What I’m reading: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
What’s on the iPod: Wishing Well by The Airborne Toxic Event
Are they making weekends shorter these days? Not that we didn’t cram a week’s worth of things into two days, but Monday is here way too quickly. We had our meditation group over on Saturday morning, then we headed off to a holiday craft fair, where I spent very little. I’ve been budgeting hard this year, and so far, I’ve manage a very nice stash of gifts for relatively little money.
Yesterday I got up and made a tea bread – I was expecting a visit from local Jehovah’s Witness folks (yes, I invited them – I like hearing about others’ religious tendencies). I waited until 3, when he and I headed off first to the local clothing shop in town, then to listen to traditional Irish music. The visitors showed up five minutes after we’d left. Of course. My fear was they’d arrive as I was sitting down for football. Luckily, my game was on last night. And what a game it was. My team won, but it was back and forth and hard-hitting, nail-biting football all night. That’s probably why I didn’t sleep well.
Today is a combination of articles and one small project. Then more marketing. A few more gifts will be bought – online. I’ve done most of it online, and it’s been easy to find free shipping and everything in stock. It pays to put an arbitrary deadline on your holiday shopping.
As I was watching my team’s quarterback walk off the field last night, blood streaming from his nose, which was suddenly on the opposite side of his face, I thought “There’s a job I wouldn’t take.” It got me thinking about other jobs I wouldn’t take, but more importantly, writing jobs I wouldn’t take. There have been a few, and each has been steeped in issues beyond my capacity to effectively deal with them and get the job done right.
Beyond the obvious – the lack of decent pay, the posse of pesudo-editors, or the 24/7 oversight by the clients, here are things I will turn down every time. I will never do these for any client:
1. Lie. I will talk about your product or service in honest terms. I will not say what isn’t true. Nor should you even consider it, client.
2. Work for just royalties. I work for real money, not pipe-dream money. That may seem odd since I may be the one writing your book or your article, but I’m a writer, not a psychic. I can’t know what publishers want at any given moment since I don’t specialize in ghostwriting or publishing. They could reject your book manuscript for any number of reasons not related to the writing (they have budgets, too).
3. Work without a contract. No exceptions. Magazine work comes with an email contract – our mutual agreement in writing to the terms. All others come with an email or paper agreement or I don’t start work until it shows up. If that upsets you, client, understand this isn’t a personal decision. It’s a business decision.
4. Write something against my personal beliefs. It’s a biggie. I won’t write for you if your project steps on my boundaries. That includes writing something that bashes another segment of the population or is in such bad taste as to reflect poorly on another person or group of people.
5. Work for companies whose practices are unethical. Thank Enron for this. I won’t knowingly be connected to any company practicing in an unsafe or unethical manner toward their employees or their customers.
6. Work for someone who acts unprofessionally. Be it shouting at me, dressing me down, or questioning my personal integrity, I will not tolerate it. Chew me out once or even hint that I don’t know what I’m doing and we’re finished. I do know what I’m doing. The first draft is just that – a draft. Mismatched thoughts are not cause to say things about my character or abilities. Tying my hands with time or monetary restrictions and then fussing about the end result is not acceptable. We work together or we don’t have a deal.
How about you? Where do you draw your boundaries?
10 responses to “Integrity and Writerly Boundaries”
#4 is a big one for me. I get into a lot of debates about that, because, supposedly, a "professional" is supposed to step back and not be affected by the beliefs behind the work. However, I believe that words have power — why be a writer if you don't? — and therefore, even for cash, I will not write words of power that go against what I believe has ethics and integrity.
That's more important to me than the paycheck, so I'd rather lose the client and find someone else.
You've covered some very important boundaries writers must consider. I agree with them all completely.
This is a great list. One of my good friends is a fulltime freelance writer, and she's struggling with one particular client. She's writing stuff that she doesn't feel good about (the client's clients don't have the best reputations) and I've been encouraging her to find something else. She tells me she doesn't have time to look and "I gotta eat." That makes me really sad. I actually found a job for her online, so I'm hoping that will help her phase out the client she doesn't like.
That's an example of writing something that goes against my beliefs. I just couldn't do it.
Royalties- LOL! Isn't that usually followed up with something like, "Our site gets tons of visitors everyday!"
I'm sure that should be okay, since you could get a byline out of the deal, right?
You pretty much covered it. For me, #4 does not have to be something nefarious. If it's just "not my thing," and I don't believe in it, I don't feel comfortable writing about it. Being in the health care niche, you can imagine some of what I mean.
In addition to royalties (laughing with you, Wendy), the offer of ALL that traffic I'll get as a result of my "expert" sharing. 🙂
Numbers 4 & 6 are a tie for me. And funny how the people most likely to treat you badly are those who are otherwise unethical.
Back to free shipping… Freeshipping.org lists all kinds of deal on free shipping, but cash-back places like Fat Wallet and eBates are really good at listing which stores have free shipping deals – and who doesn't love getting free shipping and cash back on your online purchases?
Paula, try Couponcabin.com too. Great place to find that last-minute discount.
Devon, I find that #1 and #4 often coincide, which makes it a BIG no-no.
Kim, remember those times when we were just starting out and we thought "Boundaries? What are those?" 🙂 We learned quickly!
Ashley, good for you for helping her. Her statement is one lots of freelancers utter. Yes, we do have to eat. More importantly, however, we have to look at ourselves in the mirror. Anyone who's willing to compromise their own standards consistently is skirting the edges of unethical behavior. I'd much rather behave as a pro than do what I'm not comfortable doing just for a paycheck.
Wendy, don't you love that one? I get the "I don't have the budget for your fee" (which I'd better hear sooner rather than later), but DON'T think you're paying me with invisible money. My bills aren't invisible, therefore I'll be requiring real cash.
Same here, Cathy. There are some projects that just don't fit.
Lori: Great post, as always. Like the others who have already commented here, I can't think of anything significant that you've overlooked w/ this list.
That said, I'm particularly intrigued by #5 — & the more I think about this one, the more I think it could easily be a post unto itself.
Maybe I'm feeling particularly cynical this morning (OK, I *know* I'm feeling particularly cynical this morning), but steering clear of all companies w/ ethical issues sounds a lot like saying I won't cheer for a sports team unless I'm sure there are no ethically questionable dudes (or dudettes) on the squad. Excellent in theory, but difficult if not impoossible to achieve in practice.
Though the Enrons (& the Michael Vicks) of the world are easy to identify & shun, I find that most issues related to business ethics (or the lack thereof) are more prevalent that we'd like to acknowledge, & more prone to interpretation than we'd wish were the case.
Any of this making any sense — or do I just need to spend some time with a warm cup of tea & a nice spot in the sunshine until my faith in corporate humanity surges a bit?
Your list could be mine! Except I've got two long-term clients without contracts… we just keep noodling along and it works. But no new ones for sure.
Anne, I think once they've proven themselves, you can move the agreement to email. I've done that myself. Just an agreement in writing that this is what you need and when is fine, right?