Thanks to everyone involved for the great discussion last week about new writers and some of the over-inflated expectations they have of us who’ve been at it a while. I hope it didn’t chase any newbies off, but that it helped you understand the frustrations we face when we try helping and run right into a brick wall. Doing for yourself in your career as much as you can will empower you. We can’t do that part for you.
I was talking with a few colleagues about a few run-ins we’ve had with other writers, editors, and those in the writing profession at some level or another. We’ve come to the unofficial conclusion that there are some people who, despite their best intentions, are still employed and earning money.
They screw up. Hey, we all do. But these screw-ups are more consistent, habitual things or personality quirks that can, should, and do sink their chances of repeat work or promotion. Some of my favorite screw ups:
The Prima Donna. He was an interesting freelancer. Great copy, but God help you if you touched a sentence! Worse, he’d interviewed a key source (and key advertiser) when he was having a tough day. The result – the source was highly offended and refused to be interviewed by him again. We were just lucky he didn’t refuse to talk to our publication.
The Jealous Writer. He actually told his boss the freelancer was a lousy writer and hard to work with. Why? Because the writer knew more than he did on the topic he’d assigned. Worse, he called the writer to chastise him about facts that were, in his mind only, incorrect.
The Latecomer. A week after the deadline, here comes the writer with his story. What? You know I’m always late! What’s the big deal? The big deal was that our issue was laid out two days after his missed deadline. Buh-bye.
The Nervous Nelly. Most writers could take the one-paragraph assignment and run with it. Some asked extra questions. This one asked for sources, questions, and practically an outline of how we expected her to write it. It wasn’t long before we realized it was easier to write it ourselves.
The No-show. I assigned the story. When it didn’t come in weeks later, I emailed her. Did I miss it? No, she said. “I decided it was too hard and I wasn’t cut out for it.” Really? And you didn’t think to tell me before I had this gaping hole in the magazine copy? Needless to say, her name disappeared from the freelance roster.
The Justify-my-existence Editor. Too many changes to the copy usually signals a problem either on the writing side or the editing side. In getting help with editing one month, I had one of the colleagues pitched in. I saw the frustration his writers must have seen – “I’d rather you phrase it this way” kind of notes all over perfectly good copy. He ripped one good article apart with just these types of edits. Worse, he introduced errors by rephrasing facts and, God help him, trying to revise quotes. Thank God for Track Changes. Made the job of rejecting his “help” that much easier.
If you’re a writer, you can avoid being the Prima Donna, the Latecomer, the Nervous Nelly and especially the No-show. Do your job as agreed, expect and welcome edits, ask questions that are targeted, and if you think for one second it’s over your head, say so quickly. Act professionally.
If you run into another writer’s or editor’s jealousy, there’s not a lot you can do beyond abject flattery and trying your best to convey your wish to please him/her. If this person holds power over you and has decided he/she doesn’t like you, you’re pretty much out. Unless you can go to the powers-that-be at a later time and query directly, write this one off.
The editor who edits just because he can is a little easier, but frustrating. You can work with someone who’s nitpicking every syllable – this is someone who’s still willing to work with you. Your job is to keep quiet unless the facts become skewed.
What types of freelance screw-offs have you come across?
21 responses to “Freelance Screw-offs”
Jealousy is simply a waste of everyone's time. That energy can be put into one's own work. I mean, it's not so hard to be happy for someone who's good at what they do and is successful. If one of us does well, it helps the whole profession.
I don't try abject flattery or try to please a jealous scumbag. I complete the assignment to the best of my ability and walk away. Chances are the check won't be worth the hoop jumping or the emotional drama, so the sooner I can cut the cord, the better.
I LOATHE the editors who have to prove themselves — dealt with a few of those. Unless the money is extraordinary, I try to sever the relationship as soon as possible.
It's even worse when you have one of those editors in fiction, because ficiton is much more personal that most non-fiction.
Jealousy IS a waste of time. Totally agree. Flattery rarely works anyway, and if that editor decides he hates you, it's better to get out of the line of fire. My concern is when there's a contract and I've already done the work. In that case, I apply bandages until we get it completed. Then I avoid that market entirely.
