The thing is, it's not negative motivation. It's not 'negative' at all unless you think pointing out that you're not going to win the lottery is negative. In fact, I think my way of thinking is pretty optimistic, all in all; it's just an optimism based in reality: if you submit to places with < 1% acceptance rates, then yes, chances are great that you're gonna get rejected. If you understand that, keep it in mind, and try anyway, then that's pretty damn good.

Or put another way: even mentioning the subs at all, without also mentioning the reality of the situation, would seem phony to me. If the prickly spikes are part of the fruit you can't pretend not to see them. Not without hurting your fingers. At least, that's how I function.

The thing is, it's not negative motivation. It's not 'negative' at all unless you think pointing out that you're not going to win the lottery is negative. In fact, I think my way of thinking is pretty optimistic, all in all; it's just an optimism based in reality: if you submit to places with < 1% acceptance rates, then yes, chances are great that you're gonna get rejected. If you understand that, keep it in mind, and try anyway, then that's pretty damn good.

Or put another way: even mentioning the subs at all, without also mentioning the reality of the situation, would seem phony to me. If the prickly spikes are part of the fruit you can't pretend not to see them. Not without hurting your fingers. At least, that's how I function.