GUEST BLOGPOST BY CHITAL MEHTA, MFA in Creative Writing from Lindenwood University and Alum of VONA and Tin House
MARCH 11 2025
Hey everyone! Before we dive into the third post of this year’s guest blog series, just wanted to have a quick chat. First off, happy belated International Women’s Day! Hope you did something fun to celebrate it. Personally, I like to mark IWD by diving into writing by women and shining a light on their stories. This year, I got to share my fave women-authored picks in a special essay for my regular trampset columns: On Reversing the Legacy of Struggles for Women: One Story at a Time. Among the many things (some are totally enraging, some concerning!) I talk about in the essay, I’m super thankful for the inspiring nonfiction pieces by women writers of color, like Frances Ogamba and Lucy Zhang. Hope you get a chance to check it out! Secondly, I’m the guest editor currently reading for Ilanot Review’s next issue. If you’re thinking of submitting something, now’s the time. Sadly, the fee-free open window is gone, but if the fee’s an issue and you want to submit, just holler at me! Thirdly, the Manuscript Consultation Program is growing. I’m editing two chapbook drafts right now and will probably take on just one more until the end of the month. Remember, chap manuscripts take a month from submission to feedback. Finally, I’m delighted to let you know that the guest blog series has garnered close attention and heartfelt applause from you all (Thank you–we all want to read true inspiring stories about what made us into writers and readers!). I can’t wait to resume again in May. If you want to send an article or essay for this series, just like Namrata and Sudeepa Nair did, drop me a line. I’ll leave you with Chital Mehta’s insightful writer life essay below. Make sure to read and comment–it greatly matters–the writer needs to know your thoughts!
When my kids were toddlers, I struggled to find the time to write. I complained a lot. I felt frustrated about having this big novel idea inside my head floating as I did the dishes, took my kids to the playground, and gave them baths. All I ever wanted to do was to sit down and pour out all of my ideas onto the page. A chance email exchange with writer Nicole Chung helped me navigate that phase. When I wrote to her about my struggles, she replied saying that while it’s really hard to write in a constricted time, I should allow my novel to take its pace. I must focus on letting each day be enough for the book. That advice practically helped me reach the finish line. The finish line which is needed to begin querying.
After working years on the book, I was excited to begin querying last summer. There is something urgent about seeing your work come out in the world after working for so long. But the truth is that publishing takes time.
Most days, my kids were home so my life was busy, packing snacks, and taking trips. Still, the rejections that trickled in caused me pain. Physical pain. I agonized over the rejection. A couple of agents asked to read my pages which seemed like a big achievement. Yes, it’s amazing when someone asks to read your work. Still, I stalked the agents online, trying to learn about their response times, and analyzing their social media posts.
Soon, I realized this wasn’t healthy if I wanted to produce new work. I spoke with a writer friend who suggested that the best thing to do was to focus on the next book. I had an idea for the next book. But each time, I opened my computer to work on it, I was weighed by the uncertainty of my first book. What if the book never found an agent? What if it did get an agent and never got a book deal? What if it did get a deal and never sold enough?
I did not write. I could not write. I realized that the one thing that made me happy which was writing, was beginning to cause me mental stress so much that I was losing sleep.
I was so focused on seeing my work making its way outside that I was not doing the thing that I had first set out to do – writing. When I drafted my first book, there were days when I only prayed for one thing. If I can write for at least ten minutes a day for the rest of my life, I’d be a happier person.
My kids returned to school and I got what I prayed for. Uninterrupted hours to write. I still agonized over the rejections and the long wait times to hear from agents. Then, I attended the Tin House workshop recently where a writer friend suggested trying ‘Journey to 100 rejections’. I opened an Excel sheet and put in three column names.
| No. | Rejection from | Date |
I have been using the Excel sheet for weeks. Each time I get a rejection whether it’s from an agent, a magazine, or a job rejection, a fellowship. I make an entry in the Excel sheet. This way, the rejection doesn’t take up space in my head because I have a special place for it in the Excel sheet. The rejection can reside inside the cells of the sheet instead of residing in my head. This simple concept has helped me focus on working on the next book by not agonizing about the first book’s fate. I will admit there are days when I still sneak up and try to read the rejections too close or allow the sting of rejection to get the better of me. Yet, I always come back to writing because there is where my real joy is, in creating new work.
I earned my MFA in Creative Writing from Lindenwood University. I am an alum of VONA and Tin House. My short story was a finalist for The Pinch Journal’s fiction prize (2022), and my work, Damaged Gifts, emerged as a fiction winner in 2022. I write about themes related to South Asian immigrants. I reside in Delaware with my family.Find me here on X – @chitalmehta, Instagram – chitalmehta.
Website – www.chitalmehtajey.com
