8.SR: What is the very best writing advice you have ever received?
SHO: Overall, the best advice I ever received was not to take it personally. You have to do the work then let go of the results, because the results are beyond your control. You can be the most dedicated, talented writer on earth, and not hit the right editor on the right day. This is not to discourage people, but to encourage them to play the numbers. Work at your craft; submit, submit, submit; rewrite when rejections say the same thing; then submit, submit, submit some more. Keep writing. Too many people keep submitting their one and only piece over and over and over, and then give up. They should be writing new stuff all the time, because that's the only way to improve, and submitting all the time, because that's the only way to break in.
I've expanded the advice not to take it personally to include acceptance as well as rejection. There are countless writers so very much better than I am, who-for many reasons-just haven't been published yet. When you reach a certain level of craft, it's the same luck that says yes or no to all of us, piece by piece, story by story. That's the "result" we have to let go of. All we can do is our best and to find our joy and satisfaction and meaning in the work itself.
9.SR: How do you handle the rejection "issue?"
SHO: Badly! Usually with chocolate and a nap. I've had an agent for the past two acceptances (with many rejections besides), and now I joke, "An agent is wonderful-the rejections come so much faster!"
All I can say is that over the years I have learned to shorten my sulking time to less than a day. I haven't learned how to get rid of doubt, but I've learned how to keep writing in spite of it.
10.SR: What books are you currently reading?
SHO: Right now, I'm re-reading Because of Winn-Dixie. My impressions of Kate DiCamillo's books were that Winn-Dixie was sweet and utterly charming; Tiger Rising was a daring, exquisitely written jewel; and Tale of Desperaux was breath-taking, an extraordinary leap of faith for both writer and reader. So the question for me was, How does a writer go from sweet to breath-taking in just three books? I'm not sure I'll be able to articulate an answer when I'm done, but I know the journey will be instructive, if only on the subconscious level. Plus I'll have had the joy of re-reading her.
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