<p>Yes, it happens, even at the adult level. And guess what – it’s just as painful!!!</p>
<p>Some background: I am the breadwinner for my family, engaged in a career which is slightly lucrative and incredibly stressful, and I have always thought of myself as a writer. I have been writing since before D’11 (Clg Class of 2015, hence my screen name) was born. I focused on this one idea: write the story you can’t bear to tell. That’s the story I want to read, or see.</p>
<p>I tried to sell my novels. Now I’m doing screenplays. I went to a screenwriting expo in LA last Sept 2011. 3 people asked to read my script. One nice girl paused after my pitch, and I said: don’t worry – nothing you can say will hurt me – I have 2 teenagers. She laughed, and asked for the script.</p>
<p>Now I’m pitching virtually (“pitch in your pajamas!”). I got some nibbles, but I just got a response from a nice guy at New Regency – no thanks.</p>
<p>I will start on a new screenplay tomorrow. Tonight, I’m mourning. I guess I posted this to reach out to everyone who has a dream, and who won’t give up, and who has suffered many many rounds of rejection. </p>
<p>I did plan my Oscar acceptance speech – it’s not so crazy – the guy who got the Oscar for the King’s Speech is in his 70s. After I thanked the Academy, I hoisted the nude gold statue and screamed, "To writers, and dreamers everywhere, DON’T GIVE UP!!!</p>
<p>Class, you are so far ahead of many of us who never manage to get around to putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, whatever). I will be looking for you on the Oscars in a few years…add a CC parent shoutout to that speech so we’ll know it’s you!</p>
<p>One of my kids works in network TV. Here’s the word: brutal. It’s a brutal business. So many people want in, they try as hard to drive as many as they can out. </p>
<p>As for rejection, try acting. It’s a life of rejection. Or being a comedian. There’s a reason they call a bad show “dying”.</p>
<p>You can do it! I want to FINALLY take creative writing once my kids are out of the house. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve done some copywriting and of course I think I’m pretty boos :). I also wanted to be a muppeteer. Sigh.</p>
<p>So sorry for the rejection, Classof2015. Please don’t give up on the current screenplay while you’re writing the next one. It’s exceptional, as CHS2011MOM says, that you’ve even completed novels (more than one!) and a screenplay while pursuing your civilian life. I envy your commitment and your courage (and maybe someday I’ll envy your Oscar!).</p>
<p>
Though I’ve seen this figure out there on the internet, it’s not accurate. I’ve read several books about Margaret Mitchell and GWTW. Mitchell apparently never submitted the book to any publisher other than Macmillan, which did indeed publish it in 1936 - and she only submitted it to them reluctantly. A friend of Mitchell’s who worked for Macmillan knew she’d been working on a novel about the Civil War for several years and periodically nagged her about sending it in to be evaluated. When a Macmillan editor visited Atlanta, Mitchell was pushed and aggravated into letting him take the manuscript, though the story is that she quickly regretted it and wrote a friend that she had been “several kinds of an ass” to put herself in the position of having it published. Someone persuaded her to go ahead and the rest is history.</p>
<p>But Mitchell, like every writer, knew rejection for her other work.</p>
<p>^ Thanks for that bit of history frazzled. You must be a real history buff/fan of MM to know this. I’m glad you did. I’m sorry to have passed on incorrect information. I would not have done it willingly. I guess you can’t believe everything you read? </p>
<p>Classof2015, good for you for not giving up! I have a friend who was a journalist for many years, writing a regular column for a large newspaper. Five years ago, he took a sabbatical for a year to write a mystery novel, something he’d always wanted to do. Well, he officially retired from the paper when he achieved success with the first one. He has since written six more and has become a bestselling author in both the U.S., Canada and the UK. He travels all over on book tours and leads an amazing life, following his dream. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>I’m a visual artist and have experienced both highs and lows with my art. Being accepted into a national show or getting an award is wonderful but it is always balanced with the rejections. I have seen, in the art community in my area, bad art that sells and great art that languishes in obscurity. I decided, several years ago, that i needed to focus on making authentic art. Whether that work gets accepted, rejected, awarded or ignored needs to be put to the back of my mind. Otherwise, the work becomes tangled in expectations and fear.</p>
<p>My advice to you is, keep writing. Make it authentic and try not to taylor it to public liking. If it is authentic, it will succeed. Take criticism seriously. If someone that you respect has suggestions for improvement, listen to them. Swallow your pride and consider the opinions of those that know the craft and that you trust.
