Contrary to my bold prediction some weeks ago, I did not – I repeat, did NOT – make the Top 10 in Shadowline's Who Wants to Create a Super-Heroine contest. So, my odds of actually winning the contest have reached a new low (to put a positive spin on it).

All I have to say about that is:

Rats!

Okay, I lied. All I really have to say about that is:

This whole column!

For Those Skimming To See When The Actual Column Starts, This Is It

In all seriousness, I was mighty disappointed to not make the Top 10. I'd submitted two pitches, either of which I felt were good enough to crack the Top 10. So, I liked my odds.

Now, the thing about rejection is, it sucks. There's just no two ways about it. Being rejected is never going to make you feel good, but it's a part of the process of growing as a writer, and also just part of the fabric of a writer's life. You've got to learn to deal with it, or you're never going to make it far as a writer.

(For those just joining me on my trek up that mythical hill, I wrote a column last year that's all about rejection and my experiences with it and what I've learned from it.)

When I got the bad news that I wasn't in the Top 10, though I had vowed not to let it ruin my whole week, it still threw me for a bit of a loop. So I emailed my fellow writer/friend/accountability partner Elizabeth Genco (she of “Butt in Chair” fame) an email subject-lined “poor pitiful me.”

I immediately felt a little better, just allowing myself to whine a bit to someone I knew wouldn't take me too seriously. But then later that evening, I got the greatest-ever reply from her. In it, she said to me:

If you believe in [Project X], then it's not time to give up on it. There may come a time when you have to ask yourself, "Is this worth my time and energy when I have a zillion other ideas?" But now's not the time.

And what's more, she threw out this wonderful quote from Mark Waid, from an interview he did for Warren Ellis's Come In Alone column at CBR, time back way back in 2000:

Being honestly in touch with your emotions qualifies you for a shot at writing as many comics as you can, but reading eight thousand comic books doesn't qualify you to write even one.

And what's doubly more, and in fact The Best Thing Ever, is this two-minute clip of Ray Bradbury talking about the joy of writing:

Ray Bradbury on Writing

Wow.

If you'll take the time to watch that, you'll see why that is, indeed, The Best Thing Ever if you're a writer having one of those “poor pitiful me” days. Next week, as a free bonus feature to my ever-faithful Audience of One (that is, Y-O-U, of course), I'll transcribe that clip so you can easily copy and paste it into your inspirational quotes file (you do have one of those, right?).

* * *

It was a short trip from that Genco/Waid/Bradbury-inspired MindSpace to this favorite quote of mine from Orson Scott Card, which is one of the nice inspirational quotes that rotate throughout this very site:

...you should send out, today, the best work you are capable of doing today. Of course you'll do better a year from now. But a year from now you should be writing the story that you care about and believe in at that time--not reworking this year's story.

The thing I love about that quote is how it so deftly encapsulates these fundamental truths about writing:

• You've got to actually place Butt in Chair and write.

• You've got to actually submit what you write, let it sink or swim, and move on.

• Writing as a career is a marathon, not a sprint.

* * *

Is there a story you're dying to tell? Then by all means, tell it. Give it your best shot. Write it, and revise it, and revise it one more time, and then send it off with a kiss to meet its fate. If it gets rejected, take a day off to cry, then move on to the next story.

Are you one of the 5,000+ people who entered the Shadowline Create a Super-Heroine Contest and didn't make the Top 10? Well, good for you! At least you entered, and put yourself out there to face that rejection we all fear and dread.

If you didn't make the cut, don't despair. Remember:

Here's what I'm going to do in the weeks ahead. I'm going to take my failed super-heroine pitch and find an artist and pursue it on my own via the good old-fashioned regular submission process.

What are you going to do with yours?

Next Week in Running Up That Hill:

My two favorite baseball teams are the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees. So why have I taken to wearing a Boston Red Sox cap every time I sit down to write?

Learn the shocking truth in “My magical mystical Boston Red Sox cap,” next week in Running Up That Hill!

In The Weeks Ahead:

Look for these (and other) columns in the coming weeks:

• Dialogue Last: the best thing ever?

• "By the Southern Grace of God" actually IS a lovely and wonderful story, and how it got that way (for Drew, who loves my long column titles!)

• The power of being nice (a column that Anthony Peruzzo, an artist I’d love to work with one day, cannot wait to read!)

• The ultimate Jason Aaron post-Marvel exclusive interview (I hope… but I'm not promising anything)

• The best artist you've never heard of

• Why anthologies are the way to go
  

_________________________________________________________________

Elton Pruitt is a comic book writer in Little Rock. He almost made it through an entire column without a shoutout to Natural Ice.