My therapist told me about “arrival fallacies” during my last year of grad school. An arrival fallacy is this idea that “once X happens, then I will be real/legitimate/settled/enough/etc…”
It helped me reframe my writing & research so much! Just like this post does! :) excellent reminders here.
“Declined by return of post”… harsh! Thanks for this great post, Kate. Over the years my writing life has taken many forms, but I’m so happy to be right here right now.
Wonderful & inspiring examples! Jane Austen’s extended wait for publication granted her expanded life experience to gain a new vantage point for reviewing her work and a clearer sense of her own desired artistic vision to revise the early-cycle novels into the form beloved by so many appreciative readers today!
Thank you! I agree; the way she published all those great works in succession shows she was on the cusp of greatness. Perhaps those years allowed her to develop her craft, as you say.
I love this! I think anyone who enjoys the craft of writing is a writer - it’s as simple as that :) unfortunately every writer deals with rejection at some point in their life, so it’s reassuring to see that even Jane Austen received rejection letters with no feedback!
Thank you Kate. I’ve been mulling over your post, particularly you questioning whether writing a book is for you or not. I agree, I don’t think book writing is for the faint-hearted. Deciding which route to take is a personal choice. Unfortunately from experience I’ve found people who are not writers assume a writer is writing a book. Sadly they do not always consider short- form pieces, essays etc as “proper” writing…
Yes, all writers face rejection, including many excellent writers who go on to great success. I think the confusion in the writer's mind is the assumption the work is rejected because the publisher thinks it's not good enough. Maybe that's true sometimes. But rejection usually means 'I don't know how I can sell this'. But maybe someone else does. Maybe you do. Virginia Woolf published her own work. So did William Blake. Publishers would not have taken on such uncommercial work. But thank heavens the authors had enough belief to do it themselves.
This is so interesting. I didn't know Maya Angelou won a Grammy. Some excellent writers in here, and I really liked how you used a wide range of writers.
My therapist told me about “arrival fallacies” during my last year of grad school. An arrival fallacy is this idea that “once X happens, then I will be real/legitimate/settled/enough/etc…”
It helped me reframe my writing & research so much! Just like this post does! :) excellent reminders here.
Oh wow! I have never heard of that before! That makes so much sense though…it's so easy to get caught up in those thoughts. Thank you! 😀
“Declined by return of post”… harsh! Thanks for this great post, Kate. Over the years my writing life has taken many forms, but I’m so happy to be right here right now.
Same, Victoria! I love what I’m doing right here and now. Thank you for reading :)
What a wonderful set of examples to show that that rejection doesn’t always mean that the work wasn’t excellent to begin with!
I know! Thanks for reading, Renee 😀
Wonderful & inspiring examples! Jane Austen’s extended wait for publication granted her expanded life experience to gain a new vantage point for reviewing her work and a clearer sense of her own desired artistic vision to revise the early-cycle novels into the form beloved by so many appreciative readers today!
Thank you! I agree; the way she published all those great works in succession shows she was on the cusp of greatness. Perhaps those years allowed her to develop her craft, as you say.
I love this! I think anyone who enjoys the craft of writing is a writer - it’s as simple as that :) unfortunately every writer deals with rejection at some point in their life, so it’s reassuring to see that even Jane Austen received rejection letters with no feedback!
So true! Rejection is always hard, but if we want to see our writing out there, it's inevitable. Thank you for reading 😀
This was, quite literally, what I needed to read this week!
Oh, I’m so glad! :)
Thank you Kate. I’ve been mulling over your post, particularly you questioning whether writing a book is for you or not. I agree, I don’t think book writing is for the faint-hearted. Deciding which route to take is a personal choice. Unfortunately from experience I’ve found people who are not writers assume a writer is writing a book. Sadly they do not always consider short- form pieces, essays etc as “proper” writing…
Thank you for your considered response to this, Sue. I agree; it does feel that book writing is seen as the marker of a "proper" writer.
Yes, all writers face rejection, including many excellent writers who go on to great success. I think the confusion in the writer's mind is the assumption the work is rejected because the publisher thinks it's not good enough. Maybe that's true sometimes. But rejection usually means 'I don't know how I can sell this'. But maybe someone else does. Maybe you do. Virginia Woolf published her own work. So did William Blake. Publishers would not have taken on such uncommercial work. But thank heavens the authors had enough belief to do it themselves.
That is a really good point, Anna! Maybe that could be part 2 of this essay, authors who chose to publish themselves! Thank you for reading :)
What a lovely, encouraging post, Kate. Will keep going...
Please do! :)
This is so interesting. I didn't know Maya Angelou won a Grammy. Some excellent writers in here, and I really liked how you used a wide range of writers.
Thanks! 😀 I know- she was so inspiring.