Good luck!</p>
<p>All of my kids are in the business. My husband’s family are/were in the business. So…first things first: register your screenplay/pitches whatever on the WGA website. Most companies don’t open thing sent over except sent by agents. If you are taking screen writing/writing classes at a university…good. Even the most brilliant writers need a bit of direction/polish/undertone whatever to even a great screenplay. And sometime the professors are professional writers and have connections with agents/editors.</p>
<p>(WGA writers Guild of America) Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Remember Ordinary People? Author sent a manuscript and it sold. Made a great movie as well.</p>
<p>Wow – I have tears in my eyes, reading your posts.
kelijake1987 – united forever!
CHS2011mom – how’s this sound? “I’d like to thank the Academy, my agent, AND ALL MY FRIENDS AT COLLEGE CONFIDENTIAL!”
lergnom – good insight – maybe this is par for the course.
blueiguana – thanks for the list! Sounds like I have about 30 rejections to go, at least
walker1194 – go for it! Start writing things down – dialogue, ideas, characters. I used to think I’d remember all the ideas that floated through my head – not anymore. Carry a notepad with you and write things down. You can do it!
frazzled1 – good idea about not giving up on the current one. I think I’ll pitch it a few more times then put it on Ink Tip.
alwaysamom – what an inspiring story! Thanks!
EPTR – very good point about the work being authentic. People can smell fake, or writing to the market.
ellebud – you’re so right – I took a summer long screenwriting class at NYU – it was so helpful to sit around a table with other writers, reading our scenes and getting feedback. I’ll check out WGA – some people said they prefer to copyright their work instead but I can’t remember why…
Writer1992 – if the story’s been in your head for 5 years, that means it won’t let go of you! It needs to be written! Try sitting down and knocking out a few pages or ideas. Anne Lamott said “give yourself permission to write a really sh***y first draft.” Chris Bohjalian said “you can’t edit a blank piece of paper.” Sometimes, when every word I write looks stupid or trite, I write with my eyes closed. Not kidding. Good luck.</p>
<p>Ah, rejection! I spent ten years working on a novel, with an eye always to a particiular lit prize I thought it was a good fit for (me and 300 other entrants). Well, after it didn’t win this year, I’m off to figure out how to get an agent–that seems as hard as getting published!</p>
<p>I’ve sent my short stories out many, many times (not formally counting!) Over these ten or so years, I’ve had a total of two published. </p>
<p>Definitely a brutal profession! Keept at it!</p>
<p>It says a lot about your character, Classof2015, that you have been able to write so much while working at an “incredibly stressful” job and raising children. Clearly, this is something you need to do. </p>
<p>Good for all of you who have written! garland - a novel! I’m impressed. Good luck to everyone in getting published. </p>
<p>alwaysamom, Would you be willing to reveal the mystery writer’s name? I love mysteries and am always looking for new authors. I don’t like violent and grisly books, though, so if he’s in that category, never mind!</p>
<p>Classof2015, maybe you could look for another class and focus on finding a professor who might be able to help you get an agent or otherwise break in?</p>
<p>IN my business, rejection is the norm. I can normally close one major deal a year, some times I have to starve for two years or so to get a drink.</p>
<p>The acceptance rates for novels and screenplays make getting into Harvard look easy. ellebud gave great advice. I think you just need to keep at it. Also, sometimes a story will not resonate at one time, but later it does, due to a subtle (or not so subtle) shift in the cultural environment.</p>
<p>When Ray Bradbury died, NPR carried a story on his career and mentioned that he had submitted 300 short stories to The New Yorker. They accepted one.</p>
<p>Speaking of school acceptance rates, it is harder to get into most Creative Writing MFAs than into Harvard. Top programs like Michigan, Iowa and Michener (TX) take sometimes 1% or less of applicants. Even lesser ranked programs generally take 10% or less.</p>
<p>I wrote two novels in another life. The first one was a real heartbreaker. Sent three chapters and an outline to a publisher. One of their agents wrote back enthusiastically urging me to finish it and send the rest. So I madly wrote nights and weekends, typed the darn thing on a real typewriter! Then sent it off, certain I was going to be able to quit the day job. Months and months of silence. Finally called the publisher and was told the agent who liked my submission had left the agency months earlier and, “no”, they didn’t know where he’d gone.</p>
<p>So a few years later while on maternity leave with second kid, I wrote another novel in its entirety. This one I sent to agents. One wrote back that she loved it and wanted to represent it but please revise this and this and this. I sat straight down, made the changes, sent it off again and then the big silence. At least by this time I was writing on a computer! Anyway, the agent finally wrote back that she hated my changes and didn’t think we would have the right chemistry to work together.</p>
<p>Then I went back to work and have not found the energy and will to try again.</p>
<p>My 86-year-old mom has both my novels and scolds me every time we talk for not writing any more. </p>
<p>I think you need a certain audacity. Maybe it will come back.</p>
<p>Good luck, OP. There’s nobility in the pursuit even if the prizes and royalties never come.</p>
</p>