The Key to Rejection

"If we are unwilling to change it is highly likely we have already reached our maximum level of achievement."

~John Fuhrman

In his book, Reject Me - I Love It!, now in its 2nd Edition,John Fuhrman provides us with a book full of strategies to use rejection to our advantage. In chapter nine he uses the word success to provide some of those strategies:
 

• Self-evaluate
• Understand each task
• Care
• Concentrate
• Expect
• See
• Share

 

Self-evaluation requires us to evaluate and compliment ourselves. Fuhrman advises us to evaluate our mistakes, determining how we can make changes for the future, and encourages us to be equally committed to rewarding ourselves with compliments when we do well.

We must understand not only the task we have created for ourselves but also why we need to make our dream happen. Focus and clarity keep us on the right road. Avoiding rejection detours us from our chosen path--our path is supposed to have rejection on it.

Care about your dreams and goals. Fuhrman reminds us that if we don't care about something, we won't pay attention to the details; the map becomes vague.

Concentration allows us learn how actions affect results, which allows us to make adjustments or new plans.

Concentration allows us to understand what we have learned so we can avoid the same mistakes. It keeps us focused on our goals and dreams, protecting us from distractions that would slow our progress and helping us overcome the fear of rejection.

Expect to succeed. Expecting something confirms its certainty in your mind.

See, feel and hear your future. Fuhrman tells us we should walk backwards toward success. Picture yourself as successful already and act accordingly.

Share how you achieve success with others. This is my favorite one. Fuhrman tells us that as we become successful we need to share what we receive, something our blogging circle does exceedingly well.

"It's not only the doing of great things, but also the sharing of how you did it that's key to your success. It makes your life happier, more fulfilling, and worthwhile. It also supports others in their quest for success--inspiring them to achieve the same rewards."

Rejection doesn't always have to be a bad thing. 

The key is in how we choose to deal with it.

 

Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling

Happy Monday, everyone!

My apologies for this super short post, which is basically just a link to somebody else’s post, but I found it so helpful and interesting I couldn’t not share. Emma Coats, story artist at Pixar, compiled Pixar’s 22 Tips for Writers, which was posted at PR Daily last week (link below).

Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling

Tips #2 and #12 really resonated with me, but I think they’re all great food for thought.

Hope you enjoy and share them around.

Happy writing!

-Dawn Lairamore

photo credit: silkegb via photopin cc

C.S. Lewis and THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, by: Marissa Burt

I'm writing this post on Friday, November 22, which marks fifty years after C.S. Lewis' death.  In the Anglican tradition, today is his feast day, and tonight some friends and I will gather around soup and cider to read aloud favorite passages from his books.  My selections come mostly from his space trilogy and non-fiction books, but I love hearing what captures other readers' imagination.  Inevitably, Lewis' well known middle-grade series, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, will feature prominently.

If you haven't joined Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy on their fantastical adventures, it's time you did.  A tromp through Narnia feels almost a rite of passage for children, and I have yet to meet a reader - child or adult - who, upon completion of the books, didn't wonder wistfully whether they might stumble across a portal to adventure in an otherworld.  So I thought to put up today's post and invite you, Mayhem readers, to comment about your experience with Narnia as a middle-grade reader.  Do you remember your reaction?  What about teachers and librarians?  Do you think today's readers are still drawn to the magic of Narnia?

And for the writers among us, I thought to share some of Lewis' no-nonsense writing advice found in his LETTERS TO CHILDREN.  (If you haven't read this slim volume, it's great fun, as it includes reprints of his replies to fan letters, some of which include illustrations).  Someone must have asked him for writing tips, and he responds:

"What really matters is: -

1.  Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn't mean anything else.

2.  Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one.  Don't implement promises, but keep them.

3.  Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do.  If you mean "More people died" don't say "Mortality rose."

4.  In writing.  Don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing.  I mean, instead of telling us a thing was "terrible," describe it so that we'll be terrified.  Don't say it was "delightful"; make us say "delightful" when we've read the description.  You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers "Please will you do my job for me."

5.  Don't use words too big for the subject.  Don't say "infinitely" when you mean" very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite."

Much more has and could be said about Lewis and his contribution to literature, but for now I'll conclude by expressing my gratitude, because his writing has nourished my imagination and spirit in profound ways.  Cheers.