Easily, the biggest emotional challenge of being a writer is the rejection. No one likes rejection, no matter the circumstance, but with creative arts such as writing, it is unavoidable and painfully frequent. It’s Hard Not to Take Rejections Personally Since falling back in to writing in 2014, I’ve queriedContinue Reading
Getting a writing rejection is never fun. The email shows up in your inbox. You notice that it’s from a publisher or agent. Your pulse quickens. This is it. You’re half excited, half breaking out in a stressful sweat. The message that email holds will either make your day orContinue Reading
Novel writing is an emotional rollercoaster. It begins with feeling overwhelmed. There is nothing as intimidating as a blank page. Then there is the feeling of excitement when ideas begin to flow. Then you feel the satisfaction of creating a world from scratch. Then there’s frustration when you’re hit withContinue Reading
Writing is such a personal and intimate thing. I always liken writing with the intent to publish to be like singing in front of a crowd. It’s a very vulnerable thing and so you can be very susceptible to the little whispers of self doubt. You really can be yourContinue Reading
I have a thick skin. Having a large family can give you that! That doesn’t mean I don’t get upset. I do. I’m crushed every time I get a rejection but…I give myself a very short grace period to be hurt, and then I do the proverbial “get up andContinue Reading
As is so common with writers, there were years and years of work with barely any acknowledgment, interspersed with plenty of self-doubt. Writing is such a lonely pursuit, which is why when you finally get writers together at a conference, we are all practically panting with excitement to be aroundContinue Reading
Whatever your experience as a writer, there are certain things you learn along the way. Perhaps the most famous lesson is to “develop a thick skin.” We’re told early on that we need to embrace criticism so we can learn to be better writers, no matter how difficult it isContinue Reading
The biggest emotional challenge of being a writer occurred when I was shopping an older draft of my first Skylar Robbins mystery, Skylar Robbins: Secret Agent. It took weeks, even months to hear back from prospective agents, and they hated it when an author submitted simultaneously to more than one.Continue Reading
My career has been as a professor of Art History at universities in the U.S. and Italy. I have a Ph.D. in Renaissance and Classics. I’m also a lecturer at various museums. As a scholar, my writing experiences centered mostly on dry, academic articles about abstruse themes. There is noContinue Reading
Writers face many challenges, including rejection of their work on the path to publication. I wrote four full-length manuscripts before securing a contract, and, even though it was part of the process, each rejection stung. Still, I used the feedback I received to make my writing better, even little tipsContinue Reading
The key to my creativity is cultivating a positive and active brain. If I let in too much negativity (from social media, the news, and other people), I lose my creative energy. Likewise, if my brain is sluggish (from poor health, poor eating, or poor sleep), I’m incapable of creativity.Continue Reading
We all know that negative self-talk can be destructive. Most of us are much meaner to ourselves than we ever would be to a friend. When a story is rejected we privately bash our own writing ability. When we fail to stick with our writing commitments, we bemoan our ownContinue Reading