Taking it on the chin

I do hope that is not my career going up in flames!

Throughout the UK and Ireland, young people have been getting the exam results that will determine whether or not they have got a place at the university of their choice. Tough times for some, but for the most, it is a time of celebration as they set off on the next exciting stage of their life.

In the Irish Times (17/08/10) there was a well-timed article about how to deal with the disappointment of failure, including some examples of well known and successful people who perhaps didn’t get off to the best start with their careers. Two of these examples were the Irish writers, Maeve Binchy and John Connolly, who received 35 and 70 rejection letters respectively, before going on to become the writing superstars that they are now.

That is an incredible amount of rejection to deal with and I am filled with renewed respect for both these writers. I have only had two rejection letters so far, with regard to my novel “Dancing with the Ferryman,” and that was enough to make me stop and think about whether or not I was good enough. The upshot of my re-think was I signed up to study for a Masters in Professional Writing. I hoped that this period of study would allow me to gain more skills and to add some more credibility to my CV. It has also given me the chance to step back from my writing and to view it in a more critical way.

At some stage, perhaps, when I have finished my degree, and edited my manuscript again to remove all the amateurish flaws, I will start the process of trying to get it published again. I fully expect to get numerous rejection letters; because that’s the way it seems to work. I wonder, though, how I would deal with rejection, if it amounted to 70 letters from publishers, all saying no.

This week I got the news that I hadn’t got a job that I interviewed for last week. I had made the mistake of setting my hopes upon success, and the interview had gone very well so I had allowed optimism to surface in my imagination. But the job went to someone who had previously been a CEO someplace, so that was pretty stiff competition. It is a little depressing to think that the level of competition for fairly ordinary jobs is so hard, but I guess unemployment being the way it is in Ireland, it should be expected. Nevertheless I was a little bit down for a few hours.

I have applied for countless jobs since I arrived, and despite many years of valuable experience and numerous skills, I have only had the one interview. I am sure that I will probably have to learn to deal with rejection over the next few months before landing a good job. And maybe that experience will stand me in good stead for when I pursue my dreams of publication again.

A sense of self-belief and optimism is essential for any writer, whether they have been published or not. We all experience moments of doubt to some degree or other. Sometimes that doubt can be crippling, and many budding, and no doubt talented, writers have given up. I wonder whether I would continue to have the strength of conviction in my own ability if I received as many rejection letters as John Connolly. I would love to know what drove him on to get past this. I hope whatever it was, that I possess at least some of that characteristic in my own soul, because all I know is, there simply isn’t any other career I would rather have.

In the meantime, there is always a plus side to every disappointment. My failure to get a job means that I have more time to write and study. If only I could get to grips with my bizarre sense of guilt at not working I would be in heaven.