What’s on the iPod: Something Good This Way Comes by Jakob Dylan
Yesterday was a really fruitful day. I managed to get one ongoing project done in the morning, conduct an interview, have lunch, rewrite an article, finish three blog posts, and get one more ongoing project done in the afternoon. And I was done by 4:30. I didn’t feel rushed, but think the keyboard sparked a few times.
I saw a fun, frustrated post by Anne Wayman yesterday about how she’s not everyone’s mother. It made me laugh out loud, but I nodded in agreement quite a bit. It’s about writers who ask questions that would take weeks to answer, if you could answer them at all.
Plenty of newbies will read that and think she and her commenters are a bunch of elitist brats who won’t help a soul. And they’d be completely wrong. Anne has been my inspiration for helping others for years. She extends herself and shares what she knows with anyone needing help. What she’s saying is if you need help, learn how to ask.
Her example is a great one – someone wanted a primer on blog post writing and pricing. Not “What do you charge and how long are the posts?” but “What’s the average?” Worse, the asker had already agreed to do it for the client. Big mistake – that writer is now going into an assignment blind. And maybe more importantly, the writer shows no self-respect and honestly doesn’t do much to convince me he/she knows what he/she is doing by signing up for a project without discussing the particulars. What is expected and what’s being paid? Those are the first questions that need to come up. If the client doesn’t know, it’s up to you to set the parameters and negotiate it.
Occasionally I get questions from writers. I love it because most of the people who find me here know what they’re asking. But every now and again I get the “How do I get started?” question. Do you know how impossible that one is to answer? After being asked so often, I developed a standard answer “Start by reading books on how to write in whatever genre you like and read writers’ blogs for specific tips.” But now I think I’ll say “Sign up for my writing business development course.”
Why? Because the question is lazy. The asker didn’t bother to do even the most preliminary homework. Most of what you need to know about writing is plastered all over the Internet. If you’re unsure about something specific, like how to locate the right person to send a query to, that’s different. The question even sounds smart because the person asking has bothered to get to that point.
What’s the worst question you’ve ever had? What’s the worst question you’ve ever asked?
15 responses to “Learning How to Ask”
There's a difference between someone starting out in the business who wants to be pointed in the right direction and someone who feels that a published writer "owes" it to a newbie to do the work for them.
An acquainted mentioned on Twitter the other day that a non-writing colleague told her his sister wrote a book and — I can't remember if it was phrased "what agent should she use" or "could she find her an agent" — but it was along those lines. My response was, "Nice or snarky? Either way, bitch needs to do her own research."
I don't mind giving pointers on query writing or sending them to P&E to cross-check research. I am NOT, however, going to whip up an agent list for someone else. I don't know the book, and, unless you're paying me as your agent or marketing person, you'll have to do the work.
If I'm talking to someone and we're discussing a piece, and a market comes to mind, I might suggest that person check out the market's guidelines — but I'm not doing it for someone else.
Worst question someone demanded of me was that I "get my novel published. You OWE it to me, because you're published and I'm not." First of all, this is someone I'd just met; second, having read just a few paragraphs, there was a darn good reason why this person was published, third, I most certainly do not OWE it to anyone else to walk them through any door. Earn it — from me, from the industry, from yourself. Do the damn work.
It's one thing to ask, "Where do I find out about X, Y, Z?" or "how do I go about this?"
It's quite another to say "Do the work for me."
IE, several forums I've stopped visiting — I'd spend large amounts of time answering questions about freelancing, etc. Rarely got a thank you or acknowledgement. Two weeks later, another newbie asks the same question. Moderator suggests (again) that I'm the person with the info. I say I've answered it at length and to check the archived posts. Newbie says, "Oh, I don't have time. Just tell me."
Uh, no. I'm not repeating myself and rewriting the post. If you can't click the link, go to hell. Do not waste my time. I make my living at this. Answering your question literally costs me money.
Even if you're new to an industry or a topic, apply common sense and courtesy. That's universal. Anything less is unacceptable, and I'm not going to waste my time on those people. These are the ones who think "content mills" make them a professional.
Previous post should read "good reason why this person was UNpublished" — sorry for the typo.
That's one of the reasons why I don't ask…to avoid looking silly. However, I learned to really just ask. Be foolish for one minute than stay that way forever…
I get plenty of "how do I get started" action, too.
As you noted, there's no good, short answer to a question like that.
I understand the impulse to tell people to go do their research, but I believe many of these people think they *are* doing research by asking the question.
We might interpret it as an annoying attempt to short-cut legitimate homework, intrusive or otherwise aggravating and many folks *should* do a better job of crafting their questions.
However, people are constantly told to "ask when they have a question" and I do have a site that occasionally offers something approximating advice, so I can understand the motivation for those questions.
So, here's what I did… I wrote up a friendly little overview/response that includes links to a few dozen posts/articles from various sites. Anyone motivated enough to read them should start to get a grip on things and will have a half-decent idea of where to learn more.
It's a lot faster than trying to write a decent individual answer to a vague "getting started" question and I'd like to think that it provides the people who were motivated enough to take a chance on asking a question with something of value.
Devon's right. I don't mind questions that aren't easy to answer as much as I hate questions like, “Can you give me the name of the company/client you work for, so I can contact them to inquire about a job? Also, what did you have on your resume that got you that job? I want to do the same thing.” There's definitely a fine line between wanting some guidance and wanting someone to do all the work for you.
