1. It happens to everyone — but that doesn’t mean you have to pretend it doesn’t bother you.

2. It hurts because you care. Because you’re passionate about your work. You genuinely want to succeed.

3. It’s not always because you did something “wrong.” Sometimes, e.g., a pitch and a magazine just don’t match.

4. You will not bounce back from rejection the same way every time. Each will affect you differently. And that’s OK.

5. It’s OK to feel sad. You have a right to feel all the feelings. Even anger. Even shame.

6. You don’t have to get back up right away. It’s not about how quickly you recover — just that you do, eventually.

7. You won’t always know why you didn’t get picked. And that will always frustrate you.

8. But that can give you more motivation to pick yourself up and keep going. If you let it.

9. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve tried. You can always try again.

10. Every rejection is a stepping stone to the biggest success you’ve ever had. Keep going.

Meg is the creator of Novelty Revisions, dedicated to helping writers put their ideas into words. She is an editor and writer, and a 12-time NaNoWriMo winner. Follow Meg on Twitter for tweets about writing, food, and Star Wars.

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