Lifting the Curtain to a Successful Month

April has been a fantastic month for me in terms of writing endeavors. I’d like to share what’s been so great about it just as many other writers would do. Share successes. I’ve noticed other writers or artists have shared successes and when you just see the snippet of their success, it appears everything has been going right for them all along. But we haven’t seen behind the curtain, we haven’t seen their hard work and their failures and those months that were fraught with disappointment. In everyone’s case, it’s far from the truth. But for the outside observer it isn’t always apparent.

April has been an incredible month for me. But previous months have been difficult. Plenty of disappointment and rejection. Plenty of time in which I had been working towards my goals and just felt I couldn't move the needle even one inch. Failure after failure.

I’ve realized that there is something about myself that I like most of all. I never give up. Every time I fail, it’s just another opportunity to showcase my favorite quality.

With that being said, I’ve continued to push through difficult months and landed in the lovely month of April. I found out a short story of mine would be published in Mollusk Lit, I found out a screenplay I entered into The Script Lab Free Screenplay Contest moved on to the Quarterfinalist round, I found out the day after 4/20 that a short story I submitted to On The High Literary Journal was accepted (how about that?), and oh, that story I mentioned that Mollusk Lit would be publishing, it’s up! You can read “The Origin of Curse Words” there if you’d like. Quite excited about that.

And with the news of another short story being accepted to On The High Literary Journal, that will make 7 short stories that I will have had published in various publications over the past year. 7 stories in 4 different publications. This is exciting because this is exactly the kind of goal I have been working towards… not to mention a screenplay still in the running for a contest. But this is exactly the front-facing success I’ve mentioned. I’ve seen friends and acquaintances with similar enough accomplishments in the past. They post this kind of success, I see it, I am happy for them, I get the wrong idea in my head that everything has been going smoothly for them because they’ve never posted about rejection after rejection, and then I feel a bit sad that I have not seen any success like that.

But their successes stand in front of the curtain. What’s behind the curtain? I have no idea. But I know what’s behind my curtain.

I know in front of my curtain, I can say in the last year I have had 7 short stories accepted/published in 4 different publications and have a script in the Quarterfinalist round of a contest. I know I can add to that, dating back two and a half years, three more contests I had entered stories into that moved on to second rounds, third rounds, fourth rounds… I have seen successes and I have seen my writing grow. So, if that’s all I say, if I don’t lift the curtain, the outside observer may feel discouraged if they haven’t seen similar success and know they have just seen many rejections.

Lifting the curtain…

Oh, I have seen many rejections too.

Another way to word it, out of the 224 publications/contests I have submitted to/entered, I have been published 7 times. 20 are pending. I haven’t made the cut 197 times.

197 times I did my best, sent my work out, and someone said, “No thanks.” 197 times it didn’t work out.

It’s important to note because it’s the truth. And without that context the picture is painted with far different colors. The valley in the painted picture is not all lush greens and bright beams from the sun. There are plenty of shadows as well. 197 times I’ve seen the shadows. 197 opportunities to do my favorite thing, though. Not give up.

Just as you cannot have light without dark, you cannot have success without failure. But I won’t be focusing on the shadows, even if I lived exclusively in them for quite some time. The sun is around the corner, you just have to keep walking. No one walks your path for you. I want to focus on the light, as April has shown me less and less clouds and sunnier days. I’m excited for my short story that’s been published and thrilled about my upcoming story as well. I will share that one once it is available. And I hope people will enjoy the one that I am able to share today.

Today’s current forecast: Sunny.