Fail Better

By

“Then again, you might not be the funny type. How about making the rejection letter poignant, depressing, or even hurtful? Push the envelope. Your audience is a bunch of bored writers begging for a little drama in their pathetic lives. Never be sort of poignant! Depress and hurt the fuck out of somebody! (Don’t be afraid to use profanity!) There should be blood, or the threat of it. Or just mind games told in the first person.”

The Morning News satirizes the writerly anxiety of failure by turning the tables on those who pen the rejection letters.

Rebecca Rubenstein is the Interviews Editor for The Rumpus. She is also a lover of cinema and a Scrabble hustler. When not reading books made of paper, she can be found thinking on Twitter and recommending good reads and other ace things at You Have A Home Now. She resides in San Francisco. More from this author →