October 9, 2024 • 19 mins
Sitting at my kitchen table, anxiously scanning emails for that one response that could change everything, I found myself on a journey all too familiar to creatives—waiting for validation, fearing rejection. Join Air Jijiji and me, Chris Mchale, as we share this rollercoaster of emotions and lay out five strategies to help artists like you navigate the murky waters of creative rejection. We'll delve into the importance of developing a resilient mindset, drawing from personal stories and years of experience to help you stand strong against the inevitable "no" that every creative faces.
We redefine what success means in the creative world, emphasizing practice and preparation as the cornerstones of artistic growth. Hear how embracing positive and negative feedback can be transformative, and discover the power of distinguishing between valuable criticism and mere noise. Whether you're a writer, musician, or any creator, these insights will empower you to see rejection not as a setback but as a stepping stone to artistic achievement. Tune in for practical advice, motivational anecdotes, and a fresh perspective on turning those "no's" into "yes's.
Thanks for listening.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chris Mchale (00:07):
This is chris mckownm.
This is air g.
We're talking rejectiondeduction, five things to get
you through the night and setyour creativity free.
That's the story we're tellingtoday.
And the story starts one daywhen I sat at my kitchen table
scanning my email on my laptopand there it was what I'd been
waiting for for months.
I met an agent a while ago at awriter's conference and there
(00:30):
was a connection and it was theconnection.
I was looking for an agent.
I'm a writer, she's an agentConnection.
It was like that.
I believe that she was the onethat I had to give my book to,
that she was the one that I hadto give my book to.
And we had a littleconversation and she said send
me your book.
Magic words Every writer wantsto hear.
(00:54):
Send me your book, I'll read it, I'll tell you what I think.
And then the ultimate fantasy Iread it.
It's fantastic, I'll rep it.
I mean all that is either in ornot in the unopened email on my
desktop.
I used to bruise like a peach.
I was so sensitive andvulnerable.
(01:16):
I had skin like lambskin.
What I mean is I was verydefensive and I took rejection
very deeply, but these days myskin's gone full-on lizard mode,
tough weathered, way lessbothered by the sting of a no.
It's not that I don't careanymore.
I've just been hit with so manyrejections from publishers and
(01:39):
editors and brands, accountexecs, a&r guy, you name it.
I've reached a point.
You have to dig yourself out ofa hole.
You can find yourself walkingthe streets and going into a
dive.
Sitting at the pine bar andstaring at a mirror can happen,
but creative rejection is partof a creative worker's life.
What separates the artists fromthe executives is how you deal
(02:04):
with it.
It never gets better.
Okay, I mean, I've been doingthis over 30 years.
It never gets better.
Nobody ever likes facing the no, but learning to face the no
will get you to the yes.
That's a lesson I learned froma lifetime of rejection.
Every artist either gets it ordoesn't.
(02:25):
But the truth is not getting.
It is the path to failure in anartist's life.
You may never get back out ofthe dive, you know, if you don't
learn to deal with rejection.
So if your goal is to live yourlife and seek the success your
(02:46):
art can bring, listen to thisstory.
Let's start by defining successin an artist's life.
It doesn't matter how artmanifests through achievement.
(03:11):
In a book, on a canvas, in aspiraling wind tunnel of an alto
saxophone, success is definedthe same way the well-played
solo, the perfect paragraph, thegentle blending of watercolors,
that's artistic success.
But I don't mean perfection.
(03:33):
Anvil of perfection is no placefor an artist to find
themselves.
I'm talking about achievementthrough practice.
Practice is key to any artist.
What is your practice?
How have you defined yourpractice?
Honest practice will lead tohonest results, results that an
(03:55):
artist can stand by.
Why?
Because they prepped the ground, they brought their best
achievement to the stage.
Whatever happens on that stage,they practice for it.
So, good or bad, they're goingto go on that stage and they're
going to perform and give thebest performance.
That's the goal to give thebest performance, not to achieve
(04:16):
perfection.
