My whole life, I have struggled with fighting the urge to be a people pleaser. I would favors or help others to the extent that it was a detriment to myself. Don’t get wrong, I’m no saint, and deserve no medals for being this way. I only say that because I’ve observed an interesting way in which my people-pleasing manifests as I’m querying my novel; whenever I receive a rejection from an agent for my manuscript query, I don’t feel sad or mad about being rejected, I more so feel guilt for wasting the agent’s time. I know, logically, I shouldn’t feel that way and most agents would probably try to reassure me that I shouldn’t feel that way, but the reaction continues with each rejection,

Trying to understand it further, I think imposter syndrome might either play a role in the guilt or is, perhaps, a byproduct of it. Regardless, it seems that the only ways to stop feeling guilty is to either get accepted by an agent or simply stop querying. Fortunately, my stubbornness makes the former more compelling than the latter.