk each time they put words on paper, write a query or full manuscript and send it out to the world of editors, publishers and magazines. They risk rejection and pain, and so much more. It's their creation that is being judged, they feel they are being judged. It's personal. But by not taking the risk of rejection, they are risking something for worse, something that will be far more painful than rejection or a template non-personal 'no thank you we're not interested in your piece' letter or email. Not putting yourself at risk of rejection, a writer puts themselves at risk of failure, at not reaching their dreams of success. That's a much more painful risk to take.
Not all risk is created equal. Some people choose to recklessly risk their lives, relationships and their world, while others choose to take a safer course of action and calculate their risks. But in truth, a successful outcome is not always due to the right calculation but luck. Others would beg to differ but sometimes even doing all the right things and minimising risk doesn't result in the desired outcome while a situation that maximises risk can have fantastic results. Luck plays a huge role. The good thing is that we can help create our own luck by putting ourselves at risk that may lead to our desired result.
How a writer can minimise their risk of rejection?
Stop writing and find another hobby or profession. Seriously the thought has crossed my mind a million and one times. Does the world really need another writer?
Seriously speaking though, it's possible to minimize your risk of rejection and the risk of not succeeding. With a few pints of luck, a sprinkle of determination, a dash of perseverance, a ton of hard work, and a bucket load of revision and your risk of rejection is minimised. But first you need to have the courage to send the work out to create your own luck while risking rejection and criticism.
I've had a few pieces published. The ones that did get published quickly were ones that didn't take too long to right. A quick 30 minute stint where I managed to send my inner critic on a break for just enough time to churn out enough words for a market that required pieces 'on spec'. Written, edited and sent out in under an hour made me a quick $100 a few weeks later. I took a risk. I quit thinking about the risk of rejection for a moment and sent the story out. Luck played a huge part I'm sure, but so did the fact that I put myself out there. In a sense, the action of sending out the article opened a window for me to get lucky. A risk that led to an article being sold.
Now as I write this, I can confidently say that each time I sent out ten or twenty queries within a few days, I scored a publication credit. Then I stopped. Why? Fear of rejection, afraid of taking another risk. And so the cycle continued. By not continuing to send out queries every day, I am taking the biggest risk ever. The risk of not succeeding as a writer. I'm not sure I can afford to take that risk.
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