rejection is part of the process

“Another one for the hook…”

I’m paraphrasing the punch line of a great story told by Stephen King in his book, On Writing.

Back in the day, he’d work his day job and submit stories and book ideas on the side.

And he’d get letter after letter back – no.

So he hung a hook on the wall. And every time he got a “no”, it went up on the hook.

He figured if he collected enough “no” letters, eventually one would be a “yes”.

I really dig that reframe.

How many NOs do I need?

If I haven’t got a YES yet, sounds like I need to add a few more NOs to the hook.

In other words, keep trying. Get better with every rejection. Don’t fear rejection – embrace it, use it as your secret self-improvement weapon. Take the advice that helps you, ignore the snark and the shitty criticism.

And go get those NOs.