This is important to thinkabout because solid practice
lays the groundwork for dealingwith rejection.
I'm going to be looking at thispractice, this issue of practice
, on another Air to Gigi podcast, but I'm not saying it'll keep
you out of the dive bar, butmaybe you won't fall onto the
(04:38):
sidewalk in front of the divebar at dawn.
Whether you're posting a newsong or putting out art, posting
content or pitching the nextbig idea.
You will get feedback and someof it's going to be legitimate
and full of pro advice to helpyou grow, but some of it is
(05:04):
going to suck.
That's just the fact.
People love to get negative onyour ass, but you've got to
learn to kind of navigate thosetwo points.
Is it legitimate feedback or isit just bullshit?
And a lot of it is bullshit.
I once knew a writer, a friendof mine, who stuck a pencil in
(05:28):
the ceiling whenever he wasrejected.
He worked in the basement andhe had kind of like what I think
they call a drop ceiling upthere and he'd sharpen his
pencils and he'd walk up to theceiling and they would stick in
the ceiling.
And by the time I visited himone day at his writing studio in
the basement there had to belike hundreds of pencils up
(05:49):
there.
I mean hundreds.
He was kind of honoring hisrejection.
That was one of my earliestlessons about dealing with
rejection To him he was seekingrejection, he was actually
looking for it, it was importantto him and he was sort of
marking it with pencils in theceiling.
That's what rejection does Imean.
(06:10):
It can pile up, but you have tovibe with it and own it, because
the reality is that most ofyour big ideas won't even make
it off the runway.
The reality is that most ofyour big ideas won't even make
it off the runway.
I mean, I always talk aboutbaseball because Hall of Fame
baseball hitters miss 7 out of10 times.
I think when you're a writer,you're probably going to miss 99
(06:34):
out of 100 times and rejectionis going to sting.
That's the truth.
But it's also the road, thepath, the sidewalk you walk on
to get there.
The move isn't to avoidrejection, it's to own it and
use it to get better, flip thoseno's into yes's or, at the very
(06:59):
least, leave things behind withno regrets.
I've had a tough time with thatone, but it's essential to look
at the regrets in your life,acknowledge them and move
forward.
For me it's the most criticalthing of all.
It's something that took meyears to really get to to look
at those regrets, own thoseregrets, honor them, love them,
(07:21):
hug them and then move forward.
I think for an artist, for acreative worker, there's nothing
more important.
You're going to get rejected.
You need to learn to look at itand move forward.
Move forward.
That's the job.
(07:53):
Creative rejection is part ofthe process.
12 publishers rejected HarryPotter, 12.
Van Gogh only sold a handful ofpaintings during his lifetime.
Does that mean their work wastrash?
No, I mean it doesn't.
Obviously.
What it means is that rejectionis part of the process.
Van Gogh paintings are worthmillions.
(08:14):
They fill museums.
So what did the rejection meanduring his lifetime?
Museums?
So what did the rejection meanduring his lifetime?
Nothing.
It meant nothing at all.
The artist's job, as I said, isto keep moving forward.
Period, that's it.
When you do that, you'll havethe opportunity to move from
(08:35):
rejection to success.
Steven Spielberg was rejectedfrom USC Film School multiple
times.
Sylvester Stallone, onrejection, said, quote I'll take
rejection as someone blowing abugle in my ear to wake me up
and get going rather thanretreat.
(08:55):
Charge right, SylvesterStallone.
I love that.
Quote.
Stephen King his novel Carriegot rejected 30 times before it
got picked up.
I mean 30 times.
He even threw the manuscriptinto the trash and his wife
fished it out and boom, look atwhere he is now.
The moral is rejection sucks,but it's also fire that fuels
(09:22):
the comeback.
I made myself a cup of tea andsat at my table and opened the
agent's email.
I'd taken a lot of time withthis book maybe three or four
complete drafts, like 100,000each.
(09:42):
I poured blood on the page.
I'd made the writing my bestwriting.