The justify-my-existence types are pretty common, and I can't figure out why. If you have writers whose works are good, why mess with them? That's a reflection on you as an editor to have chosen damn good writers. I think there's a lot of over-editing going on that stems from either control issues or lack of clarity in that editor's own mind. In a few cases, I've seen editors get so involved in editing that the simple, stated facts get lost on them and they come back with questions that are answered in the next sentence or paragraph (or worse, in the struck-out sentences, which indicates a larger problem).
I think it's control issues and a lack of self-esteem. Especially in the latter, it usually turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
BTW, I'm putting Monk's Cafe into my new book — I've got a few scenes in Philly. Thanks for introducing me to the place.
Glad it left an impression! I can't wait to read it. 🙂
There's an even higher level of no-show, who seem to gravitate to the travel book business. They take big assignments (might even have worked for the publisher before), and a week or so before deadline they're nowhere to be found. No phone, no email, and definitely no work. I've been the grateful recipient at least three times of the frantic editor phone call.
Hi Lori.
Great blog–perhaps because I recognize some of the people in it!
I've worked with only two justify-my-existence editors, and it was tough. However, the pay at both publications is very high, so I learned to live with it.
One's retired, so that stress resolved itself. The other one's still going strong.
I'm not perfect, and editors edit my copy, but I'm proud to say they typically don't redo the structure. He's the only one who restructures my entire copy EVERY time!
I've decided the way to deal with it is to leave it alone if he doesn't change meaning/facts. Not worth my grief, when I think he'd just argue until I gave in.
(Funny, too, is that I really like the guy.)
Another frustrating person is the editor who has a bug about something. One editor I have is an overzealous tightener. If there's ever a turn of phrase that adds levity or creativity, she deletes them.
In her defense, I think she thinks I'm sorta wordy. I sorta agree. But I think there's a middle ground between my wordiness and her killjoy editing!
(Funny, I like that editor, too. She's one of my best friends!)
Hi Lori:
You appeared to touch a nerve on the "free advice" post. I enjoyed reading all the responses. Since I haven't had freelancers (or those thinking about freelancing) coming to me for advice, I had nothing to share. I did enjoy the post.
I took on an editor's role for a series of insurance CE courses. It reaffirmed that there's a job I don't want.
Some of the writing was atrocious. One author's idea of a chapter summary was to copy and paste whole sections of text-word-for-word. She was a master of the one sentence, 10-line paragraph.
One I actually complimented on the writing style and towards the end, the client gave her all the remaining courses. I don't know if was because she was cranking them out or she knew I was there to edit, but her nice, clean style changed to rambling sentences that left you saying, "Huh?"
My client had quite a few of those authors that just vanished without telling him. And you think that's going to help your writing reputation?
I'll stick to the writing part, and try to be the one editors love – except, of course, those that think their job is to change words for the sake of changing words-or my clever headings! I hate that. Seeing how I'm perfect, you know. 🙂
I guess it would go under the 'justify-my-existence editor', which I find to be the toughest, at least in my experience. It's usually the client or someone they appoint that places themselves in the “editor” role. They don't have experience in the editing process and don't really have the knowledge of what works and doesn't. They just “edit” according to their vision of what they project should do.
Yes, they pay good money and should get what they want. Their remarks can be tough, though and if you're not careful, it can cause you to second-guess your ability to do the work. If you keep in mind that those kinds of “editors” aren't out to knock you out or build you up as a writer, you can save yourself a lot of headaches in the long run. They just have different expectations for their business dealings, even if you don't always agree with them. Does that even make sense?
This is precisely why I was comfortable leaving my editorial job in order to become a freelancer–I knew there were numerous freelancers I hired who were borderline incompetent (if not as writers, at least as businesspeople) yet making a good living.
To your list, I'll add "The Faker." This is the freelance writer whose writing is awful, but who's been edited well by other publications and therefore has nice clips to show. So, The Faker submits an absolute piece of garbage, which you dutifully edit into readable form, and the cycle perpetuates itself. You personally only get fooled once, but someone else will eventually fall into the same trap.
I always wished there was some sort of code I could embed into the copy to signal other editors "WARNING: THIS PIECE HAS BEEN HEAVILY EDITED. DO NOT HIRE THIS PERSON!"
Or maybe this exists, and no one ever told me about it 🙂
And for the record, I hate hate hate the Nervous Nelly. My favorite writers were extremely low maintenance, and that's what I strive for.
