Didn’t make the Lucy Cavendish longlist today? Don’t be sad! Last year, I was so sad when I didn’t make it. But since then I’ve practiced what @sophiehannahCB1 taught me & I now cope with rejection *much* better.. #amwriting [1/10]

I won’t explain this half as well as Sophie, but the basics are this: If you can learn to believe that your biggest dreams *are* going to come true, then you can learn to rethink any form of rejection you come up against [2/10]

And instead of getting a 'no' and thinking ’my dream is never going to happen’ you’ll think ‘Okay, so this isn’t *how* my dream is going to happen’ [3/10]

So, if you didn’t get on the longlist, or you didn’t get a full MS from the agent you loved, or whatever else it is, instead of thinking ‘this means I’ll never become a published writer’ [4/10]

You can just think ‘this isn’t *the way* I’m going to become a published writer, I better go find another way' [5/10]

This way of thinking has honestly changed everything about the way I approach writing (and life!) because when I started thinking of it like that, I realised that there were a million paths I could take to achieve what I wanted [6/10]

And every ‘rejection’ on the way wasn’t a stop sign it was a speed bump, a diversion, that’s all. And that has kept me going through many nos! [7/10]

At the end of positive threads you usually get ‘AND THAT'S HOW I GOT MY 6 BOOK FIGURE DEAL’, and sorry if this disappoints but I don’t have that ending quite yet. I’m still writing, submitting, tweeting too much. But I have lots of hope! [8/10]

And there’s still plenty of time. If it’s not this book, maybe it’ll be the next one. Or the next. [9/10]

So, if you didn’t make the Lucy Cavendish longlist today, don’t be sad. Making the longlist on its own almost definitely wasn’t your overall goal, and this ‘no’ is nothing more than a small speed bump on your way. Keep writing! [10/10] #writingcommunity