I loved the voice of the bookand the characters and the
scenes.
It was everything I wanted itto be.
It dove deep underneath thesurface of a distinct and
violent story world.
I'd lived in this story worldand felt the sharp pain there.
(10:05):
This book was exorcising somedemons for me and it was
saturated in harsh truth.
But it was fiction.
But I loved it.
I love this book.
I still do.
The agent wrote in her emailthat she liked the writing.
She said it was decisive andpowerful and intelligent
(10:29):
everything you want to hear.
But she missed the stakes.
She didn't get the stakes anddidn't understand what was
driving these characters, so shetook a pass on the book.
(10:58):
Rejection can crush you or youcan use it to level up.
Here are five ways you can flipthe script.
Make rejection your power move.
Five ways to get you throughthat dark night of the soul.
So get your pencils out,because here they come.
(11:20):
Number one Reframe rejection asfeedback.
Don't take it personal.
Rejection isn't failure.
Think of it as someone handingyou free notes.
Every no is a chance to tightenup your game.
Maybe your idea wasn't ready ormaybe you need to shift your
(11:42):
approach.
Either way, it's intel you canuse to level up the writing.
Reframe rejection as feedback.
Feedback notes, things to learn.
Number two separate yourselffrom your work.
(12:03):
I really love this one.
Separate yourself from yourwork.
It's hard, I get it, but yourwork isn't you.
Your work is not you.
You're talented, whethersomeone says yes or no, I mean
you're valuable.
You're a human being.
It doesn't matter whethersomeone says yes or no.
Separate yourself from yourwork.
(12:24):
Rejection is about the project,not about your worth.
Learn to step back emotionallyto move forward and without
carrying the weight of everyrejection through every single
(12:44):
day of your life.
It's so important.
Right audience.
Sometimes you're just pitchingto the wrong crowd.
A rejection doesn't mean yourwork sucks.
It means it didn't click withthat person right, the person
you sent it to.
They didn't like it.
(13:04):
They looked at it and said youknow, I'll take a pass, but that
just more times than not, thatmeans you're talking to the
wrong people.
Keep hustling and you'll findthe right crew who vibes with
your vision, with your words,with your canvas, with your poem
(13:25):
, with your song.
Find the right audience.
Find the audience that dancesto your music.
Make them dance and if theydon't dance, find another
audience, because they're outthere, people that get you.
Being an artist means sharingyour truth and being an audience
member means vibing with thetruth of the artist.
(13:47):
I mean those two have to cometogether like magic.
Find your right audience.
Number four embrace growthmindset.
I mean that's kind of likeCorpy speak and I've done a lot
(14:08):
of copywriting, so forgive me,but it's really an important
thing.
Maybe a better way of puttingthis is like keep beginner's
mind, because in beginner's mindyou approach everything like
you're going to learn somethingand it's crucial that you're not
static.
Your skills are constantlygrowing.
Rejection is a chapter, not theend of your book.
(14:31):
It's an L that you turn into alesson.
You got W for win and L forlose.
Unless L becomes your lesson,you embrace the growth mindset.
You turn rejection into alesson.
The more you learn, the betteryou get, and that's how you win.
That's how it works.
(14:53):
Number five use rejection asmotivation.
How about that?
Huh, flip the hustle.
Flip the hurt into hustle, flipthe hurt into hustle.
(15:17):
So they said no to you.
Cool, watch me come backstronger.
I mean, this isn't aboutrevenge, but maybe it is a
little, but it's more aboutproving to yourself that
rejection isn't a wall.
(15:45):
I thought about my book'srejection a lot.
I mean it was on my mind forweeks.
The agent offered to re-read it.
If I worked it over with aneditor, she recommended.
I mean, that's a prettygenerous offer, but it's one I
passed on.
Why would I pass on that?
Because of the rejection, Ifaced something else that had
(16:07):
been in the back of my mind.
There was a growing sense inthe book trade of something
called own voice.
I liked that idea and it was anidea that I hadn't heard before
when I heard it.
