An ode to the rejects
By: Rungomez Blog
Tags: Journalism, Freelance Writing, Freelance Economy

Nobody likes being rejected.

Nobody likes getting turned down for a job, not fitting in with the right circles, getting dumped in a relationship, or simply just being told your stuff is not good enough. Nobody likes that.

It has a debilitating power. Rejection discourages and sometimes it stifles hope.

But getting rejected also has a different type of special power: it inspires. It inspires a desire to prove that you’re worth taking a chance. It drives creativity.

For as long as I can remember, I have experienced rejection of my own—I’m underqualified, I’m overqualified, I’m not tall enough, I’m not funny enough, I’m not good enough. In other words, rejection has been a feature in my life.

Still, one thing about rejection has also been true all along: getting rejected is probably one of the most universal human experiences. It happens to everyone.

Over time, one can learn to see rejection as less of a debilitating and discouraging force, and more of a force for creativity. My experiences with rejection have shaped my philosophy on life, work and the causes that I support.

It is no surprise to me that I am very passionate about homelessness and the ways I can contribute to ease someone else’s loneliness or despair. It’s also not a surprise that rejection led me to journalism where I saw the many opportunities to give a voice to those without one.

And, once again, as I turn another chapter in my career, it’s also not a surprise that rejection has motivated me to launch a project dedicated to the rejects.

Missed Pitches is my latest project and it is a newsletter that features rejected story ideas from freelance writers all over the world, all in the hopes someone will notice their brightness. To me, these writers are my kin. My reject kin.

I didn’t come to the idea of Missed Pitches without prior experience or inspiration. My previous newsletter— the CA//MEDIA//JOBS Newsletter—also came out of frustration with the concentration of news and media jobs in the East Coast, particularly New York. My goal was to shift the talent pool more westerly.

Working in news media can reveal a lot about discrimination, privilege, access and opportunity in the workplace. That was obvious to me in my career. But the rejection of New York media didn’t set me back or debilitate me. Instead, it propelled me to find a community that supported my thesis. The CA//MEDIA//JOBS Newsletter was born and it proved to be a success.

More than a year later, that is something I hope to repeat with my new project.

As Missed Pitches reaches its 5th month (as of this writing), I am proud to say the newsletter has grown to a sizable community of freelance writers and editors. It already has featured more than 50 rejected story ideas from some very talented writers, with many more are yet to come. I firmly believe this is a service worth pursuing.

And core to my belief is the idea that every single one of these pitches featured in the newsletter are worth giving a chance. It’s a philosophy that continues to fuel my passion for the project. And I hope it’s one that can offer a sliver of hope to others.

The freelance community isn’t just a pool of talent for content. These are real people, with real needs and real livelihoods on the line. And when it comes to providing a path to work, I hope this newsletter can help transform the way freelance writers can make a living through their creativity.

This is what the internet was intended for: to flourish creativity.

And with an internet so vast and crowded, rejection shouldn’t be a downer. It should be fuel for inspiration.