How to keep rejected pitches alive

Hello friends! Today we’re talking about the difference between cutting your losses on a story that simply isn’t selling, and knowing when to stick with it because you believe in it and just can’t let it go.

Now, to be clear, this doesn’t mean every single story idea we have is worth pursuing, which is something I touched on earlier this month. Quite the opposite! Most of our story ideas are garbage, and it’s crucial for all freelancers to learn how to find the treasure in the trash. All the work a freelancer does for a story is unpaid labor until the story sells (if it even does, of course), so we need to minimize that as much as possible and focus on, you know, work that will pay off.

But sometimes you have an idea that worms its way into your brain and just won’t leave, despite not getting any bites from editors; it just feels too good to give up on. Those are the ideas we’re talking about today, and I’ve invited veteran freelancer and friend of FWT Foram Mehta (of Slate fame) to give us some tips on keeping those ideas alive.

Take it away, Foram!

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Sometimes as a writer, you just know that a story is meant to be told. It’s a gut feeling that lives deep in the heart of a storyteller. I’ve been there. And I’ve endured the rejections to some of my dearest (and most successful) stories time and time again before they finally found a home. And I’ve learned firsthand that the worst thing you can do to a good story is kill it because of some bumps in the road. Here’s my advice as a seasoned freelancer of 15 years on how to safeguard a good story and find it a forever home.