I think a lot of justify-my-existence types are simply control freaks who need everything to be done their way. It applies equally to both sides of the editorial desk.
There's also the incompetent editor. I had to deal with two of those at the same time and at the same publication. One was a former sportswriter for a small town (pop. 18,000, max) who hit it off with the publisher; publisher created the position of Executive Editor for him, and hired another sportswriter, fresh out of college, as the Senior Editor. The duo replaced three really knowledgeable, experienced editors. They "edited" by adding cliches, bottom-chopping with no rhyme nor reason, and ruining leads.
Oh. I forgot to add: The Indecisive Editor. That's the one who assigns something and keeps changing the angle, length, sources…everything but the deadline.
As you know I've had a run in or two and never been sure why… suspect jealousy, but don't really know.
Never hurts to be the backup, eh Joseph? 🙂
Gabriella, I love that you see where the one editor may have a point. I had one encounter in which I thought "You can either freak out or learn something." I learned a bit more caution and to think out each sentence more clearly. The result – better copy in subsequent projects.
Cathy, I suspect your writer was stretched to capacity. She should have pushed back on deadlines rather than screw up the content. And since you're perfect, I now have company. LOL
Wendy, that's been my experience on both sides of it. I remember a colleague on the verge of losing her mind because the editor kept changing things four revisions in, and the changes were stupid and rampant at that late stage. She doubted herself when it was clear to me who the real problem was.
The Faker! Oh hell, Jake – I've met that one, too!
Paula, you have had some doozies! The Incompetent Editor is pretty common, too. But you've hit the top one with the Indecisive Editor! I have writer friends who have pushed back and said soemthing akin to, "No, THIS is what you ordered, this is what I wrote. Check, please." That's how you stop that in its tracks.
Anne, I suspect that's exactly it.
Lori,
Just a follow up to your point on learning things from editors.
I HATE it when an editor points something out, I quickly get irritated (to myself), and then after I stew for a little bit, I have to admit, "Oh, good point."
Damn those competent editors!
I have to admit that sometimes editors make me produce better results. It pains me to admit I'm not perfect!
I thought of another one: Writers who make a mistake – large or small – but think admitting it will make them look bad. No, denying the obvious is what makes you look bad.
A couple years back I realized after sending in an article that I'd inadvertently left out an entire source. (The transcript was lost amid the mess on my desk.*) I e-mailed the editor immediately, admitted the oversight and she gave me an extra day to work it in – which meant trimming some other sections to stay within my word count. I had the changes made the same day.
*One day we all need to send in photos of our desk without cleaning it up prior to the photo. I'm sure mine will be the worst.
Gabriella, curses to those competent ones! LOL You're not perfect? Really? Cathy and I are! LOL
Paula, that's so true! Just say "I messed up – sorry." That's so much easier than debating it, pointing fingers, trying to cover it up…
And my desk, right now, is so clean. I should take bets on how long that lasts. 🙂
Of course, there was the editor who took the word "said" out of my entire novel because she "didn't like that word." She didn't replace it with anything, just did a global remove. I had a fit when I got back the galleys.
It's a novel. People SAY things, and since it all happened in the past it was SAID.
Needless to say, I don't work with her anymore.
How the hell do you get by without "said"?
I wouldn't work with her, either!
Hi, I am new to the freelance writing world, and read this article months ago. Reading this article almost made me give up on my dream of becoming a freelance writer, due to all the negative comments regarding newbies. I became unsure of where to go and who to ask for help. However, I was blessed to meet along the way some very seasoned and giving writers that where able to point me in the right direction. I think the problems that newbies are faced with is in coming across intimidating situations, along with the inability to humbly ask for what we, need.
Then you need to slow down when you read, Anon. The post was not about newbies doing bad things, but rather what newbies can avoid turning into. All those examples I've given? Yea, they're veteran freelancers. NOT newbies.
Honestly, if this post nearly made you quit freelancing, you are taking a lot of things way too personally, especially since this wasn't about newbie writers anyway. And if you've read anything beyond this post here, you know that I encourage questions and I'm doing this whole blog as a resource for you.
Come out from behind the anonymity. Ask questions. Listen to the answers. Saying things like this post is the reason you nearly quit freelancing isn't exactly warming anyone to your cause. But I'm listening.