Editor’s Choice — Top 10: What One Successful Writer Did When His Work Was Rejected

Let’s visit our top 10 stories today

At the start of World War II, J.D. Salinger was obsessed with getting published in the New Yorker.

In 1941, Salinger submitted many short stories to The New Yorker. The editors rejected seven of his works, including “Monologue for a Watery Highball,” “Lunch for Three,” and “I Went to School with Adolf Hitler.” In December 1941, the editors of The New Yorker accepted “Slight Rebellion off Madison,” a Manhattan-set story about a teenager named Holden Caulfield who did not wish to go to war. But after Pearl Harbor, the story became “unpublishable.” Salinger was devastated.

During the war, he served in Germany. He wrote part of The Catcher in the Rye there. “You never really get the smell of burning flesh out of your nose entirely, no matter how long you live,” he told his daughter later.

From 1941 to 1946, The New Yorker rejected all his stories. After the war, the story “Slight Rebellion off Madison,” appeared in The New Yorker in 1946.

In 1947, Salinger wrote his short story, “The Bananafish,” and submitted it to The New Yorker. William Maxwell, the fiction editor, asked Salinger to rewrite it. He spent a year rewriting it with New Yorker editors. It appeared as “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” in the January 31, 1948 issue.

His novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is two days of Holden Caulfield’s life — the hero of the story “Slight Rebellion off Madison.” The New Yorker rejected it. Why? They thought its characters were not plausible, and Salinger’s writing style was exhibitionistic. The novel became a sensation in 1951 when Little, Brown, and Company published it.

Franny and Zooey, two of his stories, were also rejected by The New Yorker fiction board. But William Shawn, the editor of The New Yorker, decided to publish. After that, he decided he would handle JD Salinger’s work in the future.

No doubt JD Salinger is loved for his style, but he published very few pieces of his work.

He typed from morning to evening, in his room, in his secluded 90-acre place in Cornish, New Hampshire. His wife left him because his work seemed more important to him than his family.

Though he wrote a lot, he never thought of sharing all his work. JD Salinger did not publish anything after 1965 to his death in 2010. That is a long period of 45 years.

That may mean he rejected his work himself. Why? Because he did not wish to hurt his image of a great writer.

To give this story a happy ending, imagine this: you may be the next J.D. Salinger if popular publications have been rejecting your work for years.

Let’s have a look at our top 10 stories by writers who know how to write engaging stories:

10. Why I Rewrite The Title of My Articles At Least 10 Times and How It Works For Me

Yana Bostongirl. 3x Medium Top Writer. An avid follower of Thich Nhat Hanh. Yana writes about life, relationships, self-discovery, and self-awareness.

She is a fine writer. Her writing style is intriguing and engaging. Do check her other work.

I admit I don’t make use of any resources to produce an SEO perfect headline that may or may not trigger an ‘article clicking’ frenzy. I do mine the old-fashioned way — by going with my instinct. And I’m happy to say that it works for me with regards to views and helping me qualify for the Medium bonus.

9. I Often Wonder Who I Am

Karen Madej. Inspirer of self-improvement. Observer of all life forms. Finder of solutions. Mum of a millennial son. Single freelancer.

She is an accomplished writer. Her writing style is easy to follow, conversational, and very engaging. Don’t forget to check her other work.

More importantly, dear reader, who are you? What are your dreams? And how are you going to get there?

You might be diving right in, thinking all these top writers are making big bucks; I can do that. Maybe you can. But a few weeks in, your enthusiasm wanes. You stop writing every day. What’s the point when nobody reads your heartfelt words?

8. What Perfect Sex Feels Like

Midori by the Sea says, “I write about self-development, sex and minimalism, and I build meaningful communities to alleviate loneliness.”

She is an excellent writer. Her style is frank, flowing, and engaging. Do check her other work. Don’t miss this one.

This is what I wrote in my diary after a week of perfect sex:

“It felt like a million meteors are falling from the sky and they turn into fairies when they land on Earth.”

and then each fairy…

7. Building Better Robots By Understanding the Physics of Walking Without Spilling Coffee

Simon Spichak. Co-Founder at Resolvve Inc | Neuroscientist & SciComm.

He is an excellent writer. His writing style is informative, well-researched, and engaging. Do check his other work.

The barista hands you your morning coffee, black. “Thanks,” you say trying to keep your eyes from drooping closed. You check your phone for the time, and you realize you’ll need to speedwalk to make the job interview.

There’s a lot of complex adjustments that your brain makes so that the coffee doesn’t end up spilling.