The first time I heard thatphrase was at a book conference.
It struck me, it stuck with me.
Upon looking at my book, itbecame obvious to me that it
(16:29):
wasn't written in my own voice,quote-unquote own voice.
What do I mean?
Simply put, the book was notreflective of my voice.
It was a work of fiction basedon part of my life that had been
intense and brutal and hadchanged me, and I'd used it to
write this story.
But I did begin to think afterthe rejection.
(16:52):
Why hadn't I just written mystory in the first place.
My rejection became the fuel totackle the real story, and
tackling the truth of my storywas harsh.
It's a tough thing to do tobring your writing truth to the
pages of your own story.
The rejection of my book gaveme the courage to do that.
(17:13):
Everyone gets rejected.
Everyone, every artist, getsrejected, and the winners are
the ones who keep going whenothers quit.
The road to success is messy andfilled with roadblocks and dead
(17:34):
ends.
But your only job keep movingforward.
That's it.
The path to success is notlinear.
It's a maze.
There will be roadblocks anddetours and bridges to nowhere
and dead ends.
It's crazy.
However, keep moving forward.
(17:56):
Perseverance, that's the word.
Perseverance, that's the keyword of everything I've been
talking about.
Perseverance Rejection is partof the grind, unnecessary part.
Get used to it, learn from it,make it work for you, eat
rejection for breakfast and burpout success.
(18:17):
I mean, keep doing.
You, the artist.
Eventually, those no's willbecome yes's and when they do,
you will earn every beautifulfeeling that wraps around your
bones.
This is Chris McHale and this isAir Jijiji, and we look at the
practice and the business ofcreativity.
(18:38):
We're looking at every aspect.
I've had a long career and I'mgoing to have a lot of people
come on here and talk abouttheir interesting and labyrinth
careers, starting next week withLance Massey, who is a
successful and well-known sounddesigner, one of the original
(18:58):
iconic sound designers who I hadthe honor to work with, work
with and together we worked on aproject for T-Mobile that
turned into a ringtone thatLance created and became iconic
for many, many years.
Two decades of Lance is comingon here next week and we're
(19:21):
going to talk through theprocess of creating that
ringtone and sonic branding andall sorts of good stuff.
So join us next week on AirJijiji.
This is Chris McHale.
Thank you so much for listening.
Go to studiojijijiio andsubscribe to our newsletter.
It comes out every week.
Join the website.
(19:41):
It's artist-friendly,artist-first.
Thank you again for your time.
Bye.
This is chris mckownm.
This is air g.
We're talking rejectiondeduction, five things to get
you through the night and setyour creativity free.
That's the story we're tellingtoday.
And the story starts one daywhen I sat at my kitchen table
scanning my email on my laptopand there it was what I'd been
waiting for for months.
I met an agent a while ago at awriter's conference and there
(00:30):
was a connection and it was theconnection.
I was looking for an agent.
I'm a writer, she's an agentConnection.
It was like that.
I believe that she was the onethat I had to give my book to,
that she was the one that I hadto give my book to.
And we had a littleconversation and she said send
me your book.
Magic words Every writer wantsto hear.
(00:54):
Send me your book, I'll read it, I'll tell you what I think.
And then the ultimate fantasy Iread it.
It's fantastic, I'll rep it.
I mean all that is either in ornot in the unopened email on my
desktop.
I used to bruise like a peach.
I was so sensitive andvulnerable.
(01:16):
I had skin like lambskin.
What I mean is I was verydefensive and I took rejection
very deeply, but these days myskin's gone full-on lizard mode,
tough weathered, way lessbothered by the sting of a no.
It's not that I don't careanymore.
I've just been hit with so manyrejections from publishers and
(01:39):
editors and brands, accountexecs, a&r guy, you name it.
I've reached a point.
You have to dig yourself out ofa hole.
You can find yourself walkingthe streets and going into a
dive.
Sitting at the pine bar andstaring at a mirror can happen,
but creative rejection is partof a creative worker's life.
