What really matters is what you do with what you have. ~ H. G. Wells

As a writer, you will hear the word no. Or at least some of its cousins, like, “not interested,” “cannot use this at this time,” or “this is not for us.” That’s expected. Here is where writers have a crossroad decision to make.

My advice is this: Do NOT let a single, solitary excuse fall out of your mouth.

NO is part of this game, people. And the more NOs you receive, the more defined a direction you can make. NOs are just as good as YESses.

FundsforWriters receives articles queries daily. Most are rejected. Most are rejected for the following reasons:

1) Word count is wrong.
2) Topic isn’t anywhere on the FFW radar.
3) No bio, no website, no link to the writer.
4) Plagiarism. (Yes, it’s common. Yes, I check.)
5) No takeaway value for the reader (it’s more about the writer and their feelings).

But one rejection that most submitters don’t see coming is when they emphasize the negative of writing.

“How to cope with rejection.”
“How to get past the negativity of nasty agents and editors.”
“How to cope with writer’s block.”

Just like we refuse to post anything on writer’s block, we don’t emphasize or dissect refusal, or the word no. It’s part of the journey, and frankly, getting any response, even no, is a good thing with the right mindset. We do not want writers to see themselves as victims. We refuse to give NO the air it needs to breathe.

Our mission is to point writers toward the word YES, which is more than an acceptance by a publisher or editor.

1) Yes, I can learn from this rejection.
2) Yes, I see the different direction I need to take.
3) Yes, I can cross this market off my list as not fitting my style.
4) Yes, I know better now how to keep going.

When you dwell on NO, you rob YES. And all the publishers, editors, agents, and so on out in the world who are looking for writers, do not give a darn about how many times you’ve heard the word NO or fell into writer’s block. They only want someone able and willing to write well for them.

So why in the world would you waste one second to dwell on NO?