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Interview: Catherine Wald

WM—How did you come up with the idea of RejectionCollection.com—from the "aha moment" to its current incarnation?

CW— I came up with the idea after my first novel was roundly rejected by just about every publisher under the sun. I had landed a very prestigious and well-connected literary agent for the book, and I’d been told by many people that it’s harder to get an agent than it is to get a publisher, so I thought I had it made… Wrong!

Meanwhile, all my writing friends were giving me the classic (and actually very good, in its own way) advice such as, "don’t dwell on it", "keep writing", "get cranking on that next novel", etc., which I just wasn’t able to follow. I found I was spending so much energy trying to repress my feelings about rejection that I might as well stop repressing them and explore them. Around that time, I was just learning how to use the Internet, and it struck me that a web site would be the perfect venue for breast-beating and otherwise playing around with the subject of rejection.

WM— Ah yes, the many-tentacled monster of rejection! How did you keep the creature at bay?

CW— An important influence on my thinking at the time was Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Doing the exercises in her book helped free me up to write humor – something I hadn’t done in a long time. It’s a kind of a guilty pleasure that I gave myself permission to indulge in, with her help.

WM— A friend of mine gave me a copy of that book. I started reading it, did some of the exercises…Guess I better take it down off the shelf! It’s quite obvious to me that you have a great sense of humor; it was one of the aspects that made me keep coming back to your site! It's ironic, isn't it, that you've become a success at being rejected, and that your web site is an award winner! I would also call it an auspicious coincidence...

CW— Yes, it’s very ironic. What’s even funnier, is that since putting up the site, every time I’m rejected, it just adds to my credentials as a rejected writer. So every time I lose, I win. Or vice versa. Or something. I suppose it’s very Zen in a way.

WM— Yes, that good ol’ Buddhist Reverse Logic. Keeping along those lines (we can call it your Bodhisattva action, if you like…) what motivates you to help others, to inspire others, to assist them in transcending rejection?

CW— Selfishness. I really got started on this whole thing to help myself work through my own feelings of rejection. But I quickly realized that there were many, many other miserable rejectees who needed the same type of discussion, venting, catharsis and kick in the pants to keep writing.

WM— And so a community of writers is born…since I first started visiting your site a few years back, I've noticed that you've added success stories and other features.

CW— It was really feedback from site visitors and friends that got me to focus more and more on some of the positive aspects of rejection--if that isn’t a complete oxymoron. I tended to want to wallow and dwell and obsess, while other, perhaps more mature, people were telling me they wanted to learn how to move on. To my credit, I listened to them.

WM— What do you perceive as the keys for developing such a unique, supportive web community such as this?

CW— Terrie, I’m hardly an expert. I really made this up as I went along, with the help of an excellent web site designer, Brian Bonini (www.gfx-design.com). I tried to be as forthcoming as I could about my feelings and motivations, to offer a service and respond to feedback. I also decided not to accept advertising for the time being, so both my visitors and I could be as forthright as possible.

WM— In addition to the website, what type of freelance projects have you, or are you currently, working on?

CW— I have just signed a contract with Persea Books (www.perseabooks.com) to write a book called The Resilient Writer: How Successful Authors Conquer Rejection, Criticism and Other Obstacles. It will feature in-depth interviews with famous writers about their rejection experiences and how they overcome rejection. I’m really excited about it, because everyone has wonderful stories to tell.

WM— So what makes a successful writer?

CW— Success is a slippery thing. It’s wonderful to sell a piece and/or get good feedback from readers, but the feeling never lasts. There has to be something else going on in the background (in other words, you need to be continually writing new stuff and getting joy from that work).

WM— Now for that proverbial conundrum: How do you know if you're "really a writer"?

CW— Wow, that’s tough one. But here goes. One, I think you have to have an inner compulsion to write in the face of all odds, including rejection. Another is you have to believe that you have something to say that is uniquely true and uniquely you. Three, it’s important to feel that your work has an impact on those who read it, even if it isn’t published. Can your poem, essay, novel chapter, etc. make a friend cry or give her goose bumps? If so, you’re on your way. Four, do you have moments, while writing, where you totally lose track of time, forget who you are and feel alive in every fiber of your being? If you don’t get that kind of joy every now and then, it makes it very difficult to continue.

WM— I couldn’t agree with you more! So, who is Catherine Wald?!

CW— Just your everyday struggling writer, I guess. To get to know me better, the best thing is to visit my other website, www.writerwald.com.

WM— Is there anything else you'd like to add?

CW— I think it’s important to remember that you never fully conquer rejection. It will rear its ugly head throughout your writing career, no matter how well published, successful, famous, etc. you become. (And the prominent authors I’m interviewing for my book bear this out.) So you need to develop coping mechanisms.

I’d also like to encourage people to visit my website, www.rejectioncollection.com, and to submit rejection letters and stories. The experience really is cathartic. Plus, every month one entry is selected as my "Reject of the Month." This lucky person, whom I call the "winning loser," receives a really cool and eminently appropriate prize: a box of hand-made chocolate from Chatham Candy Manor of Chatham, Mass.

Which reminds me, eating chocolate is an excellent coping technique for rejected writers. However, it does have a few negative side effects.

WM— I haven’t met a chocolate I didn’t like, and have been known to eat a box—or bag-- of chocolate while writing. You think that might stave off rejection? Probably not…Oh well…so, what about your current personal and professional goals?

CW— To finish The Resilient Writer on schedule, to get at least one novel published and to continue to deal with rejection without gaining too much weight. (see above.)

WM— I’d personally love to hear you speak to being a woman writer--or a writer who is a woman--in what still seems to be a male-dominated arena.

CW— You know, all writers are oppressed in some way or another. We all are fighting messages from society--and our near and dear ones--that creativity and the arts aren’t valid ways to spend time, let alone attempt to earn a living. This is something all writers need to learn to deal with--whether you’re male or female, gay or straight, young or old, etc.

As far as being a woman, I think what’s hardest for me personally is the day-to-day work of trying to raise a family and be a creative artist at the same time. It’s a terrible struggle, and one I haven’t yet mastered. Assuming that it is possible to master it, and I think there’s a good chance there isn’t.

WM— What about creativity and spirituality?

CW— The problem with creativity, and spirituality, too, for that matter, is that these are nonlinear, non-rational endeavors, and we’re living in a culture where physical, linear accomplishments are valued above all else. So, I see a big part of my struggle as working to validate my own creative process and my need to be creative while functioning in "the real world". Anytime I can help other writers do the same, I’m very happy to do so. I guess that’s the rationale behind the site and why working on it gives me so much joy.

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