Two Sylvias' Weekly Muse: May 28, 2023
Issue 57
Hello Muse Readers!
We’ve written quite a bit in the Weekly Muse about the role rejection plays in the literary life of a writer. If you are actively submitting your poems and creative writing, then you are bound to receive numerous rejections. As Sylvia Plath reminds us, “I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.”
There are a few well-tested strategies for dealing with rejection, some of which we have previously written about:
Don’t take rejections personally because they are subjective. Your work can be rejected because an editor is having a bad day, she/he/they is reading while distracted, or your subject matter (e.g., divorce) hits too close to home.
It’s alright to take some time to be upset or angry about being rejected, but don’t stay in this space for more than a day or two. Get back to writing and submitting asap.
Like Plath, view your rejections as a badge of honor because they show that you are submitting your work. If it makes you feel better—delete them, print them out an…