The Worst They Can Say Is No

I was just telling one of my children that even when you're scared to ask for something you want, you have to at least ask...because if you don't ask, there's pretty much a 100% chance you won't get what you want. And if you do ask and they say no, the world probably won't come to an end.

 

 When I started out as a writer, I was afraid to pitch a story to Seventeen magazine. I mean, it was Seventeen! The guide to all things cool that we 80s girls awaited each month with baited breath! Who was I to think I could write for such an iconic publication? But then I figured, "Eh, the worst they can say is no." And they did. Many times. Until they didn't. And then there I was, a writer for the magazine I'd loved as a teenager.


I had the same fear when I pitched my first novel. I was so afraid to try fiction. What if I made a fool of myself? But then I figured, "Eh, the worst they can say is no." And a lot of agents and publishers did. Until one agent said yes and one publisher said yes. And then I was a novelist.

  One thing I'd always wanted to try was screenwriting. But for twenty-something years, I told myself the software was too expensive for something that would probably never pay off...that I had no idea how to go about learning screenwriting technique...that I'm just a woman in Alabama, so why would anyone in Hollywood want to hear from me? But finally, just this past year, I bought the software and some how-to books, and I wrote a screenplay. And it was pretty bad. But I kept learning and now I'm on draft six. Six! Am I crazy to put this much time into something I might never sell? Well, yeah, but as a fiction writer, I'm used to that kind of crazy.

Got a manuscript and a dream? Give it a shot. Send it out! The worst they can say is no.  And who knows? Maybe they'll say yes!

Ginger Rue is the author of the Aleca Zamm series from Aladdin and the Tig Ripley series from Sleeping Bear.