Learning from Rejection

People have the right to say "no" and sometimes it does hurt - yet when the person who 'rejected' what I had written helped me turn this rejection around and make it an opportunity to learn by telling me why and what was wrong with the book I submitted.

Why I was rejected

In this learning process after the "No", I realized why and was told so. I have been writing online for many years and freewheeling my way around the net, ranking, getting content found, becoming popular, gaining a voice, having followers, establishing credibility and a good reputation... it all is for naught when it comes down to writing "exam-grade" work.

I have become slack. The online world has spoiled me, pampered me, made me succeed. The target audience is easy to reach with tweets and Facebook status updates. The quality of content that I wrote wasn't suffering, it actually became more fluid and got results - and it became second nature to me to write with keywords. To add more content, I place 'fluff' and these additional words do help in getting ranked - but that's all squat when it comes to book writing.

Rejected not just once but twice

You should have heard the comments I got from my family and felt what I did when I got rejected the first and second time. For a few moments, I fancied myself to be like the author of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling who got 12 publishing rejections before it was approved. I felt like I was in good company. And the pride inside me raised its ugly head saying, I have a voice, I have a following, I get hits!" And then, I took a deep breath and I had to place both feet on the ground and think of what that guy who rejected my book said...

"You're a good writer. I like that you're determined. Did you have any form of formal training?"

My answer was "no". I have trained myself to write online, got other kinds of training like how to write using keywords and use backlinks, all these things - but to learn how to write? Aside from what I learned in school which was so long ago, I never did seek to learn how to write. I write with a passion and with the dedication that I learned from my grandfather, Jose Villa Panganiban, and what he taught me always comes to mind and then I think about how no one would have ever rejected my grandfather's work. "

After that second rejection, being the determined character that I am, the challenge came to mind:

I will not allow myself to be rejected one more time by that guy. 

The time he had spend talking to me and tutoring me was valuable time. He believes in me and am making me a better person. Improvement always has space in my life and I would be a fool to think that I am the best. I saw my flaws and am learning from rejection.

What I am doing now

I don't like being rejected and for that matter, who does? So right now I am studying, taking formal training on how to write. I must be humble, not bank on what I have accomplished online but strive towards the next "chapter" of my writing career.

Failure is like a toddler falling down while learning how to walk. If the child doesn't stand up again and try, that kid will never learn how to walk. I feel like a toddler and I am grateful for the one who rejected me that offered his "hand" to help me up.