What separates the artists fromthe executives is how you deal
(02:04):
with it.
It never gets better.
Okay, I mean, I've been doingthis over 30 years.
It never gets better.
Nobody ever likes facing the no, but learning to face the no
will get you to the yes.
That's a lesson I learned froma lifetime of rejection.
Every artist either gets it ordoesn't.
(02:25):
But the truth is not getting.
It is the path to failure in anartist's life.
You may never get back out ofthe dive, you know, if you don't
learn to deal with rejection.
So if your goal is to live yourlife and seek the success your
(02:46):
art can bring, listen to thisstory.
Let's start by defining successin an artist's life.
It doesn't matter how artmanifests through achievement.
(03:11):
In a book, on a canvas, in aspiraling wind tunnel of an alto
saxophone, success is definedthe same way the well-played
solo, the perfect paragraph, thegentle blending of watercolors,
that's artistic success.
But I don't mean perfection.
(03:33):
Anvil of perfection is no placefor an artist to find
themselves.
I'm talking about achievementthrough practice.
Practice is key to any artist.
What is your practice?
How have you defined yourpractice?
Honest practice will lead tohonest results, results that an
(03:55):
artist can stand by.
Why?
Because they prepped the ground, they brought their best
achievement to the stage.
Whatever happens on that stage,they practice for it.
So, good or bad, they're goingto go on that stage and they're
going to perform and give thebest performance.
That's the goal to give thebest performance, not to achieve
(04:16):
perfection.
This is important to thinkabout because solid practice
lays the groundwork for dealingwith rejection.
I'm going to be looking at thispractice, this issue of practice
, on another Air to Gigi podcast, but I'm not saying it'll keep
you out of the dive bar, butmaybe you won't fall onto the
(04:38):
sidewalk in front of the divebar at dawn.
Whether you're posting a newsong or putting out art, posting
content or pitching the nextbig idea.
You will get feedback and someof it's going to be legitimate
and full of pro advice to helpyou grow, but some of it is
(05:04):
going to suck.
That's just the fact.
People love to get negative onyour ass, but you've got to
learn to kind of navigate thosetwo points.
Is it legitimate feedback or isit just bullshit?
And a lot of it is bullshit.
I once knew a writer, a friendof mine, who stuck a pencil in
(05:28):
the ceiling whenever he wasrejected.
He worked in the basement andhe had kind of like what I think
they call a drop ceiling upthere and he'd sharpen his
pencils and he'd walk up to theceiling and they would stick in
the ceiling.
And by the time I visited himone day at his writing studio in
the basement there had to belike hundreds of pencils up
(05:49):
there.
I mean hundreds.
He was kind of honoring hisrejection.
That was one of my earliestlessons about dealing with
rejection To him he was seekingrejection, he was actually
looking for it, it was importantto him and he was sort of
marking it with pencils in theceiling.
That's what rejection does Imean.
(06:10):
It can pile up, but you have tovibe with it and own it, because
the reality is that most ofyour big ideas won't even make
it off the runway.
The reality is that most ofyour big ideas won't even make
it off the runway.
I mean, I always talk aboutbaseball because Hall of Fame
baseball hitters miss 7 out of10 times.
I think when you're a writer,you're probably going to miss 99
(06:34):
out of 100 times and rejectionis going to sting.
That's the truth.
But it's also the road, thepath, the sidewalk you walk on
to get there.
The move isn't to avoidrejection, it's to own it and
use it to get better, flip thoseno's into yes's or, at the very
(06:59):
least, leave things behind withno regrets.
I've had a tough time with thatone, but it's essential to look
at the regrets in your life,acknowledge them and move
forward.
For me it's the most criticalthing of all.
It's something that took meyears to really get to to look
at those regrets, own thoseregrets, honor them, love them,
(07:21):
hug them and then move forward.
I think for an artist, for acreative worker, there's nothing
more important.
You're going to get rejected.
You need to learn to look at itand move forward.
Move forward.
That's the job.
