Wednesday, March 15, 2006

A crisis in confidence

A fellow writer across the Tasman in the Shaky Isles asked how others dealt with the inevitable rejections that interleave our successes, particularly when we try to spread our wings a little wider, and it started me thinking.

Succeed and you get feedback, fail and you get none. It should be the other way around.

In the beginning, when rejections were all I knew, it was easier. I'd failed and had no option but to try again. I'd try to analyze it, testing my choice of publisher for the manuscript, re-examining the writing, the story, the presentation, searching for a reason I wouldn't know enough to recognize when I saw.

A few successes and the problem grows more complex, the analysis more difficult - the perfect example of the danger of a little knowledge.

Do you stick with the publisher you know, and who knows you, even when you doubt their suitability, or go on looking for the perfect match for what you want to write?

If we were all immortal, it wouldn't matter. We could afford to waste a few decades polishing our skill at writing as we looked for the perfect outlet, but we aren't and time is racing by.

I guess all we're left with is the core of self-confidence that made us try this writing game in the first place and trusting our judgement one more time.

Damn!

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