Just What I Needed to Hear Today

If you don't know who Maggie Stiefvater is you need to get acquainted.  She writes YA contemporary fantasy, including Shiver and Linger, which I greatly enjoyed.  She did an awesome post today on querying and rejection.  http://m-stiefvater.livejournal.com/176369.html

Here's what she has to say about rejection and query letters:


Really, what it comes down to is this: you have to choose courage.


At some point, you have to decide that this is the path you're on, come hell or high water, and rejection isn't going to bother you. Distress just isn't an option. Your heart is an impenetrable box and the slings and arrows of outrageous industry gatekeepers or critique groups or your partner are not going to nick the surface. Choosing courage isn't a complicated process -- it's a decision, but the hard part is, you have to mean it. I started submitting manuscripts when I was sixteen, the same year that I decided that I was sloughing off all my phobias (I had quite a few) and took up the bagpipes. I decided I wasn't going to be afraid of anything anymore. And I meant it. That's the important part. It's not a phrase you write on the mirror or chant in your car or work up to. It's just a statement that becomes true the moment you yourself really decide it.

So when I tell people that none of the rejections I got bothered me, it's true, because I decided before I started submitting that they weren't going to be worth my distress. They're informational, that's all. They showed that I was really working on becoming a professional and where I was in the process. Do you get sad when the low ink light flashes on your computer printer? It's just a fact, something to work around. Save your emotions for your drafts and put on your high heeled ass-kicking boots for your queries.

In the end, being brave is just as easy as being afraid.

 
Thanks Maggie.  I love you.

5 comments:

Jenni Merritt said...

that is awesome Keary.
Now...remember it.

AND KEEP WRITING!

~Crystal~ said...

That was great! Thanks for sharing. Very true in all aspects of life :)

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Hi, Keary! I saw the comment you left on Ally Condie's blog last week, and I had to hop over here and say hello because your writing process sounds EXACTLY like mine.(Especially the part about not being able to take time away from a project, because I'm too excited to get to querying:) )

Anyway, just wanted to say hello. And this --> "In the end, being brave is just as easy as being afraid" <-- is a great line.

Morgan said...

Ooh that was wonderful. Just what I needed to hear today too. Thanks! Keep up the great work!

Trisha Wolfe said...

That is just what I needed to hear also today, Thank you Keary for posting that :) I'm am attaching your blog on my links at my site, you are very inspirational. And thank you too Maggie!