(07:53):
Creative rejection is part ofthe process.
12 publishers rejected HarryPotter, 12.
Van Gogh only sold a handful ofpaintings during his lifetime.
Does that mean their work wastrash?
No, I mean it doesn't.
Obviously.
What it means is that rejectionis part of the process.
Van Gogh paintings are worthmillions.
(08:14):
They fill museums.
So what did the rejection meanduring his lifetime?
Museums?
So what did the rejection meanduring his lifetime?
Nothing.
It meant nothing at all.
The artist's job, as I said, isto keep moving forward.
Period, that's it.
When you do that, you'll havethe opportunity to move from
(08:35):
rejection to success.
Steven Spielberg was rejectedfrom USC Film School multiple
times.
Sylvester Stallone, onrejection, said, quote I'll take
rejection as someone blowing abugle in my ear to wake me up
and get going rather thanretreat.
(08:55):
Charge right, SylvesterStallone.
I love that.
Quote.
Stephen King his novel Carriegot rejected 30 times before it
got picked up.
I mean 30 times.
He even threw the manuscriptinto the trash and his wife
fished it out and boom, look atwhere he is now.
The moral is rejection sucks,but it's also fire that fuels
(09:22):
the comeback.
I made myself a cup of tea andsat at my table and opened the
agent's email.
I'd taken a lot of time withthis book maybe three or four
complete drafts, like 100,000each.
(09:42):
I poured blood on the page.
I'd made the writing my bestwriting.
I loved the voice of the bookand the characters and the
scenes.
It was everything I wanted itto be.
It dove deep underneath thesurface of a distinct and
violent story world.
I'd lived in this story worldand felt the sharp pain there.
(10:05):
This book was exorcising somedemons for me and it was
saturated in harsh truth.
But it was fiction.
But I loved it.
I love this book.
I still do.
The agent wrote in her emailthat she liked the writing.
She said it was decisive andpowerful and intelligent
(10:29):
everything you want to hear.
But she missed the stakes.
She didn't get the stakes anddidn't understand what was
driving these characters, so shetook a pass on the book.
(10:58):
Rejection can crush you or youcan use it to level up.
Here are five ways you can flipthe script.
Make rejection your power move.
Five ways to get you throughthat dark night of the soul.
So get your pencils out,because here they come.
(11:20):
Number one Reframe rejection asfeedback.
Don't take it personal.
Rejection isn't failure.
Think of it as someone handingyou free notes.
Every no is a chance to tightenup your game.
Maybe your idea wasn't ready ormaybe you need to shift your
(11:42):
approach.
Either way, it's intel you canuse to level up the writing.
Reframe rejection as feedback.
Feedback notes, things to learn.
Number two separate yourselffrom your work.
(12:03):
I really love this one.
Separate yourself from yourwork.
It's hard, I get it, but yourwork isn't you.
Your work is not you.
You're talented, whethersomeone says yes or no, I mean
you're valuable.
You're a human being.
It doesn't matter whethersomeone says yes or no.
Separate yourself from yourwork.
(12:24):
Rejection is about the project,not about your worth.
Learn to step back emotionallyto move forward and without
carrying the weight of everyrejection through every single
(12:44):
day of your life.
It's so important.
Right audience.
Sometimes you're just pitchingto the wrong crowd.
A rejection doesn't mean yourwork sucks.
It means it didn't click withthat person right, the person
you sent it to.
They didn't like it.
(13:04):
They looked at it and said youknow, I'll take a pass, but that
just more times than not, thatmeans you're talking to the
wrong people.
Keep hustling and you'll findthe right crew who vibes with
your vision, with your words,with your canvas, with your poem
(13:25):
, with your song.
Find the right audience.
Find the audience that dancesto your music.
Make them dance and if theydon't dance, find another
audience, because they're outthere, people that get you.
Being an artist means sharingyour truth and being an audience
member means vibing with thetruth of the artist.
(13:47):
I mean those two have to cometogether like magic.
