Episode 82:The Blind Date or Why Your Rejection is Your Fault

Elizabeth and Angie discuss many, many things in a short time, including coffee, Kafka, the relative speed of mail in the 19th century and why rejection might be more under your control than you think.

They discuss the importance of researching the journal, film festival or agent you are submitting to, the value of etiquette when presenting your project to someone who has no idea who you are or what it is you’re sharing. Think of your project as a blind date: you consider the folks you’re setting up to ensure you’ve aced a good match that won’t make everyone angry you thought of a blind date in the first place.

Links Discussed:

Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

Medicine for Melancholy by Barry Jenkins

Story Makers is a podcast that features in-depth conversations with accomplished writers, filmmakers and industry experts about story craft, technique, habit and survival–everything you need to know to stay inspired, connect to your creativity, find others’ wonderful stories and your own success.

The hosts:

Elizabeth Stark is a published, agented novelist and distributed filmmaker who teaches and mentors writers at BookWritingWorld.com.

Angie Powers is a distributed filmmaker and published short story writer with an MFA in creative writing and a certificate in screenwriting from UCLA who teaches story structure at BookWritingWorld.com.