you've officially joined the club!

So you've got your first rejection letter back? Congratulations! You now have your first scrape, wear it like a badge of honour. You have now officially joined the club! All writers new and experienced will have their fair share of industry battle scars.

The Great Stephen King himself has said that he was able to cover the walls of his apartment office three times in rejection letters before his first book was ever published. Be proud, you're now a real experienced writer!

WHAT CAN I LEARN FROM rejection?

This is a question I ask myself after every rejection letter or email. If they are courteous enough to provide a reason for their rejection or a detailed critique be grateful for the feedback and build on it.

If you've had a few set backs, let those ignorant of your abilities fuel your fire. It hurts. You've put your heart and soul into your work. All those late nights spent by the computer, all those hours of sleep and social time you've sacrificed feel like a wasted effort but like any great relationship writing takes time.

You have entered into a partnership with something you love but like any relationship it's not always going to be easy. You'll have to remind yourself time and again that your love is pure and that you are dedicated to making this work. like keeping up a successful marriage you have to say to yourself "If it was easy everyone would do it"

Anyone can write but not everyone can handle criticism. This is a hard but necessary learning curb. If you master the art of being able to absorb critique and use it to better yourself you have taken the first step towards becoming an experienced screenwriter. Well done, Im so proud of you. In fact I always try to remember this quote from one of my favourite writers Ben Elton -

" I'm easy to work with, not a pushover, but I respond to criticism and find it inspiring." - Ben Elton ( Writer of Blackadder, Upstart Crow, The Young Ones & The Thin Blue Line)

the most important rule after rejection? DOn't give up!

Just because one person said no doesn't mean someone else will. If your basing the worth of your script or book on the opinion of one agent, producer or studio head then you will never be able to handle the amount of rejection associated with this job. If what they say rings true, go back and see if you can polish your script any more and try again because giving up should not be an option if you're really committed to doing this. And think about it this way, you're just rounding it down. There are probably four thousand if not more publishing houses or agency's in your area if you live near a city, that means theres only a certain amount of no's you can get before someone statistically has to say yes. You may have 0.0001% right now but the more people you cross off the list that statistic will change. Just move on to the next one and the next, follow up and keep banging on peoples doors if you haven't had a reply and most importantly don't let yourself be ignored.

The Dufresne Method

One technique that can work for you long term I have constructed from years of rejection. I call it the ' Dufresne Method.' This is a method that should only be deployed if you have been ignored, haven't had a direct no, or haven't received any feedback after two to three weeks and it go's like this....

Have you ever seen The Shawshank Redemption or read the Stephen King Novell by the same name? If not then I suggest you read or watch it, because it's a wonderful story created by a man who knew rejection like the back of his hand. One crucial scene that we see in the film is when Andy Dufresne asks the warden if the prison can order in some new books for the library. When the warden says the tax payers money they receive from the state goes towards more guards and more guns and they don't have enough spare funds for the library, Andy offers to write a letter a week to the state senate asking for a library fund for the prison on the basis that "They can't ignore me forever." The warden, chuckling, even offers to send the letters for him.

Andy stays true to his word and writes a letter a week to the state's home office. He spends years sending a letter a week which begins to pile up until, eventually, the office cannot avoid reading them any more. After several years and no reply one day Andy gets a delivery from the state finance office with a letter saying they have allocated two hundred dollars a week for the prison library fund and asked a local charity to donate old books to the prison every month, on the condition that he STOP SENDING LETTERS! I'm sure Steven King wrote this scene with a smug smile on his face.

The Dufresne Method works on the basis that after a certain amount of time people are just going to get so worn down that they will have to do something about the problem or annoyance, constantly becoming a part of their life. It is your job is to be that problem for agents! See it as perseverance. If they haven't given you a direct no then you have a responsibility to yourself and your work to get that no before leaving them alone. You have taken time out of your life to email them work you've been creating and polishing for months if not years. You've put your heart and soul on the line and offered up your writing for judgment, the least they can do is tell you to sod off! Don't be ignored. They may even read your work just to get you to leave them alone, or pass the issue along to someone who will do something about rectifying the situation, like Andy and his letters. whoever reads it may actually discover that they like your stuff. You never know where getting in someones face and not giving up might get you. Undeniably the hardest part of the job when you're starting out is persuading someone to actually sit down and read your work and hopefully this phase of your career won't last long before you're talent is discovered and you become a official working writer.

a method as old as time

If you're wondering if the Dufresne method or any continuation method actually works you can trace it back to the dawn of time. There's even a story in the Bible called 'The Parable Of The Friend At Midnight' that outlines the power of perseverance, or in layman's terms, just being plain annoying until you get what you want. If the good lord endorses this how can it be wrong?