I do have to fess up, though. I was one of those that asked some of the hardest questions to answer. The worst one that I can remember? Are you sitting down for this? You better be. Here it goes: “How do you write an article?” (No specifics, just the question) To be honest, I didn't really know what I wanted to know, so I didn't really know what to ask. I was reamed, royally, for asking it. I would rather have been told that it was impossible to answer and why, than being told I was stupid or I would never amount to anything as a writer if I couldn't' figure it out for myself.
To me, if you're willing to do the work then no question is considered stupid. If you want the easy way out and have other people do the work for you, then don't bother asking questions. Not too many people will be willing to help if you have the attitude that others 'owe' it to you.
The worst question I've ever been asked was by an aspiring freelancer who wanted to specialize in the same field as me … and asked me if I'd share my prospect mailing list! The sad thing is, he didn't see what was wrong with asking.
I get a lot of emails from aspiring copywriters. These days, I just point them towards Bowerman and Bly's books. Bowerman's Well Fed Writer books are practically a blueprint for success, if you do everything he tells you to.
Devon, the answer that acquainted should have used is "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't discuss work outside of my office hours. Here's my card. Give me a call and we'll discuss my fee for locating a publisher then."
And you're right – they want to be pointed in the right direction, but I have fielded that question so much I'm beginning to think they don't want to actually DO the work as be LED to do the work. I'd be thrilled to respond to a well-worded question that shows the writer really does intend to seek this career path.
Smart Trading Plans, don't stop asking questions. Just don't ask blanket questions that have taken many writers books in order to answer. We're happy to help. It's just that some questions require huge amounts of time to answer and I for one don't have hours to do that.
If you came to me and said, "Do you have a process for contacting magazines?" I can answer that. If you come to me and ask "How do I start writing for magazines?" that's a writing course. Please ask, but think about what you're asking first.
Carson, everything they need to know rests on this blog and others. I have pointed people here and to some other sites. But it takes time to answer a general question – time I spend earning money. And frankly, if these people want to be writers, they have to learn how to ask good questions of their interview subjects. Starting now.
Wendy, that made me smile.
We all ask dumb questions, sure. But by asking you still narrowed it down to just magazine writing. The smart response to that would be "What part confuses you?" And the nerve of the person wanting to horn in on your work! No way. That's just too blatant. Worse, they may have used you as a reference and sucked or sent a signal that you were no longer interested in the gig.
Eileen, that request tops the worst ever! You're right – pointing them to resources often works better. It's already been written – no need to rewrite it all in an email!
The worst question I've been asked wasn't by a newbie writer, but by an editor I'd pitched an article idea to. One of the clips I'd sent was from a major showbiz trade. The guy said he'd been trying to break into it for several years and wanted to know how I got in, and if I would recommend him to my editor.
Um, no. First, I'd never read this guy's work so there's no way I could recommend him. Second, if nearly ten years' worth of attempts to break in there haven't worked, there's probably a good reason. Third, you didn't even assign me anything!
I gave him the short version of how I got in: I sought out the appropriate editor (this place has dozens of editors), sent in great clips with my letter of introduction, and happened to have such good timing I got my first assignment as soon as the editor read my clips.
If that guy was really motivated, he could deduce which editors to contact. All he'd have to do is download the editorial calendar, which lists the editors' names with the sections they're scheduled to edit. I didn't tell him that part, since checked editorial calendars is such an obvious step.
Like I'm going to do the legwork for you when you didn't even discuss the idea I pitched to you? Puh-lease.
Wow, he actually had the cahonas to ask that?? And NOT assign you anything? That's just wrong!
Like everything else in the world, the "how do I get started" question reminds me of South Park, specifically the Underpants Gnome business plan. For freelancers, it goes something like this:
1. Start a freelance writing business.
2. ?????
3. Profit!
@Eileen, sharing your prospect mailing list? That wins the Internets for the day, maybe the month!
LOL – Jake, it is rather South Park-like, isn't it?
I'm sure I asked that "how do I get started" question in some form at the beginning. But those were just the words that came out, not what I really wanted to know. The prospect of starting my own business was overwhelming, but since then, I've done TONS of research online and read books on how to get started. For some people it probably is a matter of laziness, but I never meant it in that way, and I'm thankful that the friend who helped me in the beginning was patient with me and realized I wasn't trying to ask her to do the legwork for me.
On the other hand, there's absolutely no excuse for asking for someone else's prospect list. I'm more than willing to help people who are willing to help themselves, but there's no way to look at that request without it seeming lazy. People need to realize they won't learn unless they do the work themselves!
Ashley, thank you for that post. I guess we could all exercise a bit more patience. I think maybe our best response could be to ask what specifically new writers want to know. Sometimes they need a little more guidance.
I think you're exactly right, Lori. Weed out the lazy ones from the confused/overwhelmed ones
When you're talking about online messages, it's a lot harder to determine how the request is made. But for the newbie who said they don't have time to search the archives… um, seriously?? No excuse for that!
I'm not sure that I've ever asked anyone how do I get started but I do remember early on asking a lot of questions about dealing with clients who didn't pay or where people find the jobs (that would have to have been the worst question I've asked). However, I don't think I was asking it because I couldn't find the jobs, I think I was asking it because I wasn't finding the right kinds of jobs or more to the point, having any luck where I was currently looking. In which I case, I should have phrased my question differently because hindsight and all… It could have been I wasn't getting leads because my portfolio wasn't strong, my query letters were horrendous or I just wasn't diligent enough in my search.
The questions I get now (because things have changed for me drastically in the 4 years since I started) are more about working from home in general and finding those jobs. I know see why people could have easily gotten frustrated with me once upon a time!