Interview With
Catherine Wald
Interview by Jenna Glatzer
Catherine Wald is a freelance writer, a novelist and the
creator of www.rejectioncollection.com,
the writer's and artist's on-line source for misery, commiseration and inspiration.
Her work has appeared in such publications as Woman's Day and the Reader's
Digest.
Why did you begin writing?
I was born to be a writer. I began writing poems as soon as I was old enough to string words together.
However, from the age of about 16 on, I put a lot of energy into proving to the world and myself that I was
anything BUT a writer. Why? Because I ended up buying into such popular beliefs as: 'You
can't make a living as a writer so you may as well not try,' and: 'In order to be a writer you have to be insane, live in a
garret, and have no social life or family.'
Then, when I was in my late 20s, I actually landed a job where I was paid to write. I learned to do corporate
PR and internal communications, and slowly moved back into more creative stuff. Later on, in my 40s, I
started writing essays and fiction, and a little voice inside my head said, "Ah,
finally! So this is what I was meant to do all along."
You have a website dedicated to stories of writers' rejections. Why?
I created www.rejectioncollection.com
because I needed to figure out a way to deal with my own rejections. When it comes to article proposals and
essays, I normally handle rejection fairly well, but when my first novel was rejected it was a different story. This
was something I had worked on for five years, something I had poured every ounce of my being into.
It had completely taken over and disrupted the rest of my life. I wasn't sure if I
could go on writing fiction, knowing that my second novel might be rejected, too. I
figured the site could help me work out these issues and it might help other people at the same time.
Why are you qualified to run this site?
Because I am nervy, brave or wacky enough, to take on the task of bringing rejection out of the closet. I am
willing to admit that it can be a huge hurdle, and that there are times in a writer's or artist's life when you
have to stop and work through this stuff. Last but not least, I have learned to laugh at rejection, which is probably the
best response of all.
In addition to your impressive array of rejections, though, you've also
been published in some very prestigious magazines, won awards, held corporate staff writing positions, etc. Does rejection still
hurt, even after successes?
Rejection ALWAYS hurts, but some rejections are far worse than others. For me, I only get a tiny twinge now
when an article proposal is rejected, because I've had lots of experience writing for magazines and
newspapers and I understand that the reasoning behind the rejection has a lot more to do
with timing and other factors outside my control than my idea. But since I'm fairly new at being rejected by agents and publishers, I
find that harder to deal with. Also, some people reject you in a way that shows
respect to your work and your professionalism, and others are totally dismissive. The
tone of the letter makes a big difference in how I feel about it.
I think one of the reasons why rejection hurts writers so much is that it makes them question their identity or
their vocation as a writer. The more experienced and secure you become in that identity, the less rejection
will hurt you. But it will never be completely pain-free.
You've issued a challenge to your e-newsletter readers to become the
most rejected writer of the year. How is this actually a positive mission?
My challenge was to see who could collect the most rejections in one year. To me, that's a positive because you can't be rejected
unless you have created an idea or a piece of work and then taken the time and effort to
put it out there. And you can't get accepted unless you're constantly submitting. So I see the rejections as a
badge of honor. They proved that you're doing what it takes to get your work published and read.
I have a link on my site to a writer who keeps a running tally of her rejections and acceptances. (Her name is
Erin Cashier Denton and her website is http://worldcontrol.org/theri/index.html.) When you
look at this chart, it's easy to see that the more rejections Erin gets, the more acceptances
she gets. In other words, there's a direct correlation between the amount of stuff you send out and the amount that gets published.
What's your favorite personal rejection story?
It's the one I wrote about in the article posted on this web site, called "How I Turned Rejection into
Publication," in which an editor told me in no uncertain terms to give up on a particular essay I was trying to get
published. The reason it's my favorite is because I clearly remember that fork in the
road. I had two choices: Take the editor's advice or follow my own instincts, which told me that my piece was important
and there would be an audience for it. I can still remember the tremendous emotional effort it
took to get beyond those feelings of total devastation and force myself to rewrite that piece. I also remember my elation
and vindication when the piece appeared in three different newspapers. I still draw inspiration from
that experience.
And your favorite famous author rejection story?
The story of Marcel Proust trying to get the first volumes of "Remembrance of Things Past" published.
He first sent his manuscript to Andre Gide, then editor of the Nouvelle Revue Française. Gide returned it
shortly afterwards with a curt note, and Proust was convinced it had never been read. He ended
up self-publishing the first volumes himself. Later, when one of the volumes won the Prix Goncourt, France's
most prestigious literary award, Gide apologized, calling his rejection of Proust was the one of the
"gravest errors" he had ever made.
Aside from posting it on your website, how do you deal with rejection?
Well, I try not to yell at my kids or kick the cat. I try to figure out some constructive way to let off steam,
knowing that after some time has passed, I'll be able to look at the rejection more rationally and try to
determine whether the criticism has any merit.
How do you know when a rejection means nothing versus when it means your
query/proposal/story needs more work?
That is the million-dollar question!
One sure tip-off that your submission needs more work is if you get the same exact criticism from two or more
people. If three editors say that your essay is not emotional enough, or too maudlin, then that's probably
something you need to work on. However, if everyone says something different, which by the way was the
case with my first novel, it's very difficult to sort things out.
Sometimes the only answer is more time. Put the project aside and work on something else for weeks or
months or even years. Then look at it again with fresh eyes and see what you can see.
It's also good to have a writing group or a few writing friends who can review your work and give you honest
yet supportive feedback. That can help you sort out rejections that are arbitrary from thoughtful criticisms
that deserve consideration.
If you could turn the tables, and you became an editor in charge of
rejecting writers regularly, how would you do it? Assume that you need to reject 50 writers a day.
Oooh, that's a tough one! I don't deny that editors have a tough job, and that part of their job is that they have
to reject a lot of stuff, because they simply can't publish everything. I think I would try and take an
attitude of respectfulness, and to remember that any piece of writing, no matter how bad, represents a creative spirit
that is trying to express itself. So if I had to use form letters, I would have them printed nicely
on good stock and I would try to personalize them in some way.
What's something you wish you'd learned earlier about the publishing
industry?
Actually I'm glad I didn't know what I know now, or I would have never gotten started.
Do you see self-publishing as a viable option?
I am beginning to, especially now that I'm reading "How to Publish and Promote Online," a new book by
M.J. Rose and Angela Adair-Hoy. The concept is starting to make more and more sense to me. Who knows, maybe
I'll do it myself one of these days!
To learn more about Catherine's work, go to www.writerwald.com.
