Blog, Creativity 101: June 29, 2009 : 3:51 pm
Dealing with Silence and Rejection
Letters from fake people with real problems.
Dear Earl,
I just submitted my masterpiece to
- a reviewer OR
- a publisher OR
- an agent OR
- a producer OR
- a film festival
and I haven’t heard anything back. It’s been months. What do I do?
Signed,
Everyone Who Ever Made Anything, Ever
Did you follow up after a few weeks?
Dear Earl,
Yes. We haven’t heard anything, and it sucks.
Signed,
Still Us
Okay. Odds are, silence is the only rejection letter you’re going to receive. Maybe they just haven’t seen your submission yet, but if they do, and they like it, they’ll call you. Might as well move on and –
Dear Earl,
What? How can you say that? These people are insensitive bastards who won’t even deign to send a simple email saying, “Sorry, we don’t like it.” THEY OWE US THAT MUCH.
Signed,
Still Us, Slightly Drunk
Oh. I see.
Okay, this is a common misunderstanding for people in the entertainment business. You’re interpreting their lack of response as disrespect. What it really is, however, is a lack of interest, which can be more hurtful, but is not really designed to be insulting.
If you want, I can state the obvious, which is that their disinterest isn’t a direct comment on your talent, it’s the end result of countless factors, including: the state of the marketplace, the economy, the creative direction of their company, their personal taste, and whether or not they had bran that morning.
BUT –
That’s little comfort when you’re the one being rejected. What you need to know is that rejection — and its mutated-birth cousin “total silence” even more so — is an ingrained part of any creative career. You should reasonably expect to be ignored and rejected at least sixty percent of the time (eighty to ninety percent is not out of the ballpark).
That’s why a creative career is so tough to gauge: a success looks just like a failure for the first ten years.
SUCCESSFUL CAREER IN THE ARTS
They were rejected and ignored for years. And just when they were about to quit, someone gave them a chance.
FAILED CAREER IN THE ARTS
They were rejected and ignored for years. And just when they were about to quit, they did.
If you look at every rejection as a judgment, it’s going to wear you down. You’re going to either give up, or else become one of those cynical people at parties with faces like lemons.
Or, you can choose to look at rejection as a natural part of your process. Plumbers don’t complain when they have to deal with crap; why should you?
THAT MEANS YOUR JOB IS NOT “TO BE SUCCESSFUL”
Your job is to be talented, at the right place and time.
When and where is that? Nobody knows.
That’s why, outside of the time when you are actually creating, your primary role is being an “opportunity collector.” You should look for and pursue as many opportunities as you can, until it’s clear that they are tapped out; sheer odds will guarantee you’ll get your chance.
So if someone doesn’t respond, or rejects you outright? Learn what you can, and breathe a sigh of relief. It’s one more email or phone call you don’t have to follow up on.
Related posts:
- Dealing with Silence, Part Two
- Pry Yourself from Preproduction
- Study Everything
- Are Awards Worth It?
- A Question about Stranger Things DVD
Posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago at 3:51 pm. 3 comments
tags: real problems from fake people, rejection
“Plumbers don’t complain when they have to deal with crap; why should you?”
Bad analogy — plumbers get paid every time they deal with crap! (Says the guy who is in the process of fixing both toilets in his own house. . .)
“Your job is to be talented at the right place, at the right time.”
Which most people haven’t reached being talented yet. Also, I think to many people put their energies into being “opportunity collectors” rather than “opportunity creators.” Both of which, however, I feel are neccessary.
@Doc: I think you need to be realistic about your capabilities, but you also can’t let the internal critic talk you out of trying. Talent is like a winning lottery ticket: you don’t REALLY know you had it until it’s too late to do something different.