The other day, our very own Saeed Jones, cohost of BuzzFeed News' AM to DM, poet, and now memoir author, sparked a Twitter conversation about creatives facing failure and rejection:
Sometimes I dig up old rejection letters from publishers and literary journals to remind myself that it’s just part of the process. This week’s #DearFerocity is about facing failure and rejection. Need some advice? DM me your questions and I’ll answer them tomorrow on @AM2DM.
He added the hashtag #ShareYourRejections, and pretty soon artists, writers, and YouTubers from all over were sharing their stories:
Like Lauren Morelli, one of the writers on Orange is the New Black:
I was rejected from the Warner Brothers TV writers’ workshop three years in a row. The next year, I got staffed on Orange is the New Black. #ShareYourRejections
She even shared some advice on how she channeled the most painful rejection into perseverance:
Meredith Blake from The Parent Trap weighed in too:
At the beginning of my career a casting director told my manager I’d never do comedy. Now THAT was hilarious. #ShareYourRejections
Author Karen M. McManus tweeted about receiving a query rejection even AFTER her book made it on the New York Times-bestseller list:
120+ query rejections on my first two (shelved) books. I sent my first query for One of Us Is Lying to my dream agent, and she signed me & sold it a couple of months later. Then I got another query rejection after it hit the NYT bestseller list 😂#ShareYourRejections
This writer PLASTERED HER REJECTION LETTERS ON HER COFFEE TABLE and quite honestly it's going SMACK-DAB in the middle of my mood board!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I first began submitting (look, hardcopy rejections!), I decoupaged all my rejections onto a coffee table in my office as a reminder to keep trying. Eventually, my work found homes in many of these same places. #ShareYourRejections https://t.co/MGp2iKrUX5
Several people were rejected by prestigious writing programs, but managed to ~THRIVE~ despite it all:
I was rejected from the ABC/Disney writing program Dec 2016. I’m now an Executive Story Editor on my 4th season of writing television. A fellow rejectee from the same year @StevenCanals went on to create @PoseOnFX. It’s been less than 3 years. Keep grinding. #ShareYourRejection
I was rejected by the UCSB Creative Writing College because I wrote a fantasy story, then I got a Medieval Studies degree instead because I couldn’t get back into the program. They rejected all fantasy stories. Now I play Dungeons and Dragons for a living. #ShareYourRejections
And some of their "fuck you" moments were so, so, SOOOOOOOOOY satisfying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got fired from a movie theatre I worked at because I skipped a shift to go to an audition. The role I got was in a movie that then played at the same theatre. #ShareYourRejections
#shareyourrejection Being told by another professional sculptor that I would never get hired or taken seriously because I made fanart sculptures but ended up making maquette sculptures for Disney TV and DreamWorks TV Shows.. and that person blocking me when they found out. 😂
When I was 19 and some trailer trash hick new to D.C., a @Heritage employee at my church said he was impressed with the grammar in an e-mail I had sent to our Bible study group and that he didn't expect it. Sending him a signed copy of my book next year. #ShareYourRejections
One time when I was unemployed and depressed an agent rejected me 30 minutes after I sent him my material by saying “Read it. Didn’t flip. Maybe you’ll embarrass me with an Emmy one day.” The show I spent the last 2 years writing on just got nominated. #ShareYourRejection
When I was in college, I really started to take YouTube seriously. Then some "Friend" there found my channel, and mocked my videos saying "I was wasting my time and my content was terrible" 285K subs later, I proved that ass wrong lmao #ShareYourRejection
Overall, they reminded us that: 1) Everything is subjective...
While querying, I once got a rejection that said they, “hated the voice but loved the plot”. In the SAME DAY, I got a rejection saying they, “loved the voice but hated the plot. You guys, publishing is SO SUBJECTIVE. #ShareYourRejections
...2) It only takes one believer...
Every single label, company, publisher and manager in Australia rejected Savage Garden until one man, John Woodruff, took a risk. It only takes one believer. #ShareYourRejections
...and 3) Rejection is just a part of life, and it happens to LITERALLY everyone.
#ShareYourRejections? I'm an actor for Christ sake. Have you got three hours? 🤣
So shrug it off and KEEP 👏 ON 👏 CREATING 👏 STUFF 👏 THAT 👏 MAKES 👏 YOU 👏 HAPPY. 👏
