Something pretty cool happened this week. My unpublished manuscript Un|Common Thread is gaining momentum by coming third in a writing prize and I only found out by accident!
I was scrolling Instagram a little mindlessly and saw a post from the AAWP (Australasian Association of Writing Programs) congratulating the winner of their Chapter One Prize. When I read through to see if I knew the winner – it’s always a joy to see names I know – I didn’t know the winner, Anne Hotta, or the second prize Liz Allan but tapped the like button.
Then I saw the name of my manuscript and my name for third prize! My first thought was that there was a mistake. I would have known, wouldn’t I? Surely, I’d know if I’d received third prize. I checked my email. Nothing. Checked again including in the bin. Still nothing. I read the post again and it was definitely my name for third prize. So I reposted. It’s great to see this manuscript gaining momentum and I hope that one day it gets to have a life outside my computer and that of my agent and the publishers it’s being shipped around to.
But, the most surprising thing of it is that, maybe for the first time, I was able to see it as something separate to me. I love it and hope it does really well, but its success or failure feels separate to me.
I recently wrote about this mindset in my newsletter on rejection and failure as some of my coaching clients really struggle with this, and it’s something that crops up a lot in the creative industry. In the newsletter, I talk about how the struggle is:
…mostly because our focus is too sharp on the end product, the destination, the publishing contract, winning a prize, having a poem or story accepted, getting a residency. When we do this, our focus shifts away from the journey, the fact that it’s the creation, the writing that brings us joy; instead, we begin to attach our sense of self-worth on this success. We begin to think that we have failed, we have been rejected. Our sense of self worth is then attached to what we think success looks like, which in turn means that when we don’t win, get accepted or receive the accolades we anticipated, our self-worth is now attached to our failure.
https://megdunley.substack.com/p/rejection-and-failure
In the newsletter, I talk about how we can find ways around it. The main teachings in my newsletter are:
- reframe our thinking from us being rejected to the manuscript/art being rejected
- separate ourselves from our art
- remind ourselves that we don’t have to do this if it feels too hard.
Mostly, though, I think we need to just get on with the next thing. For me, it’s been working on my next manuscript and focussing on providing coaching and writing services to writers. That fills my cup.
Writing Momentum begins again
Recently, my first round of Writing Momentum finished. When I began that group, I wasn’t sure whether anyone would sign up, whether it was what anyone needed. It was so good to see the group gain momentum and for each writer to gain their own writing momentum. On our last session, they asked if I could keep it going.
So, the second round of Writing Momentum starts next week on Wednesday. If you think you need to get some momentum for your writing before you tools down for the holidays, check it out. I’m offering the six week course (that’s packed with great prompts, makes you accountable for your writing and gives you a beautiful writing community) for only $50 as an early Christmas present to everyone who needs this.