Find your right audience.
Number four embrace growthmindset.
I mean that's kind of likeCorpy speak and I've done a lot
(14:08):
of copywriting, so forgive me,but it's really an important
thing.
Maybe a better way of puttingthis is like keep beginner's
mind, because in beginner's mindyou approach everything like
you're going to learn somethingand it's crucial that you're not
static.
Your skills are constantlygrowing.
Rejection is a chapter, not theend of your book.
(14:31):
It's an L that you turn into alesson.
You got W for win and L forlose.
Unless L becomes your lesson,you embrace the growth mindset.
You turn rejection into alesson.
The more you learn, the betteryou get, and that's how you win.
That's how it works.
(14:53):
Number five use rejection asmotivation.
How about that?
Huh, flip the hustle.
Flip the hurt into hustle, flipthe hurt into hustle.
(15:17):
So they said no to you.
Cool, watch me come backstronger.
I mean, this isn't aboutrevenge, but maybe it is a
little, but it's more aboutproving to yourself that
rejection isn't a wall.
(15:45):
I thought about my book'srejection a lot.
I mean it was on my mind forweeks.
The agent offered to re-read it.
If I worked it over with aneditor, she recommended.
I mean, that's a prettygenerous offer, but it's one I
passed on.
Why would I pass on that?
Because of the rejection, Ifaced something else that had
(16:07):
been in the back of my mind.
There was a growing sense inthe book trade of something
called own voice.
I liked that idea and it was anidea that I hadn't heard before
when I heard it.
The first time I heard thatphrase was at a book conference.
It struck me, it stuck with me.
Upon looking at my book, itbecame obvious to me that it
(16:29):
wasn't written in my own voice,quote-unquote own voice.
What do I mean?
Simply put, the book was notreflective of my voice.
It was a work of fiction basedon part of my life that had been
intense and brutal and hadchanged me, and I'd used it to
write this story.
But I did begin to think afterthe rejection.
(16:52):
Why hadn't I just written mystory in the first place.
My rejection became the fuel totackle the real story, and
tackling the truth of my storywas harsh.
It's a tough thing to do tobring your writing truth to the
pages of your own story.
The rejection of my book gaveme the courage to do that.
(17:13):
Everyone gets rejected.
Everyone, every artist, getsrejected, and the winners are
the ones who keep going whenothers quit.
The road to success is messy andfilled with roadblocks and dead
(17:34):
ends.
But your only job keep movingforward.
That's it.
The path to success is notlinear.
It's a maze.
There will be roadblocks anddetours and bridges to nowhere
and dead ends.
It's crazy.
However, keep moving forward.
(17:56):
Perseverance, that's the word.
Perseverance, that's the keyword of everything I've been
talking about.
Perseverance Rejection is partof the grind, unnecessary part.
Get used to it, learn from it,make it work for you, eat
rejection for breakfast and burpout success.
(18:17):
I mean, keep doing.
You, the artist.
Eventually, those no's willbecome yes's and when they do,
you will earn every beautifulfeeling that wraps around your
bones.
This is Chris McHale and this isAir Jijiji, and we look at the
practice and the business ofcreativity.
(18:38):
We're looking at every aspect.
I've had a long career and I'mgoing to have a lot of people
come on here and talk abouttheir interesting and labyrinth
careers, starting next week withLance Massey, who is a
successful and well-known sounddesigner, one of the original
(18:58):
iconic sound designers who I hadthe honor to work with, work
with and together we worked on aproject for T-Mobile that
turned into a ringtone thatLance created and became iconic
for many, many years.
Two decades of Lance is comingon here next week and we're
(19:21):
going to talk through theprocess of creating that
ringtone and sonic branding andall sorts of good stuff.
So join us next week on AirJijiji.
This is Chris McHale.
Thank you so much for listening.
Go to studiojijijiio andsubscribe to our newsletter.
It comes out every week.
Join the website.
(19:41):
It's artist-friendly,artist-first.
Thank you again for your time.
Bye.
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