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EXCERPTS
Short Story
"Wallpaper."
Published: Eureka Literary Magazine. (Fall 2005.)
Description: Peter Payne--Sports Illustrated insert card writer by day, aspiring fiction writer by night--puts his rejection letters to good practical use.
Excerpt:
Dear Mr. Payne:
It is my unhappy duty to inform you that Story Monthly will not be able to publish your short story, “The Denouement.” While well crafted, the story suffers from a weak opening paragraph. I am a great believer in the necessity of grabbing the reader’s attention right up front. Please keep in mind that this is just one editor’s opinion and that you may find a happy home for your story elsewhere.
Regards,
Adam Michaels
Peter Payne taped his latest rejection letter to the kitchen wall. At this rate, he calculated, the entire western wall of the room would be covered over by February. A sad reflection on his literary prospects, perhaps, but a welcome home improvement nevertheless, the previous tenant having decorated the room with a trompe l’oeil mural he was more than happy to conceal.
Dear Mr. Payne:
Treble Clef is sad to report that we will be unable to include your story, “Rude Awakening,” in our next folio. While the story begins on a high note, the first paragraph striking a particularly powerful chord, we feel that the story quickly decrescendos and finally just falls flat.
Wistfully,
Michelle Adamo
Fiction Editor
In March, Peter studied the western wall of the kitchen, pleased with his work. From afar, the pattern created by letterhead ranging in color from pure white to ecru was eye-catching, giving the room a contemporary look he had so far been unable to achieve elsewhere in the apartment. Seen from a few feet away, the wall conveyed a sense of importance, the varied and striking logos suggesting that he was well connected to the world beyond the East Village. Upon closer inspection, when one discovered the true nature of the correspondence, the viewer would undoubtedly have even greater respect for Peter, discovering that his standards had not been lowered to the point where his work had become publishable.
Which is not to say that he was incapable of creating publishable work. As an insert card writer for Sports Illustrated, he knew his work was seen by millions of readers every week. No matter that most readers grunted with resentment when the cards fell out of the publication onto the floor or had to be ripped out to enable them to finish reading a story—somewhere in that community of readers, enough people took the trouble to read the cards, fill them out, and send them back to S.I.’s fulfillment center to keep him employed.
But his fiction was another matter. Here, no promotion department head reviewed his work, demanding that it conform to the magazine’s style guide or comply with the legal requirements imposed on all promotional materials produced inside the Time-Life Building. No circulation marketing manager stifled his creativity, insisting that his ideas be reigned in to conform to current marketing objectives. Here, he was his own boss, relishing the freedom to decide what to write and how to write it.
[End of excerpt]
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