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Mick Jagger, one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century, once famously said, "You can't always get what you want / But if you try sometime / You'll find / You get what you need." To further illustrate his point and show that the road to success is paved with failure, actors, writers and other creatives are using the hashtag #ShareYourRejections to share the times they were not good enough.

Author Saeed Jones started the initiative, saying "Sometimes I dig up old rejection letters from publishers and literary journals to remind myself that it’s just part of the process." He added the hashtag and others quickly joined him.

For example, writer and former children's laureate Malorie Blackman said that her novel, Noughts & Crosses, which deals with racial discrimination, was rejected for a literary award because "it would've shown more insight if a white author had written it". Scroll down to get your daily dose of motivation and upvote your favorites.

#1

People Sharing Rejection Stories

ProfJoSharp Report

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Naomi Armitage
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reminds me of that joke in the Rodney Dangerfield movie "Back to School" where Rodney has Kurt Vonnegut HIMSELF write a paper on Kurt Vonnegut for Rodney ('cause Rodney's mad rich), and the professor, knowing Rodney didn't write it himself, says something like "Whoever *did* write this doesn't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut!"

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#6

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Emily Graves
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She was amazing in the part either way, cant imagine anyone else doing it as well as her.

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#7

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Night Owl
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He should at least have given a few tips what he thinks should be changed

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#13

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#14

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Carol Emory
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We had a similar situation with an undergrad student that had done a rather bad job at reviewing a case study on the degradation of bones in an acidic environment in order to age biological remains. As she stood in front of the class and the professor, she proceeded to say "The guy that wrote this screwed up his data. The guy that wrote that got all of his conclusions wrong." Apparently the most important thing she should have read was the name of "the guy that wrote this." Maybe then she would have realized that he was the professor that was in the room currently grading her presentation.

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#15

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Debbie Lyn Jones (Deb)
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ouch.... I just go to my corner and quietly hold my stuffed lamb. Then... I write about how lonely it must be to live the life of those who rejected me and I weave a verse about their dark desperation to find ... love. Maybe scribble a few notes about how I hope the zombie apopalypse begins and ends in their offices.

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#22

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Fiendhunter
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe he did want to focus on his career; what's the bottom line here? You being a film director doesn't mean he's not successful or enjoys his acting career, and you're certainly not better than him for getting to cast for your project.

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#24

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#27

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#29

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Misterscooter
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The rejections aren't fun but I hope you always liked writing during that time.

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#32

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Anna Repp
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Amanda, you are awesome! Want to see more of you on the screen!

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#33

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Ryo Bakura
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Plenty of coaches/managers in sports that have never played professionally, yet still have a job.

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#34

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rola
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dude he skipped a shift.... unless he called off ahead of time, that was a real d**k move to his coworkers.

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#36

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#37

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Carol Emory
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Saw another story of a guy from Compton that was rejected from Google three times until they wrote to him and asked him to re-apply. He's been working with them for several years now and has a program that helps other kids from poor impoverished areas get the training they need to become members of the tech industry.

#38

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#40

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Gypsy Snow
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have 35k followers on IG 'cause I show my butt a lot....35k is not a difficult number to reach /shrug/

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Anna Thouvenin
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's probably more difficult to achieve 35k followers when you talk about politics.

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Charlotte Bayer
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I will never understand some people's obsession to shout out their political views? maybe its because I am from Germany, I don't know. But here your political standpoint is your own private thing, you don't need to validate it by shouting into an echo chamber of brainless sheep who agree with everything you say.

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Ryo Bakura
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

America: Salute the flag, or we'll shoot. Patriotism is the biggest load of hogwash since religion.

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Basil
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I like how he uses the phrase "come out". So brave. What a hero. *barf*

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#41

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