Ask anyone who knows me, and they will all agree about a quality I am famous for: my persistence. Any writer worth his or her salt should be persistent. I want to talk about persistence in this post.

It takes a lot of guts to be a writer and send your writing into the world. But when you do, you risk receiving rejections. Yes, the dreaded rejection slip that comes in the mailbox or via email makes a writer’s heart sink deeper than the Titanic. It takes a lot to escape the downward spiral of depression post rejection.

But in order to succeed, you must overcome the fear of rejection and learn how to conquer it to get an acceptance letter. I have more than a few rejection letters of my own. I have not wallpapered my walls with them, but I do receive them. I just file them away and I keep sending writing out. I have a tough thick skin too. Rejection letters are no fun. They make you feel like your efforts were unappreciated, like the quality of your writing was poor but that is not true.

Some writer bitterly commented to me once about the x number of rejection letters he got compared to me. Ah but I keep trying. I am like that bad coin or song that plays over and over in your head. I don’t quite go away.

I got good advice from a friend and very published author: He told me I was looking at it all wrong. I would like to share his advice with you. Editors need a story to fit in a slot in a publication. They need x number of stories to fill a book. So next time you are rejected, and maybe if you are lucky, the rejection letters get more personal, file it away and keep trying. Never take it personally.

Also, trust in yourself. You are the master of your words, the creator of fantastical worlds never seen before. Trust that you can not only survive rejection but that you will eventually gain that coveted acceptance letter. You are the master of your fate. I keep a record of everywhere I send my writing, every anthology, every magazine. Once you have a long list of places you send your writing to, you can reflect on all the times you tried. That alone is something to celebrate. It is better, much better than giving up.

I hope that soothes the sting. That is a great way to perceive rejection. Another tip to keep in mind is to keep the rejection letters that were encouraging you to submit again. Keep a tally of those letters from editors. Maybe your next story or article is good enough to fill a slot in a publication. You will never know until you try.

I waited a year for an editor to decide if he/ she wanted to publish my story. I withdrew it when they didn’t reply by a certain date. I sent it out again to HellBound Books, who are publishing it this spring. See? If I had given up in utter despondence, I would have missed out on that opportunity.

Be brave enough to persist. Always strive to improve the quality of your writing. Nothing is more powerful than persistence. Persistence is an admirable quality in a person. I hope you all found this post about persistence helpful.