NOW THAT'S NOT FUNNY

It's NOT Always Writers Block...

Usually I rant and rave about political goings on, but NOT this time. NO, I'm going to rant and rave about something more personal...

I am relatively new at being a "working and actually getting paid" Freelance Writer. I work on assignment. Well, I got a little brave and bold, and pitched a story idea to one of the Editor's that's been giving me assignments - He said, "Okay, deadline May 15th."

I thought, My that's a very generous deadline. I had better than than 10 days to complete a story. I thought, This is going to be a piece of cake. Yea! Go ME.

Let me tell you, I did not expect bookstore employees and John Q. Public to be so NOT forth coming. Shock!!!

Here I am, trying to do a story I pitched to an Editor, who is actually willing to publish it - and I find out, after the fact of course, that getting corporate book store employees to actually tell me what is the most popular book selling in our local franchised store is like PULLING TEETH. Who knew? NOT ME!!! Incredible, absolutely mind numbing incredible! Let me just say, IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. How sad! How stupid. Moving on...

Customers at the various corporate book stores are a whole nother story. These 'readers' were very forth coming, but I couldn't print most of what they told me... Incredible!

Deadline May 15th came and went... I didn't have the story I promised the Editor.

Let me now say what a charmed life I have. Today, May 17th, two days AFTER the deadline... I finally was able to take my notes and put together not just one story, but two.

Whew!

Bravely I e-mailed the stories to my Editor - then I gathered up all my courage and called him. (I have to call most of my Editors when I e-mail them something... or they will never see it. They're very busy people.) Glory be... he had forgotten about the story I pitched. He checked his e-mail, and then proceeded to thank me, and said, "This is good. I was just sitting here looking at all this white space I have to fill on this copy."

Yes folks, I have a charmed life - and the balls to live it too.

And you can't imagine how my heart danced as I explained I even had ART to go with the story, and he took a very brief meeting with me some 20 minutes later in order for me to drop off the ART. Yippee...

NOW, I await publication.

I don't recomend missing deadlines. I did that one other time by only an hour or two... and it was very difficult to finish the story with that Editor on the phone sternly repeating, "I need it now!"

Now folks, if a writer ever approaches you, introduces his or herself - explains what they're writing about and why - will you please just try to cooperate with the poor writer, and ANSWER THE QUESTIONS AS TRUTHFULLY AS POSSIBLE.

Remember newspaper WRITERS are people with "short, I'm not going to get paid if I don't get this story" deadline!

Be nice!
Be forthcoming!
Be honest!

Unless you're President Bush... that's another story.

Thank you!!!

Sincerely,