Essay from Salihu Muhammad

Young Black man with a headdress and buttoned shirt standing in front of a concrete wall and a leafy green tree. His hand is in front of his chest.

A PAGE FROM MY LIFE AS A WRITER 

I recap the day I received my first rejection letter. It was a crisp, cold, white envelope, sealed tight, a typed letter inside, with painful news tonight. Disappointment delivered, in formal lines, ending hopes, with words that cut like knives, saying in the later: “Dear poet, Thank you so much for your wonderful submission. Unfortunately, after a careful evaluation of your work, we have decided to pass on it. We hope to receive more from you in the future.” I was 31 years old, and it felt like the end of the world. 

But I didn’t give up. I held on to that glimmer-of-light, took a deep breath, revised my manuscript, reviewed it, & edited it to my humble satisfaction. I now learned to submit with a wise approach; to read each literary magazine, with a careful eye to tailor my words to their poetic tide. With that method from that day on, I became a reader & that writer who has never come across rejection has never submitted. Meanwhile, as a writer, you have to be patient & humble. That moment taught me the value of persistence. Writing is a journey of twists and turns, rejections and acceptances. It’s easy to get discouraged, but the true test of a writer’s mettle is their ability to keep going.

Salihu Muhammad Ebba (Legend Bard) is a budding writer, poet & easyiest  from Niger state. is a bright and ambitious individual, currently studying At Legend International School Minna with a strong foundation from Guided Medal Model School, Minna. He is also a member of Hil-top Creative Act Foundation (HCAF), He was driven into the world to succeed and make a meaningful impact on the society. 

2 thoughts on “Essay from Salihu Muhammad

  1. Salihu, your narrative took me back to my own first inevitabld letter of rejection; it read: “After reading your work, I became convinced that it did not contain anything that I couldn’t live with out…” Yikes! I encounter prospective writers who are loathe to submit, fearing he pain of rejection. But you’re right, you must submit in order to be published. Unlike you, I was not the tender age of 31 when I wrote my first story: I was 66. I’m had only mixed success, but there has been no looking back. Thanks foro sharing your story.

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