Why I Was Rejected by Writing Companies (And What I Did About It)
It’s not you, it’s me.
I thought I was a good writer.
I was wrong.
It took two rejections from the same writing company for me to realize just how bad I am at writing.
- Sure, I passed the initial spelling and grammar exams.
- Sure, I had writing samples (that were professionally edited by my clients’ editors).
- Sure, I wrote for my own blogs.
- Sure, I had an air of confidence about me.
But, was that enough?
Not at all!
When the smoke cleared, I was left with a bruised ego and a hole in my heart. I waffled around for weeks before coming to terms with myself: yes, I am a bad writer.
Yes, I finally admitted it to myself that I am an awful writer.
I didn’t let it end there, though; I needed to find out what I did wrong and what I could do better next time. Here’s what happened afterward.
I Was Unskilled
The truth? I just didn’t have the skills necessary for the job.
I didn’t let the requirement for, “3–5 years experience” deter me, though; I applied anyway. I laughed at such arbitrary requirements!
Passing the initial phase of the employment process gave me some initial confidence, but producing a writing sample was where it got rocky for me: I had no clue what they wanted.
The instructions were there in plain font, but I still couldn’t do it. I submitted my writing sample, only to be rejected — twice.
The second time was when I finally gave up. I was clearly not at the level that they wanted me to be at.
This was the first step to creating a new me.
How I Coped
Bring on the tears!
I was quite depressed for weeks after that. I couldn’t bring myself to eat, to sleep, or to do anything otherwise normal in human society. The bed — no, the floor — was my friend.
So many questions circled my head after that:
- What did I do wrong?
- Am I really that bad?
- Should I just give up on writing?
After a long while in this state, I finally found the courage to stand up again.
“That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” — Friedrich Nietzche, German philosopher
I was determined to learn from this lesson and to become a better person/writer! I did not want it to end this way!
I Paid for Writer Training
Yes, I paid for writer training.
No, I don’t regret it.
Before brandishing my wallet, I went on Google and YouTube to find whatever free resources I could find. There were a lot of good articles and videos out there, but they never gave me the “complete picture”, so I constantly felt as if I was “missing” something.
After sitting through countless lectures and reading through a seemingly endless train of articles, I finally threw my hands up in frustration and purchased writing courses.
Much to my dismay, the courses confirmed my deepest fears: I really did need a lot of work! I spent the next several weeks going through the lectures and training.
I started writing everyday for magazines, blogs, and for myself. I didn’t care if I got paid or not; I just wanted to become better at writing!
Have I become a better writer? I believe so, but this was just the beginning; I need to put in a lot of hours before I can truly call myself a real “writer”.
Have you been rejected by companies in the past? What did you do about it?
