Positive Thinking or Not Getting Your Hopes Up
Do you do the positive thinking and imaging or do you go with the not getting your hopes up?
I got a couple of rejections this week that knocked me down for a little bit and it got me to thinking about what is the best way to handle submissions and the possibility of rejections. Generally speaking, I've gotten pretty good at shrugging off rejections. I file them away and send off the next batch or to the next market depending on what the submission is for. But ever so often I'll get one where I can't just shrug it off and move on, and it got me to thinking, what is it about that particular rejection that got to me?
And I think I figured it out, I was putting more weight on that submission. Practicing what people like to call positive thinking when sending it out, etc. I was trying out the idea that positive thinking brings back positive rewards. But as we all know in the writing game - rejection is a massive part of the submission process.
If I send something off and not think positively or hopefully toward that particular submission, I am much more able to shrug off the rejection and go on to the next one. It reminds me of something a horse trainer told me once. She always went in expecting to get last place so she would be surprised and happy when it didn't happen. But, I thought, aren't we supposed to go in visualizing the perfect run and performing flawlessly, because our demeanor and thinking going in can cause an outcome. If you expect to do badly - you will do badly.
I'm not sure I know the answer to my own question. Which is, should you send something off positively, visualizing the acceptance, etc? Or should you send something off with a "so what, it's just another submission" attitude?
So, what do you do?
I got a couple of rejections this week that knocked me down for a little bit and it got me to thinking about what is the best way to handle submissions and the possibility of rejections. Generally speaking, I've gotten pretty good at shrugging off rejections. I file them away and send off the next batch or to the next market depending on what the submission is for. But ever so often I'll get one where I can't just shrug it off and move on, and it got me to thinking, what is it about that particular rejection that got to me?
And I think I figured it out, I was putting more weight on that submission. Practicing what people like to call positive thinking when sending it out, etc. I was trying out the idea that positive thinking brings back positive rewards. But as we all know in the writing game - rejection is a massive part of the submission process.
If I send something off and not think positively or hopefully toward that particular submission, I am much more able to shrug off the rejection and go on to the next one. It reminds me of something a horse trainer told me once. She always went in expecting to get last place so she would be surprised and happy when it didn't happen. But, I thought, aren't we supposed to go in visualizing the perfect run and performing flawlessly, because our demeanor and thinking going in can cause an outcome. If you expect to do badly - you will do badly.
I'm not sure I know the answer to my own question. Which is, should you send something off positively, visualizing the acceptance, etc? Or should you send something off with a "so what, it's just another submission" attitude?
So, what do you do?
I used to just not get my hopes up because then if it didn't happen, I thought I wouldn't be disappointed. But I read so much about "the secret" and thinking positively that I've switched to that way of thinking.
ReplyDeleteHave you noticed any change since you've starting thinking positively?
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