Here are five reasons new writers should keep going, no matter what setbacks are thrown their way.

1) You’ll only get better

When you’re new to writing, it can be hard to write regularly, especially if you find yourself on the receiving end of more than a few rejection letters. However, continuing to write will do wonders for your skillset. Just from reviewing and refining your projects, you can improve exponentially. If you pay attention to feedback, continuous writing will help you put that feedback into practice, making you better at your craft with each new piece. And if you focus even a small amount of your energy on learning more about writing as you go along, your skills will only increase. Consistent practice may not make you perfect, but it will surely take you to the next level.

2) You’ll develop perseverance

Nothing fosters strong perseverance skills like actively pitching your writing. If you pitch a piece and don’t get a favorable response, use it as a chance to grow. Maybe that short story didn’t have enough character development, or maybe an article you wrote needed more in-depth research. Writing often requires multiple revisions, no matter what the project is.

Having to stick with one piece to revise and refine it, as well as pitching your work to multiple outlets on a regular basis, will help build your stamina. As time goes on, you’ll find that persevering through the rough patches becomes a natural reflex. As a writer, you have to expect that you’ll be knocked down many times, but that doesn’t matter as long as you get up and try again.

3) You’ll develop other skills along the way

Writing doesn’t exist in a vacuum. We often have to conduct countless types of research, observations, and experiments in order to get out whatever story is resting deep within. While you continue to write, you’ll enhance your analytical and research skills, become a more keen observer, and even collect lots of (totally useful) factoids! Maybe your main character is a philosopher, or you’re dead set on writing about true crime—each new project brings with it an opportunity to research a field that’s entirely new to you. Part of the fun of the craft is investigating how to make stories more effective, and the more you practice the skills related to writing, the more well-rounded a writer you’ll become.

4) You may learn to confront personal issues

Whether you’re writing a memoir, fiction, or just blogging, writing can bring many personal, deep-seated struggles up to the surface. Though it can be painful at times, it’s never a bad idea to explore some of these issues through the safe space of writing. Your fictional characters might take on a fight similar to yours, or you might decide to write a barefaced blog post as a form of catharsis. Either way, you’ll reap the benefits of writing through your struggles. Let your characters (even if that character is you) help heal your soul.

5) The world needs your story

New writers can easily get overwhelmed with the amount of writing there is out there in the world—and on the infinite abyss that is the internet. But don’t let what everyone else is doing deter you from writing your own stories. Collectively, we all contain an infinite number of stories and experiences. Another author may have written something similar to what you want to write about, but that doesn’t mean your story isn’t important or shouldn’t be told. The world needs good stories, no matter the medium or genre. Don’t hesitate to put yours out there.

In reality, writing isn’t easy, but who says it should be? Sometimes it’s all too tempting to give up out of frustration or dissatisfaction. On a good day you may be happy with your work but feel as if you’re writing into the void, and on bad days you may question why you ever wanted to be a writer in the first place. But no matter what challenges you meet, always keep in mind that you embarked on this journey for a reason.

Courtney Lazore is a writer and editor with a passion for languages, history, travel, and the arts. Though she writes across various genres, she’s currently focused on writing her first book about Korean pop music. You can find her at courtneylazore.com or on Twitter.  

The post #5onFri: Five Reasons New Writers Should Keep Writing appeared first on DIY MFA.

Now, here’s something to take on: Look beyond the anger, the embarrassment or the frustration. What is there for you? Consider that a rejection or a lack of response is a gift. It gets you in touch with what you fear, which helps you build the muscle of courage.

Facts and Interpretations

Let’s look at what rejection actually is.

One way to look at rejection is that your work wasn’t accepted. That’s a fact. The second is rejection meaning something about you. The monologue in your head may sound like, “I’m not good enough.” How likely are you to keep writing and querying if you come from a dis-empowering context? Here’s what to do when you start beating up on yourself:

1. Declare a breakdown. Write down the issue that’s bothering you.

2. Write down all the things that are upsetting you besides being rejected that day. Your dog pooped on the carpet, the mail arrived late and your shoe needs cobbling. Clear all that junk out of your head. Distinguish the judgments you have about yourself or others based on each of the things you list. Are those judgments facts or interpretations? If they’re interpretations (most things that upset us usually are our own judgments, not the actual events), cross them out and move on to the next step.

3. Now write down the facts of what you’re upset about. This step will clarify what happened versus how you feel.

4. Now, ask yourself what you’re committed to. Do you want to be the first-ever writer of dog-themed mysteries for tweens? Declare it! Your feelings change from second to second and really can’t be trusted. Your commitment, however, is something you’ll work toward no matter how you feel. You will write when you’re too tired or feeling lazy. Consider that your commitment has to be a large enough vision that it overcomes your feelings, which are temporary sensations.

