Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Tuesday's Inspiration - Ralph Waldo Emerson


There's been a lot of buzz lately about giving up and going on with the writing one does.  It's been about people being upset about making best-seller list or earning a lot of money. It's been about continuing and giving up. When I read this quote, I thought it fit the way to inspire me. How about you? So here goes.

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising up each time we fail." Ralph Waldo Emerson. Try, try, try again is what this said to me. I began writing short stories and then graduated to novels when the rejections began to come and the markets dried up. I sold my first novel after the book was sent out seventeen times to different publishers and revised each time it came back with reasons for the rejection. Those were the days when editors gave reasons and not just the cold "Sorry, this doesn't fit our needs."

I went on to sell four more novels after that first sale. Then life happened. Children reached college age so I put my writing career on hold and returned to work as a nurse. When I returned to writing things had changed and once again I went through dozens of rejections but this time they were the cold "Sorry," printed on a piece of paper. I didn't give up. Nor did I feee a failure. I knew eventually something would click and then I discovered electronic publishing and I found my spot.

A lot of my friends have received rejection after rejection but they've continued to rise up after each failure. Other friends have given up their dreams of being a published author.

How about you are you continuing to pursue your dream or have you given up?

No comments: