Tag: Rejection

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Playing the Rejection Game – The Writer’s Edition

2021. A new year, and a new round in the rejection game. You ask how the game works? It’s easy. The goal is to collect as many rejections as possible. So you apply for master classes and writing programs and grants and awards and residencies. You submit your work to agents and editors and publishers. You open yourself up to judgement. It’s never comfortable, but it’s the nature of competition. It’s how the game works. It always unfolds the same way. First, you agonize over whether you should apply at all. Is this class really worth it? Is this magazine Read More …

LK Lohan

Writer’s Block, Impostor Syndrome, and Rejection Anxiety

Writer’s block, impostor syndrome, and rejection anxiety. The unholy trinity of every writer. Or so we are led to believe. Reading writerly blogs or articles sometimes make them sound like prerequisites to calling yourself a writer. Well, no. You can’t call yourself a writer. Because that would make you feel like an impostor. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that these feelings aren’t awful and all-too-real for some people. It’s the generalization that I object to, especially in publications geared towards aspiring writers. The results can be absurd. I once took a workshop at my local library, where Read More …