How was yesterday for you? I remember a little of mine. I was anesthetized for a portion of it. I had a routine test – colonoscopy – and the nap comes with it. You know you’ve been working hard when you lie on that table and are eager for the anesthesia. A nice nap later, that test is done for the next ten years and we move on to the rest of the physical.
Before the screening, I managed a small project in the morning and worked with Anne on our latest project. I’m getting excited about that project, too. She and I have come up with some ideas and features that fill our own wish list. To me, that’s the way you build something valuable – make something you’d want to be part of, too.
We’re bracing for Irene now. I see a bit of nonchalance, which surprises me. Yes, we’re inland. The ocean is an hour and a half away by car. But my introduction to this area was Floyd, where the winds and flood closed roads everywhere and did major damage despite it being a watered-down version of what he was on the coast. I’m taking it seriously – mostly because I’m a Weather Channel junkie, but mostly because preparedness is in my genes.
I was thinking about all the clients I’d had in the past whose grammar, punctuation, or personal style got in the way of progress. A few were lambasting me for “several” inaccuracies, when in fact I’d forgotten things like a period at the end of a sentence. In other words, small stuff you’d see on occasion anyway. Not long ago a client got very upset (and called names) because he saw “so many errors” in my copy. When I read it, I realized he was rephrasing my stuff – marking his territory – and he’d botched it so badly I couldn’t make any sense of it. I didn’t address his outburst at all. Instead, I corrected his copy, sent it back telling him I’d corrected HIS copy, and told him it should read better. I got an apology, but the damage was done. No one calls me names – especially when I’ve not done anything to earn that type of treatment. It was my last day with that client.
Another client situation a while back was one in which the client introduced changes, but those changes were riddled with grammatical errors. I went about fixing them, but the client became very upset because, as he put it, I was ruining his style. Mind you, I’m not one to strip away a client’s voice, so I stopped and listened. Turns out in the end I was right.
The client’s issue was a misuse of punctuation, one which he felt was totally him. So what do you do when your client’s grammar and punctuation get in the way of progress?
Appreciate. What I didn’t do, but should have, was acknowledge this client’s attempt to adopt a personal style. He wanted to be a writer. As much as that may grind the gears of real writers, we should encourage the attempt. He wanted someone to say “I like that you’re taking this seriously.”
Lead by example. Once you appreciate, you have his attention. Starting with a compliment always opens a door, in my experience. If your client is addicted to misplaced semicolons, introduce him to the period. Show him how his prose has much more impact by reading to him his version against his “new” style (not yours – don’t make it a you vs. me situation).
Explain the difference and the impact. I had a client once who was addicted to the ellipsis. He used it to emphasize every point. Trouble is the ellipsis denotes an incomplete thought. Not a great choice for someone wanting to drive the point home. Instead, he could have used the em dash, a semicolon, colon, or broken it up into two sentences. If I’d been able to explain to the client how that impact was watered down by those three hesitant dots, he may have heard me. (this was before I knew anything about defusing a bad situation.)
Back off. Sometimes they want what they want and you can talk until you’re blue. Let it go. It’s not your product. It’s not your image either, though there is a chance you could be impacted should someone find out you’re the editor/writer. Just make sure your objections are duly noted in writing and that the client understands his changes will remain against your professional advice.
Walk away. If it gets contentious over something so trivial, walk away if you’re able. Any client who would argue vehemently with you over changes you’re suggesting that will make him look better isn’t a client who will react well when real issues crop up.
How do you deal with client inaccuracies?
Yesterday's chat on LASR was great. Hopefully it sold a few books. The rest of the day, at the site, was typical Purgatory nightmare. The job was not realistically presented, or I would have refused it upfront. I am stuck here until next week, but I will be sure not to make this mistake again. Even for double my rate, it's not worth it.
