Thanks But No Thanks

There are certain professions in this life which attract rejection. My days are a catwalk model are long gone, but I still remember taking my coltish limbs, pouting lips and luxuriant hair from one agent to another and hearing those dreaded words, “Sorry, darling, your look is too last season.” When I finally made it, bursting on to the fashion world as the muse of legendary designer, St John de Laslos, I was able to laugh in the faces of those who had crushed my youthful dreams.

Tiring of the vacuous world of modelling, I turned to acting, as you’ll know if you’ve followed my career. I appeared in a handful of critically acclaimed arthouse movies, cementing my reputation as the inspiration for the short-lived Film Mwah movement. Success didn’t come overnight for me. I had to get used to letters of rejection from directors, telling me that my radiant beauty and international fame would overshadow the true meaning of their films.

At thirty, two Oscars and a Bafta under my belt, I felt it was time to wave goodbye to La La Land and allow my remarkable gift for writing to flow unchecked. And so, now one of the UK’s most revered authors, I sit in my well-appointed writing studio, framed letters of rejection papering the walls and muse on the strange and febrile nature of success.

OK. I’m back. Don’t worry, it’s still me. I am sitting in the dining room, laptop perched on my knee, straggly hair in plaits (nice!) with the smell of dinner drifting in from the kitchen and a tottering pile of clean washing just within my eye line.

Most weeks, I get to early evening on a Wednesday and ask myself what on earth I’m going to write about this week. I’ve spent the last few days working on my novel, The Diary of Isabella M Smugge, non-stop. The deadline to have it finished and with the publisher is in thirteen days’ time. I love a deadline. It really sharpens the mind.

Let’s go back to rejection. I was rejected by four publishers before Isabella found a home with Instant Apostle, God bless them. This, of course, is nothing, compared to the twelve rejections that JK Rowling received before Bloomsbury accepted Harry Potter. Imagine being one of those publishers. You’d never be able to let it go.

The Beatles were rejected by a Decca Records executive back in 1962. According to them, guitar groups were on the way out. “He must be kicking himself now,” mused Paul. “I hope he kicks himself to death!” riposted John.

And how about this letter of rejection from Marvel to Jim Lee, now Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics? “Your work looks as if it were done by four different people. We suggest you resubmit when your work is consistent and you have learned to draw hands.”

The thing about being a creative type, like what I am, is that you really believe in the work you produce. Few writers have the gift of constant inspiration. As Thomas Edison once said, “Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.” You might come up with a brilliant idea, but it takes work and lots of it to hone it into a good piece of text.

When someone says, “That’s not for us” or, “Your style isn’t quite what we’re looking for at the moment,” it’s hard not to take it personally. Doors closing in our faces can discourage us from trying again. But it’s important that we do.

Where would the world of mechanical cleaning be without Mr Dyson and his persistence in the face of rejection? No-one took him up on his revolutionary idea for a bagless vacuum cleaner for over fifteen years but he never gave up. Now, he’s a billionaire.

Dear readers, I was never a catwalk model. Nor am I an Oscar-winning actor. You probably knew that. But I am a writer and I do know all about rejection. It’s hard, it’s tough, but if you keep believing in yourself and fixing your eyes on the goal, you will, one day, get that email or that phone call that makes all your dreams come true.

I’m racing towards a deadline to have my novel finished and sent to my publisher. Gosh it feels good. Like the pain of childbirth which ebbs away as you hold your newborn in your arms, the anguish of rejection is now just a memory as I work as hard as I can to make my book the very best it can be.

“Rejection is the sand in the oyster, the irritation that ultimately produces the pearl.”

Images by Unsplash

Ruth is a freelance writer and novelist. She is married with three children, one husband, four budgies, six quail, eight chickens and a kitten. Her first novel, “The Diary of Isabella M Smugge”, published by Instant Apostle, comes out in March 2021. She writes for a number of small businesses and charities and blogs at Big Words and Made Up Stories. Ruth is a recovering over-achiever who is now able to do the school run in her onesie most days. She has abnormally narrow sinuses and a morbid fear of raw tomatoes, but has decided not to let this get in the way of a meaningful life. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter at ruththewriter1.