It was a good work day yesterday. I stuck to my plan, which was to concentrate on my larger project in the morning and get some new queries out in the afternoon. I received an assignment from a magazine I hadn’t contacted, so that was a nice bonus. I like when they have topics and sources. It makes the job a little easier, and it helps me understand better what topics they’re gravitating toward.
I got a chance to visit writing chum Bob Calandra’s new blog, Words Count, where he tackles the Rupert Murdoch debacle with panache and candor. Give him some comment love.
Today I have a conversation with a new client – one I met at the conference in May. I’m glad to see my time spent at the conference finally gaining ground, but it’s that time of year. For whatever reason, clients don’t seem to spend time on projects during the summer months. I have a feeling August is going to bring in a lot more work.
It’s Friday, I’ve had a fractured work week (self-inflicted in many cases) and I felt like I spent the entire week wading through tar to the finish line. I’m making the most of today, then I’m enjoying the weekend.
But why not leave you with some of the things that make my head explode? Feel free to join in with your own peeves.
Educated people using “then” when they mean “than.” I cringe when I see it, and I see it a lot. Just to straighten out the guilty parties, “then” indicates time passage; “than” indicates a comparison.
“I washed my car, then it rained.” Time sequence.
“My head hurts more than my feet.” Comparison.
Blog posts that shout about nothing. Explain to me this new format of using six different fonts of different sizes, colors, and thicknesses to punctuate your point. If your point is strong, you don’t need the gimmicks. I was reading a blog in another area (design, ironically), and my eye was assaulted by varying fonts, which switched from Arial 16 point in bold orange to what looked like Garamond 10 point regular, then on to Times Roman 12 point bolded in blue. Worse, I got through it only to find out the woman’s point could have been summed up in two paragraphs, not ten. I feel cheated when I read through a lengthy post promising me the secret to increasing my business, alluding to it, teasing me with statements like “Until I realized this KEY TO BUSINESS SUCCESS, I was struggling” only to be let down when the big buildup ends in a duh statement like “market like crazy.”
Marketing gurus who know nothing about marketing. Know why marketing works? Because you’re communicating with your potential client. You’re giving them benefits of working with you, but you’re also giving them space to tell you what they need. If Twitter is any indication, there are a lot of self-proclaimed gurus who need to clam up and interact instead of push.
Promising much, delivering little. I joined a paid site not long ago that promised a ton of resources and advice for the writer at all career levels. Yet the organization of the site is so confusing, it’s tough to tell what I paid for. I have to keep referring to the membership page to understand what I plunked down cash for. That’s bad design. Worse, the value that was promised appears to be nonexistent for someone with any type of career already established. Disappointing to say the least.
What has you reaching for the pain killers?
Most organizations and publications are geared to beginners. There really need to be more resources for working writers with established careers who want to keep growing in their careers. There are many more resources for non-fiction writers than for fiction writers, too.
I'm sick of people who call themselves "marketing gurus", but pitch themselves to me by telling me what I'm doing wrong. Now, if you expect me to pay attention, don't lead with the negative. Show me how you're so fabulous and creative that your knowledge can deliver a market for me. If you can't market yourself effectively, you sure as heck can't market me!
I also am sick of people who think "no" means "maybe". When I say "no", I mean "no." That is not an invitation to negotiation. If you keep nagging, it goes from "no" to "not even if you were the last resource left in the universe."
People who mix up possessives and plurals. If you don't know the difference between "it's" and "its" and you're beyond the third grade, go back to basic composition class. You don't have enough of a grasp of basic craft to call yourself a professional writer.
LOL! Devon, I'm with you on every single point.
I agree. There are so few resources for people in the middle of their writing careers. Actually, you must be exercising your powers of mind reading. Anne and I are putting together a resource for just that audience. Hopefully, we'll hit all the right notes. I'm trying to build it based on what I'd need. To me, that's the best way to hit the target audience.
Never made sense to me to walk up to someone and say "Hi! Your approach sucks. I know best. By the way, my name is…" It's so off-putting to have someone untested standing in front of you acting all condescending. When my ex and I were installing a pool, we went looking for advice (and some pool products). The woman at the local store sneered at us, told us we were crazy and we'd never be able to do it. As we left – leaving the pool products sitting on the counter – she was shouting to us "You'll be back, and you'll be begging us to fix it for you."
Not only did we put it up ourselves, we never bought a thing from her. And we told everyone we knew what she'd said.
As to the possessives, drives me nuts, too. I helped a friend once with her English paper – did the editing and I'd hoped I was teaching her something. Not so. Her note back to me was "Thank's!"
It's one of the reasons I never considered teaching as a career. LOL
Lori, I bought a copy of your book and it's so helpful – I can't thank you enough for all the advice and tips. I'm looking forward to trying a few of them immediately.
Hi Pamela! Thank you for buying it. And thanks again for allowing me to guest post back in May. I really appreciate that.
Devon I agree with you and Lori… but then I usually do.
Great weekend all.
And I agree with Anne.
I suppose the big thing that makes my head explode, even after all these years as a full-time professional writer is people who assume hearing I'm a writer means I'm hoping that maybe one of these days I'll sell something. Um, how do you think I've been paying the bills all these years?
I also immediately loathe anyone who treats writers like we're only there to proofread their already stellar copy. If they're the smart ones, why do they need us?
Marketers on Twitter (who actively market) make my head explode, so do people who use the phrase "fairly unique".
My latest pet peeve is the use of the business-speak "learnings"–as in, "among the learnings we can take away from this project…" Um, excuse me Mr. High-salaried Executive, I think the word you're looking for is "lessons."
Amie – "learnings" is as bad as people saying "gifted" when then mean "gave" or "given." That is my biggest pet peeve these days.
Paula, I love when they say "Oh really? I've always wanted to write a book."
These are the people who get the deer-in-headlights conversation about insurance and risk management articles I've written….
LOL
Paula, thanks for "gifting" me with another pet peeve! 😉