At the risk of stereotyping and based solely on my own experiences, physicians are the worst about this. Somehow, more than any other profession I've dealt with, they have expert-in-one-field-expert-in-all syndrome. (Yes, I see the irony in my Dr. Freelance pseudonym, ha, but I'm not trying to tell them how to do knee replacements, liver transplants or brain surgery either!)
In my old age, I've become reluctant to argue much about anything with clients. Your reasoning in "Walk away" is precisely why.
All of you folks in the path – or wake – of Irene stay safe!
Early on I had that duo of non-editor editors that I've mentioned before. They butchered every piece of copy every writer turned in and threw in several cliches per article (headlines were almost always lame puns). I complained to no avail, telling them how badly their puns reflected on the magazine, and how I would never be able to use any of those articles as clips. They didn't care. They were men. They were editors. They knew what they were doing. Poor little writer girl Paula had no clue. Right.
I admit it: I overuse dashes. Before I turn in copy I glance to see if I've used a distracting number of dashes. If so, I'll clean up a few sentences. I guess I just like the drama of dashes. Strangely enough, I'm related to an English teacher who abuses semi-colons. Yes, she uses them correctly, but honestly, how many times do you tend to see a semi-colon in an entire article, let alone one paragraph? This teacher will use five semi-colons in a brief note written in a Christmas card. That draws unwanted attention and creates an urge to edit, edit, edit. Makes me wonder if her students have gone on to overuse semi-colons, too…
@Lori- you introduced me to ellipsis. I knew what it does and have used it several times on transcripts, but I didn't know the English name for it.
As to what to do with client inaccuracies, I've usually corrected the copy and sent it back. There is a client I went through the text with, reading it out to her. She got it when she realised that her changes made the flow awkward.
Devon, if you don't have backup this weekend, I'd walk away anyway. You have obligations elsewhere and the client's lack of planning is NOT your emergency. Just my two cents.
Jake, I've heard that from other writers, too. And it is ironic that Dr. Freelance has that opinion. LOL I tend to walk away more often these days myself.
Paula, I'm a HUGE abuser of the em dash! It's funny how we get our favorites. I'm trying to break myself of it. Tough, but I'm working on it.
Damaria, you had a good client. Some will hear you read it and either not hear that it's awkward or won't admit it. Stupid. We're trying to make them look good. Just once I'd love to be trusted to do my job!
I've had someone argue with me recently about editors who change too many things, which she claimed ruined the copy. Some of the things she relayed to me were things I would have done as an editor too. Not all, but many. When I made a comment to that effect, the answer was "I've published XX books already." Hmm. This is someone I highly respect, so I didn't argue the point any more, but I still had a hard time swallowing that rationale.
Sometimes as writers and editors, we just have to accept that some clients are hard-headed or too proud to admit they are wrong. It's hard to swallow, especially when we can't use the clip, as Paula mentioned, or potential clients might look badly upon our work when our name is attached. But I agree that sometimes it's better for one's sanity to let it go and drop the client. I value sanity very highly these days, so I do what I can to reason and persuade, but I'll let it go if there's no getting through.
Sorry I've been MIA lately. I was on vacation, and I really needed to disconnect. It was heavenly!
Great post, Ashley. If that's the ONLY reason the writer is complaining, then I question the outrage over what may actually be good edits. It doesn't matter how much you've published; a good editor is worth gold to any writer. Mind you, the editor may have ruined her copy, but I think she needs to give examples, not justifications for being pissed.
I've published well over 150 articles, yet I still appreciate a good editor making sense of my writing. It's the ones who nitpick for no good reason other than to mark their territory that drive me nuts.
Glad you had a great vacation! Welcome back. 🙂
I once got very passionate during a conference call over the use of a semicolon in some copy. I was a bit embarrassed after the fact, but my colleague (an art director who regularly has to scale back his artistic vision to appease clients) said it was nice to see somebody stand up for their work.
Did you win the discussion, Amie? I'm with the art director. It IS nice to see someone stand up for their work, especially when the changes could change the meaning entirely.