Well, It Sucked While It Lasted...

[rusty_armour]

My exciting career as a freelance editor lasted a whole week. For the sake of my sanity (what little of it remains), I've been forced to pack it in. I just didn't have the time and patience for the project, which ended up being much bigger in scope than I imagined. To be blunt, "my client" couldn't write for shit.

Each page was taking an average of 45 minutes to an hour to edit because I was essentially re-writing everything in an attempt to fix my client's extremely awkward sentence structures. Then there were all the grammatical mistakes and punctuation errors. Ye gods! How could anyone be brave enough to publish that. I mean, I don't care if it's being self-published and might only be read by half a dozen people. It's still mortifying. Hell, I was embarrassed. Oh, and I haven't even gotten to the good part yet! The content of the book is complete and utter crap. It's a self-help book written by someone who has a worse grasp of reality than I do, which is really saying something! I didn't even get past the agonizingly long (if you're editing) introduction to realize that! For my friend's sake, I hope the divorce is amicable.

Although it probably doesn't seem like it, I do feel bad about throwing in the towel. Besides the fact that my friend is involved, I did make a commitment. However, I think I'd rather slit my throat than continue working on the project -- even if it were possible for me to edit approximately 200 pages in less than 200 hours. I haven't said that to my friend, of course. Give me some credit. *g* What I did do was send the pages I finished editing (all nine of them) and explain that I couldn't possibly complete the project in less than a month. I also advised "my client" to read some books on writing and grammar. For the sake of his potential audience, I hope he follows my advice!

Comments

[alysscarlet.livejournal.com]

Well done for sticking up for your own sanity, my dear!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you agree! :-) Of course, as you're on my flist, you'd be one of the first people to suffer if I did go insane. *g*

[grondfic.livejournal.com]

Nice try anyway! Now you can read the GOOD stuff!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's an excellent point and one I meant to address in my post. I'd much rather beta for good writers I believe in and not get paid than be paid for editing badly-written crap. I mean, this is my free time we're talking about, and I'd like to think I'm doing some worthwhile and useful with it. :-)

[smithereen.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a total nightmare. I think you definitely did the right thing - it couldn't possibly be worth that much pain!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

It was a total nightmare. Editing aside, I was stressed out about the deadline and miserable about devoting all of my free time to a project I didn't believe in. I mean, if I had seen any potential in either the writer or the book, it would have been one thing, but there was nothing good to be found. Anyway, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth the pain. I'm glad you agree with me. :-)

[tazzles.livejournal.com]

I don't blame you. Don't feel bad about it. Sounds more like you would've been ghostwriting for him (almost), if you get what I mean.

I hope you're feeling a bit better. :hugs:

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

I don't blame you. Don't feel bad about it. Sounds more like you would've been ghostwriting for him (almost), if you get what I mean.

Well, "ghostwriting" might be too strong a word for it, but it was certainly heading in that direction with the amount of rewriting involved! *g*

I hope you're feeling a bit better. :hugs:

Ah, thank you! Yes, I am feeling better. :-)

[espirk.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I didn't even realize you had taken on this project! Judging by the things you shared with us, it definitely sounds like you made the right decision. I also cannot stand horrid grammar and spelling -- it's like nails on a chalkboard for me. I remember a year when I was a TA for an undergrad course and I had to check the students' essay-type answers for a test. One of the students decided to use the word, "atrocious" and wouldn't you know it, spelled it atrociously as well: "attroshius" Egads!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Considering the project only lasted a week, I'm not surprised you didn't know. *g* As you've probably guessed, I totally agree with you about horrid grammar and spelling being like nails on a chalkboard. I mean, we all have our weaknesses in this area and we all make mistakes. However, there are mistakes and then there are mistakes. I'd say that "attroshius" falls in the latter category!

I'm glad you think I made the right decision. :-)