Being the squeaky wheel.

htrent · Oct 20, 2009

Are you one to just "roll over" or do you pick battles you think you can win when it comes to editing decisions?

I don't claim to be an expert at anything (except maybe awesomeness), but I know a lot about a few things. I got a rewrite back telling me that I needed mold the article into something else...but, ethically, I don't feel like I can (even if I'm losing the money I've put into the article).

The article would be extremely convoluted if I did. I've sent it up to editorial to see what they say, but my inclination is to just let it expire. I just hate that I'm not going to get paid for the freakin' thing unless I rewrite it. (What it really needs is a re-titling.)

Do you worry that asking too many questions or complaining too much will get you flagged as a know-it-all troublemaker? I just don't want to put my byline on anything that isn't awesome.

mommyjo2 · Oct 20, 2009

Here's tweet of mine from last week:

Sacrificing clarity at the altar of the Copy Editor gods is painful, but I shall do it because I want to get paid. #writer

I've only had two rewrites, one that I felt made the article more poorly organized and one because my overview had 104 words and the CE said 100 words was the absolute max. I just fixed things both times.

Yes, it made my article more inelegant (at least in my mind) to read, but I actually just changed the subheads and rearranged the information. I think if I did really disagree or if the rewrite caused inaccuracies I wouldn't do it, though.

SouthernFriedJulie · Oct 20, 2009

I refused a rewrite on something I knew was dangerous- the CE didn't know it was dangerous because another writer that has my same 'expertise' had previously stated the act was safe. [substituting one plant for another]

I wrote back in the comments why I preferred to not re-write it and the CE sent it up to editorial. He/She ended up having to reject it based on what they said 'upstairs', but was very nice about it.

Remember- it isn't what you say, it's how you say it. Even in text we can convey politeness to the point that we don't seem like know it alls, but professionals interested in keeping our work correct and informational for our readers.

You can also take that article and pop it up on eHow. I did that with one I had to flag as a bad title- even though a word change would have cleared that up.

Attention-Whoring Troll · Oct 20, 2009

Sorry, you're probably just a bad writer. Maybe you should kill yourself. Think about it. Who would care?

htrent · Oct 20, 2009

SouthernFriedJulie said:
I did that with one I had to flag as a bad title- even though a word change would have cleared that up.

I think that's part of the problem. I pull the topics thinking they're writable during my mad-dash title grabbing sprees. When I sit down and start trying to plaster on subheads I realize they're bad titles. I've actually got another bad title in my queue right now that I need to punt, but since it's in my knowledge area I keep feeling like I should try to make it work. I wonder if I can get someone in Ed to change the title...

Attention-Whoring Troll · Oct 20, 2009

downtherabbithole · Oct 20, 2009

My rewrites have been WAY up this month. Some people say theirs aren't and that anyone who says theirs are are bad writers....bahhhh....

htrent · Oct 20, 2009

I started on 9/27, so I can't compare my rewrite rate to anything yet! I've had quite a few, but most have been the "90 second" sort. Only 2 have been "I'm scared this is an auto-reject."

I am trying to find some topics to write on that require me to use less brain cells, though.

caromora · Oct 20, 2009

My first few articles went through fine, but my last three have gotten rewrite requests. Two were simple things, but one will require a complete overhaul. I didn't agree with it at first, but after some consideration, I see where the CE is coming from. Not looking forward to redoing it, though. Sigh.

It is a little funny, though--the two simple rewrites both asked for opposite things. One CE wanted me to cut a sentence from a fact sheet because "each subheading should contain two sentences and no more." The other CE wanted me to add a sentence because two didn't provide enough info!

Straka · Oct 20, 2009

I used to say squeaky wheel get the grease. Then a friend countered with; squeaky wheel gets replaced.

joyce · Oct 20, 2009

downtherabbithole said:
My rewrites have been WAY up this month. Some people say theirs aren't and that anyone who says theirs are are bad writers....bahhhh....

I'm pulling my hair out with rewrites! I flew by forever without and now I feel bombarded. I don't know if CE's are new or I've just turned into a horrible DS writer. After almost 600 articles you'd think I'd have it somewhat down pat.

I received a rewrite yesterday where the CE wanted me to talk about cooking with mangos and what they are used for and the title was "How to Grow a Mango Tree". What does a recipe have to do with growing a darn tree?

Two days earlier I received a rewrite where the CE wanted me to take away anything that didn't fit the title exactly, in the Overview section. I had one fluffy sentence. I did what the both CE's wanted, but I also stated to the one who wanted all the recipe crap, that I just got pinged for adding extra stuff. I figured I probably irritated the CE, but I didn't care. The consistency is presently driving me crazy. I like DS, but these past two weeks I'm ready to scream!

downtherabbithole · Oct 21, 2009

I had a rewrite about tent curtains because the CE said they had never heard the term "tent curtains". WTF?!!!!!!!! That was my biggest WTF one as of late.

mathewferguson · Oct 21, 2009

You've got to push back on changes regularly or you devalue yourself. Making every single change is a good way to let frivolous changes grow out of control. Today it's one, tomorrow two and next month it is a completely new article for no extra money.

