November was a month of many ‘firsts’ for me. Not exactly enjoyable experiences but worth noting for I’m not likely to forget them.
Last Thursday saw me going into hospital for the very first time. This one experience taught me two things:
1. Hospitals are depressing. They should paint the walls bright pink with huge flowers on them to alleviate the sombre atmosphere it creates.
2. I’m grateful for having never entered the medical profession – needles, drips, blood, no thank you (although the scrubs look very fetching I might add 🙂 ).
(Coincidently, my good friend Ricky-Lee also had her wisdoms removed a few weeks before I did so if you want to know exactly what I’ve been through, check out her post here Wisdom Teeth – The end of Me
Having one’s wisdoms removed is not a fun experience and the pain I felt afterwards was unbearable but I was to endure another pain, probably just as bad.
I’m hoping many writers would empathize with me on this but two days ago I received my first rejection for one of my short story submissions from an online magazine. If you were wondering what that sound was a few days ago, that was me picking up the pieces of my broken spirit.
It was only one however and I have in my arsenal, other stories waiting to be submitted. So it’s no pens down for me. After two days of moping, I have resolved to work harder and smarter than before.
Amidst all this depressing news I’m throwing at you, I do have something exciting to tell you. For the first time, I shall be appearing as a guest blogger on Artipeeps, the blog for creatives. A collaborative effort, I will be contributing a monthly feature to the blog called Classic Friday where I discuss Classic literature- books, authors, themes etc. I’m super-excited about this and I hope you are too! The first post is already out, so would love to see you there and hear your feedback! Artipeeps – Classic Friday
So November is over, I’m still standing and it’s onwards and upwards from here on out. Stay positive, people, and have a great weekend!
NM 🙂
In Verbum Scriptum 
Oh little friend, I hope you’re feeling better – big hugs – hope your beautiful face is not too bruised. As for the rejection – you will get there, it is simply the name of the game although I know this doesn’t take away the hurt. Chin up – you are fabby and will be successful. Congrats on your guest blog – off to have a look now.
Thank you Michelle, the swellings gone down completely so no more chipmunk face for me YAY! 🙂
And I know, I keep telling myself, that rejection is all part of the game and almost everyone has to go through it, so that thought is helping a bit. And thank you for your support, it means a lot to me! xxx
So glad the swellings have gone down, some people have the most awful bruised eyes underneath as if they have been punched. Did you know why your story was rejected? It could simply have been that it didn’t fit with the magazine but might suit another one elsewhere.
I was told it needed more work and was given a link for a ‘horror-writing workshop’ which incidently didn’t work
Bruised eyes? After wisdom removal? Seriously? Thank God I didn’t have that!
Can you see what work it needs?
Yes, years ago when people used to have their wisdoms removed their eyes looked like they had been in a boxing ring – I am not really talking all that long ago, maybe twenty five years or so.
Aw… I feel for you big time. I had two wisdom teeth removed this year. Hope you’re feeling lots better!
Congrats on the groovy guest post experience. Hope you’ll share the link with us!
Thanks August, after a week, I am feeling much better 🙂
Best wishes in recovery! I did that 39 years ago, and it led to one of the funniest experiences of my life. 😉
On the rejection, you know your ability. If at first you don’t succeed…
…try, try and try again! Yep, I certainly intend to 🙂
Now you know I’m going to ask you about that funny wisdom experience, right? 😉
I was in college then, 18 years old, between first and second years. A person called from hospital admissions to pre-admit. She asked if I was the same person she went to elementary school with, last seen some 5 years before. Yup. I encountered her in person on the way in to the hospital, and she told me she would come up to visit.
I was a notoriously picky eater in those days, and hospital food, yuck. Didn’t eat a thing for two days. After two days of laying down, the wisdom removal, and not eating, I’m released. I get dressed, and a nurse comes in with a BIG needle and wants to give me one last shot, right in the old backside. I dropped my pants with much reluctance, took the shot and fainted. Nurse caught me, lays me down on the bed with my pants and underwear around my knees. In walks this person I knew from school five years before, into a quick U-turn and gone. Such timing.
