Esther Chilton

Take a deep breath and just do it!

In my role as a writing tutor and through meeting lots of writers through various media, I’ve found that many don’t send their work out. The reason? For some, they simply enjoy writing and want to write for themselves which is fine. For others they’re too scared, fearing rejection or that an editor/judge may slate their work. Rejection is part of being a writer. Even good old ‘J.K’ was rejected numerous times. Having a piece of work criticised is also part and parcel of being a writer. Read a famous author’s review on Amazon and there’s usually one or two who didn’t like the book.

But remember, any rejection or criticism isn’t aimed at you personally. Sometimes it’s down to an editor not having room in a magazine or having covered the topic you’ve written about recently. In a competition, what one judge doesn’t like, another will love.

If you don’t send your work out, yes, it won’t be rejected and nor will a bad word be said against it, but it won’t be published either. What if you did sent your article out and it was accepted? What if your short story won a competition? It would be fantastic, wouldn’t it?

So, go on, take a deep breath and go for it. Rejection and criticism isn’t that bad. It stings for a short while and then you dust yourself off and move onto the next piece of writing. Remember, you really have nothing to lose and everything to gain.