LUKE 11:5:13

9. Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

10. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

11. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

13. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

If you're not particularly religious I do believe that once you start asking for what you want the universe will get out of your way and shift around your goals and desires to make it happen. It has always been on the brink of giving up that I received some of my best news or been struck by my best ideas.

For example. After I left university I was broke, my relationship had ended and I was jobless. My BA Screenwriting course had taught me how to nurture whatever small writing ability I had but not how to survive in my own Industry. I had such a niche skillset as a screenwriter that I couldn't apply for any other jobs simple because I wasn't qualified and, once more, the studios I applied to wouldn't take me on because I didn't have enough 'industry experience'.

I was in a black hole I didn't know how to get out of. After another failed job interview for a script supervisor position on Coronation Street I felt very alone and scared. My last shot at a script job was gone, now what? After having a mini meltdown to my parents about the frustrations of trying to be a working writer in an industry that didn't want to know me, an idea popped into my head. I could help other people get through this stage of their writing career while also helping myself. Everything I wasn't taught about the Industry that I now know I can share. If I could help at least one person like me avoid the same mistakes then at least that's something that mattered. And so Screamwriter was born. I registered as a business, took on my first freelance client and began selling tickets to my own shows, writing adverts, working in children's T.V and creating radio dramas. Soon other people in the same position as me started to reach out who wanted to help. A year later I had my own startup business and production company all from one idea and having nothing to lose.

send scripts through registered post or boxed scripts

If you really want to get on an agency's or studios radar send a script pack as a registered post every week / month so they have to sign for it. This way they will see who the post is from and have to sign for it. You can also step up the interactive factor and send your script in a box so whoever is responsible for signing for it also has to open it too to see what's inside. Be creative with how you get your script into the right persons hands. After putting in so much effort to sign for it and open the box who isn't going to want to see what's inside? This should be a last resort after trying everything else to get their attention. You don't want to go spending all your money on express mail and packaging if you don't have to.

fuel your fire

The best mindset to have during this difficult period of rejection is to let it fuel your negative fire. Use it as rocket fuel to propel you forward. Each new rejection is just filling up the tank to help your creative flame burn brighter.

One way you can use your negative fuel is by keeping track of all your rejections. This also stops you from submitting work twice by accident after an agency has said no and saves you getting confused with who you have and haven't sent work too. If you need a little extra help getting started and you're based in the North West of England like me I have included a snapshot image of a email I sent to a client with a list of agency's who accept unsolicited scripts below.

When you are starting to send work out it is always a good idea to make a spreadsheet of agency's and tick off who you have sent work too, when and if they have replied and the feedback they have given you if necessary

If you get rejection letters through the post keep them in a box and read them from time to time. This may sound strange but they could help you though your darkest times one day when you see how far you have come.

You can even make a pie chart and update it regularly so you can see your progress. See it as building your own trophy. It will keep you grounded to look back on your rejections when you finally break through and make it.

one man's poop is another man's manure

If you know something is good you have a duty, not just to yourself but to the world to make it known. You don't realise who needs your gift and if you keep it wrapped up you are denying someone who may really need you the chance to change their lives because of your work. How many people credit their inspiration to other peoples writing because their words just connected with them? How many lonely children have been comforted by a book in school? How many people have been saved from depression by being able to escape into the worlds of their favourite books or films? You are important, you have been given this ability for a reason and that reason is to use it.

I heard a great quote from psychologist Alan Watts once that went a little something like this. Imagine you are on your death bed and the ghosts of past ideas come to you and say " Only you could have brought us to life and now the world will never know for we will die with you." Let that sink in a moment. Your ideas are unique, no one else but you will have them again. Make a real effort to get your work out there because no one else will.

Win and lose tally- Want to know my rejection mark up? Here it is!