On Rejection

Rejection is the universe's way of saying there's something better out there for us--that we're worth more than whatever this thing we are pursuing has to offer right now.

For writers, a rejection could mean there's a better publishing house, a better agent, a better journal, or even a better path than the one we're currently working toward.

Maybe we didn't place in that anthology contest, but there's a literary magazine we can submit to that will showcase our writing in a more effective way. Maybe we're not right for that agent's current list, but there's an agent we haven't submitted to yet who is going to champion us 100%. Maybe the book hasn't found a home because it's too niche, but we can reach our market more effectively by self-publishing. 

On the other hand....

Sometimes the rejection happens because the writing isn't ready or the story isn't as strong as it could be or the novel is missing that extra something that will make it stand out. Maybe the rejection is telling us that this obstacle will be one that helps us grow--it's going to turn us into better writers and storytellers.  

When it comes to rejection, though, we just need to trust the universe (that LIFE!) is supporting us. 

Photo by Monstera

Soren Kierkegaard said: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

We're not going to fully understand the path that we're on as we experience it, and, when we're in the middle of it all, it's so easy to lose hope. 

But the universe WANTS us to succeed. 

It's working for us and it's working with us. And whether it's for our growth or because something better is headed our way, that rejection is going to be what sends us down the right path: exactly where we're meant to be. 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~  

On Writing for Writing's Sake

"Writing is not about publication, 

though publication can be a splendid event. 

Writing is about writing."

"People should be able to write and feel proud 

without ever being published. 

Writing is a human right . . . 

and humans should be able to do it 

without being judged as failures 

for not making the professional cut."

-Mark Edmundson-

Why Write?

No Failures, Only Lessons

Lately I’ve Pondered 

(from the newsletter)

There are no failures, only lessons. We either win or we learn. 

I don’t know who to attribute this aphorism to. There are many iterations of this idea spoken by any number of influential people. 

Nelson Mandela might come closest with: “I never lose. I either win or learn.” 

It’s a worthy endeavor, I think, to reframe the “failures” we experience as lessons—ways to grow, markers to gauge improvement, milestones on our journey. Because if we try and fail at something, but we learn something new to apply to next time (in that the failure could eventually lead to a success), is it even failing? 

Really?

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

More on Failure

I talked about failure not too long ago, but stumbled across this great quote the other day, which really puts things in perspective for me:

"Everything looks like failure in the middle."

(Rosabeth Moss Canter)

It's so easy for someone standing on the outside to judge us. Our actions. Where we are. What we're doing. 

I liken this to someone walking into the room as I'm working on a 10,000 piece puzzle. I have some of the borders, some of the middle--maybe I'm about three thousand pieces in. With pieces scattered all over the table--no rhyme or reason--it's easy for someone else to see a mess. To think: "Wow. She's getting nowhere."

But I'm making progress. Bit by bit. Slow and steady.

And, when the puzzle is complete, everything will have come together and it will all make sense.

Life is that puzzle.

We pick up pieces, try to connect them to something else. Maybe they fit. Maybe they don't.

To the outsider, we are failing all over the place. Or maybe we can't even see the bigger picture. We feel like we're not making connections, everything is falling through, nothing has worked according to plan, and we wrap ourselves in the idea that we're failures.

Not finishing that book on time.
Losing a book deal.
Going out of print.
Low sales rankings. 
Not getting into the college of our choice.
Closing the doors of that family business.
Lay-offs.
Career changes.
Canceling the trip.
Miscarriages.
Wayward kids.
Having to push back retirement.

EVERYTHING looks like failure in the middle.

Keep pushing forward. Push with the end in mind--that tomorrow can be better than today, no matter the circumstances. 

That incomplete puzzle tells only half the story. 

Because everything looks like failure in the middle.

Now go Be Brilliant.

~Katie~

On Failure

On Thursday I woke up craving cupcakes (don't worry, it's not that kind of craving).

I tweeted this:

I really want a cupcake. (At 9am. Yeah, I said it.) :D

— Katie Klein (@katiekleinbooks) May 28, 2015

By 10:30, the daughter and I were in the kitchen, trying out a new recipe for cupcakes.

We didn't have eggs, so I decided to use applesauce as an alternative (which can be done, yo, and is a legit option when there's an egg allergy in the family).

(No egg allergy here, though--just no eggs, period.)

You saw the title of this post, right? Do you get where I'm going with this?

So we mix our ingredients, pop the pan in the oven and wait. And wait. And wait. And when the timer dings our cupcakes are still flat. 

Like . . . pancakes.

Round 1: 

I keep my cool, grab the cookbook, and reread the instructions.

SELF-RISING flour. Not All-Purpose.

Crap. It. All.

At this point, I had a choice. Freak out and moan and groan, or take the high road. It was my mistake, after all.

So I smiled. And I said: "Well, that happened. Let's try again."

The daughter and I washed all of our pans and measuring spoons and started over. This time, we used the right kind of flour.

Still no egg.

Turns out, substitute or not, that egg was pretty freaking important. 

Round 2:

*sigh*

So here's what I know about failure:

Failing is an important part of life and living.

If you aren't failing, you aren't trying 

(or you're not trying hard enough, 

or you're not trying the right things).

Every failure contains its own lesson. 

You will learn more from your failures than your successes.

Yeah, I could've gotten angry, tossed it all in the trash and spent the rest of the day sulking because things didn't go like I planned. (Because that's what "perfectionist" me wants to do.)

But I embraced the failure. Called it what it was.

Then I buttercream iced my failure and ate it.

The lesson I want my daughter to learn from this day: Mom didn't give up. Even when things didn't go the way she expected, she kept trying. And she kept her good attitude while she did it.

So when Mr. Klein came home and asked "What the $%&* happened?," I turned to him and smiled and said:

I taught our daughter how to fail today.

Now it's your turn. Go find failure. 

And Be Brilliant while doing it.

~Katie~