Rejection.

Rejection is one thing. Everyone has to deal with rejection. In many way; life is rejection. It's failing and failing and failing again until you hit your success. Then all those past failures are just cute little anecdotes about what made you what you are.

That said, I don't take rejection well.

Personal rejection (someone not liking me or something) is no big deal. I don't love it, but whatever; who are they, right?

Professional rejection stings more, and that really because my endeavors are creative. I really do leave a piece of myself on the page. But I can handle it. Like I said; I'm over 30... I can buy whiskey.

But there's a very special kind of rejection that's part-in-parcel of trying to make it in a subjective industry. That's the 'do it again' rejection.

You find yourself doing hard work, and very often good work, for no money or even necessarily credit. You do this to get yourself into a position where you're able to do work for both money and credit. Basically; to get yourself to the place where a rejection is just a rejection. But when you're trying to make it, the people you're submitting to own you. They not only reject your work, they send you back to the drawing board on the vaguest of premises. You're not being paid, and your previous efforts get flushed.

You have to take it. Lost of people don't even have the opportunity to be dicked around like this. In this sense, I am lucky. But it's harsh every time. Because this rejection means you have to make your piece all over again, totally differently, for free, and with no garuntee of anything.

Working on SPEC, not even once... (Just kidding, working on spec is all you can do, must try to enjoy it.)