Ray Bradbury says he received at least 1000 rejections during his writing career, and he’s still getting rejections. Bradbury submitted more than 800 manuscripts before he made his first sale.
Since then, he has written more than five hundred published works — short stories, novels, plays, screenplays, television scripts, and verse, and was awarded the National Book Foundation’s 2000 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, an the National Medal of Arts in 2004.
From his Wikipedia entry:
Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury is widely considered one of the greatest and most popular American writers of speculative fiction of the twentieth century.
On writing rituals:
Every day at 9:00 a.m., for two hours, I begin a new short story, sometimes finishing it, or write an essay or poem. This routine has continued for sixty-five years. I have my favorite cat, who is my paperweight, on my desk while I am writing.
Quotes by Ray Bradbury:
You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.
Libraries raised me. I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.
Want to find out about other famous author rejections? Visit Writers & Rejections: Don’t Give Up!
Want to find out about how other authors write? Visit Author Writing Habits.
Sources:
RayBradbury.com
B&N interview with Ray Bradbury
Examining The Resilience Of Responding To Rejection
Rejections: three methods of coping (Gotham Writers’ Workshop)
Ray Bradbury Wikipedia entry
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Wow.
I feel like a wuss.