How do you deal with rejection? Page 2

Remember: Each rejection is just one step closer. To the next rejection.

"Unless you pay for feedback which is becoming the current trend in competitions surprise surprise"

This is a thing? But how do you even get competition judges to acknowledge your "I'll pay for feedback" email?

Ell, you can pay for feedback for certain competitions - the sitcom mission for example. If that's not specifically stated, then you can hardly ask for it.

Just remember It's everybody's fault but yours.

I think you need to enjoy the process. If you're having fun keep on. Get feedback, learn, improve, then maybe one day...

This a is a quote attributed to either Banksy or Simon Munnery depending on your citations

"All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?"

You're learning to draw.

Quote: TheKingLobotomy @ 6th April 2020, 1:41 PM

"All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?"

You're learning to draw.

There is some truth in that but there's also a big difference between drawing and writing/performing comedy.

All art is subjective, of course, but I think the quality of a drawing is much more easily agreed upon than the quality of a script or comedy performance.

It is rare in the field of drawing to find a piece of work which some knowledgeable people believe is an excellent drawing while others believe it shows little or no talent at all.

With comedy, either written or performed, there are very many examples of works which have been deemed very good by large numbers of knowledgeable people while simultaneously being deemed a load of bollocks by equally large numbers of equally knowledgeable sorts.

Essentially, I would caution every writer in the world against buying into the notion that a rejected script is necessarily a script that needs substantial improvement.

It is by no means unlikely that your script is in fact good but that the person rejecting it either has different taste to your own or simply can't find a place for it in his current schedule.

The classic example is the chap at the BBC who thought "Fawlty Towers" was a very poor piece of writing indeed.

Obviously, your rejected script might be a very poor script indeed but, if you really think it's good, you should be very slow to change your mind about it just because the person to whom you offered it didn't bite your hand off in his eagerness to have it.

The best way to handle rejection is to know that it's all experience and it's helping someone hone their craft weather it's submitting scripts, attending auditions or sending music demos. You're never going to get a yes all the time and you should listen to feedback but think hard if you're being asked to change something you feel strongly should not be changed. Sometimes you have to ask yourself if it's worth the compromise and for getting your foot in the door you could argue it is. As your creative and post productive techniques improve with practice and study so will your reputation and you will become more appealing. All the biggest names in writing and comedy didn't achieve success overnight and it took a lot of time chipping away at it. A writer is likely going to create several novels before they hit the target with a best seller but it's a long road to get there and there is no guarantee. Same with scripts and music.

About 10 years ago I became hooked on the idea of writing a novel and was exited about the processes involved such as thinking up the characters and story lines and sub story lines and twists. I didn't get very far because I started reading about how your first effort is probably going to be of a low standard so gave up. Completely the wrong attitude I know and if I had stuck at it and actually produced my first book I could have then used the experience to make writing subsequent books easier and more likely to be well received. Instead I took the lazy way out.

Quite honestly I think rejection is the most banal phenomenon since Posh Spice. Imagine if every half-assed late-night only-five-Pernods-and-one-packet-of-Kleenex-for-company puddle of puke got the publisher drooling. No point.

Sometimes, the mind has difficulty processing rejection.

Many years ago, I applied to go on an origami course.

When I got the rejection letter, I didn't know what to make of it.

Oh!
I got a rejection from the invisible man masturbating. Didn't see it coming.

What's the difference between sex and rejection? Sex only hurts the first time.

Showbiz is an industry in which genius is often ignored and in which the talentless scum of the earth often rise to dizzying heights of fame and fortune.

Of course, it's equally true in showbiz that genius is often worshipped and the talentless scum of the earth are often kicked into the gutter - but that's not what we're talking about.

If you genuinely believe you're good, just keep trying and let rejection bounce off you like water off a duck's back!

If you are deeply affected by rejection, you are very much in the wrong industry if you value your mental health and happiness.

My mentality always been, I like me, f**k you if you can't take a joke. This has got me kicked out of almost every show in the city, even open Mic, evener the Open Mic I co-founded. Result.

Quote: Michael Monkhouse @ 2nd May 2020, 8:35 PM

My mentality always been, I like me, f**k you if you can't take a joke. This has got me kicked out of almost every show in the city, even open Mic, evener the Open Mic I co-founded. Result.

Your mentality has always been that you're mental.

Practice helps too. After the first 200 rejections, 201 onwards seems easier.