I either make the changes I want to make and then write back with an explanation of the ones I didn't make (this gives them time to read it and see it is best) or call up and talk.

I once wrote a short story where one of the kids has this amazing watch - waterproof, lava-proof, dinosaur-proof, temperature resistant up to a million degrees, etc. It was a gentle poke at those over the top diving watches. Change came back: before kid goes in water to surf, she needs to take her watch off.

It is invulnerable! To everything! She wouldn't take it off.

They held firm and even worse, they wouldn't let me cut out all the monkey-proof, etc, stuff. So she has this brilliant watch ... and takes it off. Ugh.

htrent · Oct 21, 2009

joyce said:
I received a rewrite yesterday where the CE wanted me to talk about cooking with mangos and what they are used for and the title was "How to Grow a Mango Tree".

Maybe someone was CEing in front of the t.v.

Deleted member 42 · Oct 21, 2009

mathewferguson said:
You've got to push back on changes regularly or you devalue yourself. Making every single change is a good way to let frivolous changes grow out of control. Today it's one, tomorrow two and next month it is a completely new article for no extra money.

I don't think you realize the markets that are being discussed.

There is no call up and talk option.

Moreover, it's sometimes more efficient in this kind of writing to either make the changes or pull the article and post elsewhere. Contacting the editor and attempting to persuade said editor is also unpaid labor.

SouthernFriedJulie · Oct 21, 2009

Heard there are a ton of new CE's. Could be why there are titles in weird places. I was checking the Farm Animals section and someone had placed a title about sore calf muscles.

Wha? lol.

joyce · Oct 21, 2009

SouthernFriedJulie said:
Heard there are a ton of new CE's. Could be why there are titles in weird places. I was checking the Farm Animals section and someone had placed a title about sore calf muscles.

Wha? lol.

I know this isn't an official thread of the one that just was closed because of someone I will not mention, but it does make me feel soooo sneaky.

SouthernFriedJulie · Oct 21, 2009

joyce said:
I know this isn't an official thread of the one that just was closed because of someone I will not mention, but it does make me feel soooo sneaky.

I have no idea what you're referring to, you naughty, naughty girl.

blueobsidian · Oct 21, 2009

SouthernFriedJulie said:
Heard there are a ton of new CE's. Could be why there are titles in weird places. I was checking the Farm Animals section and someone had placed a title about sore calf muscles.

Wha? lol.

CEs don't deal with the creation of titles.

Under the previous title proofing system, a proofer checked the category and format to make sure the computer-generated ones were correct. They usually were not. When the system changed, all of a sudden they no longer had a person look at category and format. No one places the titles in categories. The computer just uses the words to categorize them (and sometimes it doesn't know the difference between things like a calf muscle and a calf on a farm).

The category stuff doesn't bother me much, since the keyword searches work fine. What is problematic are the titles uploaded in the wrong format. There are a lot of abouts that should be lists, and unfortunately many writers do not find this out until they get rewrites.

DS is aware of the problem and working on solutions. Personally, I'd like them to just go back to the old titling system. Completely computerizing things like this just doesn't work.

SouthernFriedJulie · Oct 21, 2009

Ah, I thought someone placed them.

htrent · Oct 21, 2009

Anyone know what counts as a "word"? Obviously, stuff in sentences is words. But what about keywords and references? I just got a rewrite sent back for length, and to come up with the number of the words the CE did they'd have to be counting er'thing.

FreelanceKen · Oct 21, 2009

Your "Tips and Warnings" area count as words in the article. I am not positive but I don't think references and keywords counts as words. What kind of word count do you have? What type of article? I ask too many questions......lol

htrent · Oct 21, 2009

It was a Fact Sheet! The CE said I had 308 words (which I couldn't recreate after much copying and pasting) and said I needed to chop 100 words. I came to something more like 280 when I did a word count. I went ahead and gave the thing a haircut, but it hurt to do so. It was a plant science thing, and I thought I needed all that verbiage to explain some of the concepts.

FreelanceKen · Oct 21, 2009

First of all my hats off to you...I have never attempted a Fact Sheet but I know for me personally I could never get it down to 200 words. Those of you that do Fact Sheets, I bow in humble admiration.

I have found that adding a note in the comments section when sending rewrite requests explaining what you did and didn't do for the request will usually persuade the CE to give you some feedback in an accepted article. I say usually because a lot depends on the CE and the topic, and plant science things are way out of my general area.

But it sounds like you did what you could so (fingers crossed) it should pass through.

Words Are My Life · Oct 21, 2009

I used to be afraid of fact sheets...but have grown to like them. I try to only do ones on things I know very well...such as a medical condition which I actually have. Usually if I pick topics I am good at, I can keep them short and get no re-writes. And they only take me 25 minutes to do, which makes the lower pay amount okay.

Being the squeaky wheel.

practical experience, FTW

Bad grammar make me [sic]

Hidin' the bodies

practical experience, FTW

practical experience, FTW

Still alive. Kind of.

Bored Fanatic

I'm really shy...

practical experience, FTW

Deleted member 42

Hidin' the bodies

I'm really shy...

Hidin' the bodies

Hidin' the bodies

practical experience, FTW

practical experience, FTW