Member-only story

How I Overcame the Fear of Rejection in Writing

Hit publish and set yourself free, wrote the Aussie writer.

Soojin Jun, PharmD
5 min readJul 10, 2021

Publishing online can be a daunting task for new writers.
However, behind the digital world, there are people.
Kindness in this binary world can make a world of difference.
I remember the first time I hit that green button on the upper right corner of this platform. So many thoughts and doubts crossed my mind. Fear of rejection was the biggest reason for holding back publishing. That changed with a gesture of kindness from a stranger across the oceans.

When I first considered writing on Medium years ago, it was not open to everyone. English being a second language, I was not confident about my writing in English. I had a passion for patient safety, and I thought Medium was a good platform to spread the word, but I did not qualify to use it at the time per its guideline. When I found out about a well-known blog for doctors and reading inspiring content about healthcare there, I thought I found a place I could express my passion. Excited, I submitted a draft about health IT creating gaps in healthcare for minorities with language barriers.

Ouch! The blog owner (a doctor) rejected my article with a somewhat hurtful and retorted comment.

Since then, I was discouraged. For years!

Then I found this guy from Australia on Medium encouraging people to write. He shared his journey fearlessly. I subscribed to his newsletter years ago and had been getting wonderful and encouraging articles. I read his articles almost every day.

Test the water.

I had been active on LinkedIn and occasionally wrote there. One of my LinkedIn posts was getting some traction, and I wanted to try writing on Medium again as it became open to everyone. I created an account, wrote the piece, and was about to hit the “Publish” button. The rejection from years ago came to my mind. I could not hit that green button.

Be open to seek and receive help and encouragement.

Then his post came through the email that morning. He was offering a writing course. I thought I’d…

--

--

Soojin Jun, PharmD
Soojin Jun, PharmD

Written by Soojin Jun, PharmD

Cofounder of Patients for Patient Safety US. Owner of I am Cheese pub. Pharmacist and empathy believer. Check out www.pfps.us and www.npsb.org & be a hero!

Responses (7)

Write a response