5. What action steps will you take to make your declaration happen? Write down your goal. What do you want to create by when? Then work backwards, creating milestones and rewards for yourself, each step of the way. Your plan may change over time. No need to beat up on yourself over that. Just re-tool and keep it moving.

6. What are you responsible for in this experience? Write that down. Certainly, there are things out of your control. And then there are things you could control, like the quality of a draft, the amount of hours you put into it, and the way you took care of yourself in order to produce good work. This part of the exercise is hard because humans love to blame others. Once you take credit for how things went, you’ll gain elevation on the experience AND you’ll be able to see more (perhaps, better) options. Remember: When you blame someone else, you give up power.

7. What gold did this experience provide you? It may very well be that your draft wasn’t ready for the world. Or the rejection may be a lesson in resilience. Declare what the experience gave you. This is like an exercise in gratitude. When you see the gold in a situation, you may actually be thankful that you were rejected.

Facing Fear to Build Resilience

Now back to getting in touch with what you fear. A lot of what many of us do is act in ways that protect ourselves from experiencing our fears. Sometimes, what we’re avoiding is so scary, we bury it deep down. Would you consider that in doing so, we’re really avoiding ourselves? Yet, in not facing fear, we create a far more volatile relationship with it.

That’s why rejection usually hurts so much and why many people avoid taking risks.

So instead of avoiding the ickiness, practice being with fear in small, safer ways. When you begin flexing and building that muscle of courage, that next rejection letter won’t stick to you.

This is the second article in a series about dealing with rejection as a writer. Read the first article here .

Julie Varughese is a life coach and former journalist. She is at work on her first fictional series and on a documentary film on her grandmother. She takes it as a practice. Check out her website: www.julievarughese.com

The post How to Stay in Action When You Get Rejected appeared first on DIY MFA.

Here’s the deal: Keeping yourself open to an acceptance letter requires being open to a rejection, too. There’s no way around it. Winning and losing requires being and staying vulnerable, which can feel painful.

There’s a voice in all of us that says, “I don’t want to do it!”

Your game as a writer is to hear that voice and keep playing. To keep momentum going, you’ll have to shift who you’re being, not what you’re doing.

Commitment and Its Discontents

You can keep changing what you’re doing (drinking more coffee, spending less time with friends), but you may still be stuck. If you shift who are you being, you can do the same things, yet see dramatically different results.

So how do you change who you are being? First, ask yourself: What am I committed to?

When your commitment to writing that novel is firm, you may feel scared, yet excited. That’s a good thing. If you’re not doing something every day that scares you, you won’t grow. As Tony Robbins says, human beings need to feel that they are growing in order to feel fulfilled. With this commitment to your novel, you’ll be able to stick to writing, for example, 500 words per day, at 6 in the morning, before you go to your morning yoga class, shower and head to work.

Sound like a lot to do before 9 a.m.?

When you’re committed, all of the circumstances that may prevent you from writing look like, well… circumstances. They can be overcome. Once you commit, and see results (1,498 words, then 3896 words, then 7699 words…), it will turn into a game. Getting to the goal of 500 words each day will feel like being a contestant on the Nickelodeon game show, “Double Dare”. (Am I aging myself here?)

You’ll have obstacles: Yoga, showering, the commute, the 8-hour job. You’ll get slimed: The train slows to a halt in a dark tunnel, your boss asks you to stay late to finish a project, your baby gets sick. Then the buzzer will go off because you ran out of time. But unlike being a contestant on the 1980s TV show, you’ll be able to play again the next day.

How To Stay In Action

Once you’re committed, the next step is creating an action plan and being in action. Always.

Consider that getting 8 hours of sleep counts as being in action. All of the things you do to write, to fund your writing (working your 9-to-5), and being mentally and physically capable of writing (getting good food in you) are what keep you in action. Self-care is the first and most important aspect of playing the game. That’s because in order to be a consistent player, you’ll need sustainable energy and enthusiasm for the game.

How To Keep Playing

The past doesn’t exist anymore and the future hasn’t been created. So don’t beat up on yourself if you didn’t write yesterday. You have today.

When you’re being playful and consistently in action, your writing game will be fun. When it keeps being fun, you’ll keep writing. Then even if you’re rejected by agents and editors, you’ll consider it part of the game of making your novel happen. It may seem difficult to juggle these dichotomous concepts in your head. You’ll have to have a vision in mind, plan out your milestones, be in action, have fun in the moment, yet be unattached to the outcome.

But don’t worry: It’s a practice. If you’re out to get it right the first time you do it, you’ll set yourself up for misery. What matters is that you be in action and have fun. This moment is all that counts. It’s really all that exists.

This article is the first in a two-part series on dealing with rejection as a writer.

Julie Varughese is a life coach and former journalist. She is at work on her first fictional series and on a documentary film on her grandmother. She takes it as a practice. Julie blogs about *being* and *doing* at www.julievarughese.com

The post How to Keep Writing When You’re Scared of Failure appeared first on DIY MFA.