Photo: Emma at Belmore Falls in NSW, the photo was taken before she was about to pursue her dreams and begin her Curtin degree.
I have always loved writing. My fondest memory is watching my grandfather practise calligraphy every morning during the school holidays. Another memory is writing in my Mulan diary about how I would one day become a screenwriter. Writing has always been a safe space – somewhere I could express my thoughts.
My family never embraced expression and empathy – to express oneself was to be weak. I was taught that masking away feelings would make me stronger. Reflecting, I can see how that is not the case, and it’s no surprise that I ended up loving writing so much. I even remember halfway through my diary entries as a teenager, I had stopped writing ‘Dear diary’ and started writing ‘Dear Mum’ because it was the closest way I could share how I felt without taking up any of her time.
After high school in Hong Kong, my plans to attend the New York Film Academy in London were dashed by unfortunate circumstances. Instead, I bought a one-way ticket to Australia. That was fifteen years ago.
It wasn’t until 2019, when I broke free from others’ expectations, that I enrolled in Creative Writing at Curtin University, reigniting my writing journey. Yet, along with this revival came rejection and setbacks. Here are three things I have learned through the process of facing rejection in the writing industry:
1. It’s not you, it’s them.
Okay, well, it’s a little bit you. Like I said, writing is a craft. If I read my earlier drafts, my face would hurt from cringing. Before my historical fiction novel, When Sleeping Women Wake, I had written a Young Adult manuscript. It was shortlisted for a mentorship award, but it came with many rejections and is still neatly tucked away in my drawer somewhere.
Once, I received a rejection letter that said: We loved your writing style and story, but we already have an Asian author with a similar plot lined up next year. If you haven’t read R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface yet, you should! That book should be categorised as non-fiction.
But hey, the takeaway here is to not dwell on the rejection. The more time and attention you give to it, the longer it’ll take for you to continue working on your writing (and yourself).
2. Persistence is key
You’ve already gotten as far as getting a rejection? Great! That’s more than some people can say. It’s too late to quit now. Remind yourself what you love about writing and keep going. An agent who had rejected my earlier works reached out to me recently to congratulate me on my current success and to acknowledge how awesome my persistence was!
If I had given up after my first onset of rejections, I would never have made it this far to have a book coming out next year. We all have dreams, but to act on them – that’s next-level bravery. And if I can do it, then you can too.
3. Cultivate resilience
The path to success (whatever that looks like for you) is rarely linear. Learn from constructive feedback, adapt, and keep pushing forward. Every setback is a new opportunity – a new angle to view the world. If anyone ever tells you writers are born – don’t trust them! Writing is like any other skill – you must practise, hone it, and work on it every day. The same goes for resilience because if you know in your heart that you have a story worth telling – a story that could change even one person’s life after reading it – you can’t give up.
Emma Pei Yin is a British-born, Hong Kong writer, author, and editor. She is the Senior Content Manager at Future Women and runs her own business, Yinfluence Editorial Agency.
Graduating from Curtin in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts specialising in Creative Writing & Publishing, Emma is the Senior Content Manager at Future Women and is passionate about advocacy work in the migrant women’s space and equal rights for all women and gender-diverse persons.
In 2023, Emma launched Yinfluence Editorial Agency, providing editing services to creatives and businesses. She contributes to The Mekong Review, The Hong Kong Review, Being Asian Australian, HerCanberra, Aniko Press, and Books + Publishing.
Her debut historical fiction novel When Sleeping Women Wake will be published in 2025 globally.