Ha ha, oh man, that’s hilarious! 😀
Wait hold on, you were in hospital for TWO days???
YAY on the guest blog! So excited for you. Bummer on the hospital experience, though. Hope you are healing up and on the mend.
I’m excited too Kelly, hope you guys take a look and enjoy it!
I am feeling much better now than I did a week ago, thanks. At least I can say I’ve been to hospital 😉
Rejection and teefs in one go! Hope you got lots of hugs for both!
I know! When it rains, it pours. Well at least its over and all dealt with. And I know what to expect next time I go to hospital or get rejected 😉
I’m so sorry about your teeth. That really, really hurts. And of course, you know what they say about rejection letters. Send the article to someone else, or two someone elses. Yeah, I know it’s a bummer, but it little to do with your writing, and more to do with their budget, and what they’ve published in the last 18 months. Good luck. It takes a lot of courage to keep putting yourself out there. A lot of people simply give up. You go girl.
Thanks Barb! Your support means a lot, and yes, its only submission so I’m not going to let it get me down. Big hugs and kisses xoxoxox
Dont worry Nisha. I had a rejection of my own. One of my sockets where a wisdom tooth got taken out didnt heal. That my friend is a BAD rejection! You are going through the many trials a writer does go through until you make it big! You have a big enough spirit to carry on!
Thank you, that’s what I keep telling myself too, that its all part of the writing game.
Oh no, sorry, is your gum still not healing?
I had a problem for about a week and a half the doc had to fill it. But its a little better now. How are you feeling?
Eeeeesh, your totally on to something there, they could at least TRY to make hospitals look a little nicer now couldn’t they? Hmm….could you imagine hospital with a literature theme? You could base each ward on an author and things they suffered with LOL. Virginia Woolf for the area centred on depression, Emily Bronte for the one for eating disorders etc. Now wouldn’t that be weird? Anyway, I hope you feel better soon, I’m sending you hugs and sparkles! 🙂
As for the rejection, phaa, it’s the magazine that is missing out.
WE ALL BELIEVE IN YOU NISHA! 😀
I know comments and rejections aimed at your own writing can feel really personal and it’s always hard to take, but just think maybe there’s a reason, maybe that story is made for something better. Or maybe it’s the universes way of testing you. 😉
OMG, imagine? a literature-themed hospital? But most writers suffered from mental illnesses so maybe a mental health hospital with each ward named after a different author. Ha ha! 😀
Thank you for your kind words. It was my first submission so maybe I needed to experience what rejection felt like. I believe if something was meant to be, it would be. For now, I just need to work harder. Thanks for believing in me Beckster! 😀
Congratulations, Nisha, you are now a full-fledge writer!!! You can’t be one without ever getting that first rejection letter!
I’m glad you’re feeling better!
ps. when my daughter began violin a few months back she was disgraced because she wasn’t getting it perfect. She was a miserbale 6 year old in fact. I filled her teacher in on this fact at her next lesson, who shook my little gir’s hand and said: you are now a true violinist. We all feel this way. If you didn’t you wouldn’t be bothered to play the violin.
I was shocked, I expcted her to tell her it was okay and blah blah blah. I looked at my daughter who’se whole face lit up–thought I’d pass the wisdom on 🙂
Oh wow, Jen, I really do feel like a writer now, thank you for that, wise words indeed! 😀
Your poor little girl though, violin lessons at 6 years is hard enough as it is. She really shouldn’t be so hard on herself but I know its easier said than done. She seems very dedicated, do I see a new Vanessa Mae in the rising? 🙂
Hehe, who knows?
She’s been asking to play the violin since she…well….always. I began learning in my early twenties, I played with her in my belly, and she’s always reached for the instrument. At six I decided she was old enough for it. She started the piano at 4.5 years…spent so much time with it on her own accord, but while the piano was fun she was waiting for my go ahead with violin