Patty Mayeux Blog

My writing community is a wealth of intelligent, funny, well-read souls who travel alongside my insecure and doubtful self. We hold virtual hands; we cry and laugh and woohoo. Each and every one of us suffers doubts. Positive feedback is buried under rejections, large and small, no matter where we are in the process. I say claim any glint of applause received. Festoon comments that praise your writing with sparkles. Celebrate every tiny step toward winning a contest or gaining the attention of overworked and underpaid agents. Don’t worry about what comes next, even if statistically it will be another “Sorry, no.” This time. Unfurl your bruised ego and battered fingers from the curled state under your writing desk. Be assured that tenacity is the X factor. This path chose you, not the other way around. Claim that belief and return to the chair (or in my case, the ottoman in my closet). Keep learning, writing and writing better. Meanwhile, file those rejection letters in a drawer. They’ll be happy to live in the dark where they belong. Plaster your bulletin board with every minute speck of glittering kudos to cheer you on. Claim them. Because you have been chosen to do an amazing thing.