There’s no easy way to face rejection, no easy way to write the word. Even the dictionary describes it as – ‘to put aside or send back as not to be used’. And there’s the rub. ‘not to be used’. After all that hard work the harsh criticism suggests that I just ‘start a new novel’ But no, I’m not doing that. This novel is based on my first family settlers in New Zealand and has been supported and helped by my family out in New Zealand. I don’t wish to let them down. If I stop writing my novel I won’t start another but concentrate instead on my journalism which, up to this point, has been relatively successful.
Of course I have met with criticism before, it’s not new to any writer but criticism that is so damning that it cannot see anything worthy of saving is very hard to swallow. We can all think of inspiring stories of people that have succeeded despite tremendous odds or of athletes who have been rejected for one set of games only to prove victorious in the next. They didn’t give up. I suspect that I won’t give up either but will take up my book again sometime in the future but for now I’m going to concentrate on reading and learning from other writers, my journalism and a new part-time job I’ve just started. Then maybe just maybe I’ll start revising the novel…
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