How Do You Deal With Rejection? 10 ESSENTIAL Tips for Screenwriters

Rejection is inevitable. To live is to face rejection. Whether it’s rejection from a potential employer, from friends or an unreciprocated love. Everyone has to deal with rejection of some sort.

And better yet, the film and TV businesses are a veritable cosmos of rejection. Pitches that crash and burn, pitches received with great enthusiasm – then passed on. Projects picked up then dropped or stuck in development hell. Projects turned down by actors, directors, and studios. 

Any rejections, including the writerly kind, can be tough. But it can be especially demoralising and de-motivating when you’re a new writer and you don’t realise how inevitable rejection really is.

Don’t be fooled however, rejection doesn’t get easier the more successful you get. If anything, the more at stake there is, the more pressure.

But enough with the scary talk. The truth is rejection is actually very helpful. When dealt with well, it can be the difference between those who achieve success in their screenwriting careers and those who do not. 

We’ve outlined a few tips on how to prepare yourself to deal with rejection before, during and after receiving a rejection. 

1. Accept That Rejection Is Part of the Game

Accepting that rejections are inevitable will help with removing the shock factor. Knowing that others go through it will keep you motivated and at least feeling like you’re on the right track.

“If you’re not prepared to do a lot of pushups, don’t enlist in the Marines. If you’re not prepared to be rejected, don’t try to make films, write films, or direct films, or act in films. Because you’re going to be rejected.” 

— Peter Hyams

From Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars to Back to the Future and Home Alone; some of the highest-grossing and ground-breaking films of all time took a while to find their place. 

For example, Tarantino had difficulties trying to get any studio interested in his follow-up to Reservoir Dogs. TriStar initially optioned Pulp Fiction only to then do a full 180 by declaring, “This is the worst thing ever written. It makes no sense. Someone’s dead and then they’re alive. It’s too long, violent, and unfilmable.”

The important thing to remember is that judging a script is subjective. Your work may not fit the criteria of a certain competition. It may not be what a studio is specifically looking for or be suited to a producer’s taste. 

But if these anecdotes have taught you anything. It’s that you shouldn’t give up. Not on the 1^st hurdle (or even the 100^th). All you need is one “yes” to move forward.

Your journey as a screenwriter will be a series of failures and mistakes, triumphs and successes. The process will be long and difficult, but acceptance of rejection will allow you to maintain your patience and respect for the craft whilst you focus on developing your writing.