I watched Princess which is a show with Gail Vaz Oxlade a financial advisor. I record it and then zip through the commercials and some of the repetitive parts of the show. The episode on Saturday was about a woman who basically mooched off everyone in order to do nothing.
She used the excuse of not wanting a 9-5 job because she was working on her singing career. I couldn’t relate much to her. She seemed like a spoiled brat to me who was more interested in what people could give her than making real relationships.
One thing I took away from the show though was at one point Gail told this woman that if she wanted to be a professional singer than she had to work at it full time.
This is what struck me. I’ve been complaining about rejections and not getting published. I’ve been feeling like my efforts have not been moving me forward. I realize now that I’m just not working hard enough at getting published.
No, I’m not going to quit my full time job with benefits to work at writing full time. I cannot afford to do that. However, I can afford to give up some tv viewing and work on writing. I can afford to give up a bit of sleep to write. I can spend more time submitting my work with regularity and purpose. I can also be more selective about where I submit my work to.
Sunday I spent most of the day writing – either working on actual stories or submitting work to different places (watched the show while I ate lunch). It felt good to dig in and get to work. I enjoyed my time writing as always and even the submitting of work made me feel somewhat hopeful.
So thank you universe for the two reminders that success at writing doesn’t happen instantly and that rejection is a HUGE part of moving forward in a writing career.