6. Read This if Your Life is On Pause

Kyle Chastain. Say “Yes” to life • Husband and dad 2x • I only share advice I’ve lived.

He is a good writer. His writing style is honest and engaging. Don’t miss this beautiful piece and read his other work.

The email was a kick in my gut.

“Thank you for your interest in this position, but at this time we will be moving forward with another candidate.”

I can’t bring myself to finish reading it because it’s another in a long line of rejections while I try to get my life unstuck. For a few years, it felt like my life was on pause.

5. The Habits of Successful Content Creators

Jessica Lynn. Entrepreneur + Writer. I care about helping others learn to live a better, healthier life.

She is an excellent writer. Her writing style is direct, balanced, and very engaging. Don’t miss this piece.

I read a comment in a Facebook group from a woman who said her husband isn’t happy she is writing stories about her past. The story in question was one of an experience she had before she met and married him.

I rarely comment on Facebook posts, but wrote,

“Tell him they are your stories to tell. You are a creative — you must write.”

4. Do You Know Where You Are Going in Life and Which Road to Take?

Bill Abbate is a leadership writer and executive coach.

He is a good writer. His writing style is logical, informative, and very engaging. Please check his other work.

Everyone is on a path or road in their life. The question is, what path or road are you on, and where are you ultimately headed?

Life as a road is a common metaphor because of its many parallels. Let’s look closer at how we can apply it in our lives. From this point forward, we will use the terms path and road interchangeably.

3. My First Encounter With ‘Feminist’ Porn

Nicole Chardenet says, “I say what others think. Ideologically central. Never been busted for belly dancing while driving. Reclaim your power on Grow Some Labia!”

She is a fine writer. Her writing style is fun to read and very engaging. Do check her other work.

I knew women were making female-centered porn which I assumed, I hoped, meant it would suck less than male porn. My friend Janessa, far more a connoisseuse of sex, kink, non-cishet sex, and big dicks than I, headed eagerly to the Bloor Cinema to watch porn we expected wouldn’t involve a lot of tedious pounding of female orifices and ejaculations on faces, which has always struck me as disrespectful at best and degrading at worst.

2. How I Defeated My Racist Bully

Rebecca Stevens A. says, “I write about racism, but there are so many other things I would like to write about instead. Help me dismantle racism so that I can get to that.”

She is an excellent writer. Her writing style is direct, honest, and engaging. Do check her other work.

I’d been bullied for years in school, so much so that when someone was nice to me, I thought that they were trying to trick me. Yes, that is how bad it was. I went to school expecting to be bullied. Over the years, I built a rock-hard outer shell, a bit like a tortoise, to make sure the harsh words and actions didn’t affect me. I got on with my life. Some days the bullies would insult me to my face or chase me after school. Other days, they would leave me alone.

1. Welcome to Human Defense System for Survival & Longevity

Dr. Mehmet Yildiz. Technologist, Cognitive Scientist, Transhumanist empowering writers. Founder of ILLUMINATION, curating key messages.

He is an accomplished writer. His writing style is informative, direct, and very engaging. He is also the Chief Editor of Illumination. Do check his other work.

There has been a constant war inside us since our inception in human form. Our body has an army of extremely complex defense systems with many integrated and well-functioning components. Even the quietest of us, including zen masters, experience this biological war non-stop. It is human nature.

The last six top 10

This post is part of the Top 10 Series — you can meet 500+ top writers with these links:

1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9–10–11–12–13–14–15–16–17–18–19–20–21–22–Curated 23–24–25–26–27–28–29–30–31–32–33–34–35–36–37–38–39–40–41–42–43–44–45–46–47–48–49–50–51–52 –53–54–55–56–57–58–59–60–61–62–63–64–65–66–67–68–69–70–71–72–73– 74–75–76–77–78–79–80–81–82–83–84–85–86– 87–88–89–90–91–92–93–94–95–96–97

Final Thoughts

If your story was selected in the Top 10, please share another story with a brief introduction and a short convincing review — in the comments. (Please write the review in the third person and start it with your name.)

I must have missed something today. I cannot read every story on Illumination and Illumination-Curated. I try — and fail daily — to read all of the great articles.

Please join our private Facebook group for Illumination writers to post your articles daily. Also, I invite you to become a writer for my publication — positive minds.

Iꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰɪɴᴅ ᴀɴʏ ᴍɪsᴛᴀᴋᴇ, ᴛʏᴘᴏ, ᴏʀ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴇʀʀᴏʀ, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴘʀɪᴠᴀᴛᴇ ɴᴏᴛᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴄᴏʀʀᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. Tʜᴀɴᴋs.

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