“We regret to inform you...” These are the words that every writer dreads receiving, but words every writer knows well. The response from a publisher comes back and the writer eagerly opens and reads it, their hearts s    1     when they reach that final sentence. You may have spent years giving up your weekends and free time to write your life’s work, yet still this is often not enough. Everyone knows that success rarely happens overnight, but perhaps not many know that a lot of highly successful writers have p    2     faced rejection.

Take for example J. K. Rowling. When she received her first rejection letter, she decided that it meant she now had something in common with her favourite writers, and s    3     it on her kitchen wall. Rowling had spent years surviving     4     little money, spending all her time writing. When she finally finished her first book, she received c    5     from publishers along the lines of “too difficult for children”, “too long”, “Children would not be interested in it”. N    6    , she persevered. After a total of twelve rejections, one publisher eventually agreed to print 500 copies of her first book, and as we know, Harry Potter became     7     global success, with over 400 million books     8     and translated into more than seventy different languages.

So, it seems that talent alone isn’t enough to g    9     success. While a lot of hard work and a t    10     of luck play a part, perseverance is the key. Keep trying and eventually you will read the words “We are delighted to inform you…”