Why Stop After One Try?

Persistence pays off eventually

Feb 28, 2025

I refreshed the page at the passing of each hour. I gave in to sleep and refreshed the page again after arising, going through the submissions I had missed.

I am growing my portfolio as a writer by submitting to various publications where I see a potential home for my work. Part of this included submitting a haiku for Haikuniverse’s Valentine’s Day collection. Rather than posting one haiku per day as usual, they would post one haiku every hour. By that point, I had submitted a few haiku and had not had any selected yet, so I was eager for an opportunity to have my words show up sooner. My haiku was not chosen.

A little later, I received an email from the editor, who explained that for the 25 spots available, there were over 500 submissions from 233 people.

group of people on stairs under clear white sky — Photo by Levi Jones on Unsplash

Immediately I realized that several people had submitted more than one haiku.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with this. Something that happens when you not only submit to a publication, but are also a regular reader of theirs is that you begin to recognize the names of a few frequent submitters. This is often expected and welcomed.

While I did put a lot of thought into my Valentine’s Day haiku, building my portfolio was going to take more than submitting one piece once in a while. As the editor also noted, the 25 haiku selected were not only strong but chosen over other strong haiku. I had put my all into one haiku that I wanted to be “the one” and just stopped there, rather than trying out other haikus that would not only have fit the theme but perhaps also been of a higher quality. Here is the original version of what I submitted:

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my heart
working overtime
first kiss

The frequent submitters are people whose work I respect and can take notes from. Their dedication to their craft stirs me to further dedication to my own. Beyond increasing the odds of being selected, frequent submitting means getting better with each submission. Here is a revised version of the Valentine’s Day haiku:

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first kiss 
my imaginations 
bested reality

This story does end on a good note though. A little over a week later, I saw that a haiku of mine had been published. I found out not by constantly refreshing the page, but simply checking my email and seeing my name in the subject line! Not only had I not limited myself to submitting one haiku, I also did not limit myself by submitting it to only one publication*.

*If it fits the theme and is within the publication’s rules. In the case of this haiku, I notified the other publication that it had been published so they could withdraw it from consideration.

Question for you: In what area will you stop limiting yourself today?

Questions I Ask Myself

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