I'm a Pessimistic Realist, What Are You?

A little over a week ago, I was blog hopping as was my habit while I drank my coffee before I settled down to write, and stopped off at Magical Musings. My GIAM buddy, Edie, a member of that particular glog, and had written the topic of the day, Staying Positive. It was a good article with many writers contributing to their experiences.

I, of course, felt the need to comment.

I had always been a glass half-empty type of person, UNTIL I started querying, entering contests, and submitting, then I turned into a total Pollyanna, glass half-full person, trying to look at the bright side all the freakin’ time! It probably has to do with everyone cheering you on with a trite, “an R is one step toward publication”, or “your writing is awesome–one day it’ll happen” (uh, this is from someone who has NEVER read my writing). This only made me feel worse for not succeeding in the publication biz.

Fast Forward eight years: I’m now a pessimistic old fart. I EXPECT the rejections, relish them actually. Why? Because I don’t fall into the vortex of depression when I DO get one. And the perk? I get a really good high when I get a request.

For me, this is a win-win. And when I do get the rejections, well, I already have another plan of attack ready to go.

Edie's response was the one I hoped to get:

Margaret, you had me laughing again. I love your writing, and some day an agent, editors and a whole lot of readers will be loving it, too.

Well, my Pollyanna comment really struck a nerve with one of the commenters. She was proud to be an optimistic-no-matter-what Pollyanna.

. . . I read the name Pollyanna in the above comments, and yep that’s the side of the playing field I’m on. I’d rather go through life experiencing the positive, than a gazillionaire with a bad attitude and drenched in negativity. Now, that would be depressing!

I had to laugh. She didn't know me, my weirdly dry sense of humor, or how MANY times I've faced rejection. So I searched my archives:
Book 1, The Aegis--6 queries--6 rejections
Book 2, The Dragon Warrior--13 queries--13 rejections
Book 3, Twist of Fate (was Beyond the Past)--93 queries/partials/etc--93 rejections
Book 4, The Leprechaun Connection--stopped recording--5 queries--5 rejections, but I would hazard a guess that it was around the 90 mark.
Book 5, Scent of Evil, novella--1 query--1 rejection (novellas don't really sell well unless you are known or write erotica, and this wasn't sensual) I decided this would work better as a full length novel--unfinished as novel.
Picture books (9)--didn't keep track, but I think I sent out 10 queries on one of them--10 rejections
Book 6, To Gnome Me is To Love Me (was MISSING: One Garden Gnome)--110 queries--75 rejections--35 no response means no. I think that I've had my fair share of rejections. I've had the Pollyanna attitude for ALL of them except for the last fifteen rejections on Gnome, AND I was down for DAYS with every rejections EXCEPT for the last fifteen. As a writer I retain my sanity when I expect the rejections, AND have a Plan B ready to go.

An because I'm such a bonehead, I responded:

I don’t think I have a bad attitude about anything, but I am realistic. I know this is a tough business to break into. Percentage-wise, I know the rejections will outnumber the requests–and trust me, I have received over 70 rejections on my last novel, and this was novel #5. And I know that this business is terribly subjective. Just because someone likes your work, it doesn’t mean she can sell it or place it in the publisher’s line.

Shoot, I totally switched genre gears last year and started from scratch as I tried to figure out what it takes to get published in this new genre. I didn’t have any writing buddies in this new field, and though supportive, many of my romance writing buddies don’t read or understand MG.

It’s all part of the business. I wouldn’t be trying if I didn’t have a positive attitude, but I’ve had to learn to adjust my thinking to work for me and my mental state.

In other words, I’m POSITIVE that I will get a rejection.

Getting my hopes up when I see the agent email or the agent letter in my mailbox won't change their response. I had to change my reaction to it, otherwise I would drive myself crazy.

So my pessimistic realistic approach works for me. And if you are always on the optimistic side, well the, good for you. So whatever you have to do to retain your sanity. My answer was to revert to my tried and true pessimism

Hi, my name is Margaret and I'm a Pessimistic Realist. What are you?

Write on!