I got an email over the weekend asking me how to cope with rejection, so I thought I would gather together some resources to help. Reading through these, it’s striking how much dealing with rejection is about mindset. Learning more about mindset is definitely a good way into this often difficult subject. So without further ado, here are 16 resources on dealing with rejection, plus an extra resource on Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (scroll down) in case you need it.
Lithub published the viral article ‘Why You Should Aim For 100 Rejections a Year’ by By Kim Liao, linked below, along with the follow up article. I’ve also included their list of the most rejected books of all time, as looking at examples helps us to realise that rejection is part of the job description.
The Most Rejected Books of All Time
These are some articles on experiences of rejection generally, including top tips from psychologists and neuroscientists, in bite-sized chunks that make them easy to implement.
5 ways mentally strong people deal with rejection from Inc.com
How to deal with rejection from Good Housekeeping
How to deal with rejection from Oprah Daily
An article by Beth Miller on the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook website.
Blog post from the archives of The Creative Penn from the author of The Bulletproof Writer Michael Alvear
Blog post from The Cut on dealing with rejection
Fab practical advice from the Scottish Book Trust
From the Write Life blog: ‘What 200 Rejections Taught Me About Being a Freelance Writer.’
Here are three podcasts and one video on dealing with rejection as a writer. Some of the tips are similar to those under ‘rejection and mindset’ and some are specific to writing.
Being a Writer Podcast Ep.1, from The Literary Consultancy. Dealing with Rejection with Catherine Cho and Nelima Begum. (This one is behind a paywall.)
A quick snippet from Neil Gaiman – from Masterclass.com
The Rookie Writer episode on rejection rates
We Regret to Inform You podcast series, investigating famous rejections.
The Write Off podcast – thanks to Laura Pearson for the tip off.
Rejection sensitive dysphoria is an emotional response to rejection or your perception of it. It’s common in people with ADHD or ASD and isn’t diagnosed on its own. Here’s a definition from Additude Magazine that will help if you suspect you are extremely sensitive to rejection, but the tips in the articles under ‘rejection and mindset’ should still help.
Definition of Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria from Additude Magazine
Let me know in the comments if you know about any other resources for writers on dealing with rejection. Check out the next post on dealing with rejection here.
More soon. Until then, happy writing,
Lou xx