I received my first short story rejection last week.
I have battle scars! I have something to complain about! A reason to rail against The Man!
Actually, no I don’t.
The truth is, the piece submitted was my first attempt, and as I gave it one more going over for typos and errant apostrophes, I realized the sad truth: It really doesn’t work as a short story. At best, it seems like an excerpt from a novel length work, At worst, well, the reviewer comment sums it up.
This is just a series of characters I don’t care about.
I cared enough to devote 5112 words to them, but realized after the fact that they didn’t do much. I built the story around a couple of jokes, and a quirky premise without really considering the characters. Knowing the weaknesses before I sent it out certainly helped soften the blow.
Know what? It got me started, and I haven’t stopped. I’m not going to stop, either. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go research morgues…
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Woohoo! Your first reject. Your that much closer to your first win.
Keep going. I have no doubt you’ll get there….
Congratulations on falling flat. I mean that.
babe ruth struck out 5x as many times as he hit homeruns. of course you are a writer, that’s why it stung. 5100+ wds says to me there is a bunch there to work with. you’ll be rolling in pubs soon. your stuff is too good. keep at it.
Frame it, and title it “first and last”. THen pick the bones of that story and play with those characters. I bet you have something amazing waiting there – you always do.
Such a big moment. I still have my first rejection framed on…okay, I lie. I really set it on fire and cursed the day that editor was born. Try it. It may work. In the mean time, revise, revise, revise.
Your creations are truly inspired. Make sure you’re sending off the right type of story to the appropriate market.
You’ve already made it. Now prove it.
a lil like losing your virginity huh?