FA+
Shop
When Your Stuff Isn't Good Enough for Some
10 years ago
General
The other day I got my teeth knocked in.
Earlier this week I started a thread over on the FWG forums about about improving the standards of editing in the fandom. The conversation was constructive, so I said to myself, "I will ask this same question in a non-fandom place, somewhere with professional editors who may suggest some resources or other methods to improve." So I posted a similar thread, explaining the situation in the fandom.
The two responses were pretty much "lol noob, get a job". Well, it was harsher than that.
I explained that the fandom's publishers are very small, so small they can't afford to hire editors. They do all the work and thus farm out editing for anthologies to anyone who stepped up. The response to this was: "Then they are doing a shoddy, unprofessional job, they're too cheap to pay editors to do it, and they shouldn't be doing it at all." I said that I felt weak in some areas of editing and was looking to improve. The responses were "It's clear because this post is full of errors" and "If you do not feel confident in your abilities, then you shouldn't be doing it at all." I asked what ways was there to become a better editor, there aren't many panels or workshops, and the response was "You can't learn it from a panel or workshop. The only way is to work under a better editor."
This made me a little sad. That is to say, I asked the mods to delete the thread because I was so destraught I didn't want anyone else to see it ever again, and wasn't sure I could keep from lashing out. For a while I doubted anything I could do. How could I keep on editing when I was so bad? How could I put something out that wasn't good? How could I be proud of it when the whole system wasn't professional? When I wasn't a professional?
After talking to some other people and mulling it over, I came to a realization.
Those guys can go fuck themselves.
Now, that's not being said out of defensiveness. Sure, my feelings are hurt, but it more comes from the overall message:
1) If a created work is not perfectly presented, it should not be sold and the seller is not a professional.
2) If you are not perfect in your ability, you should stop.
3) The only avenue of becoming better is direct mentorship.
Every point there is utterly false. It's both defeatist and incredibly insular. Allow me to pick this apart one at a time.
1) According to Sturgeon's Law, 90% of everything is crap. Does that mean that 90% of those that put that crap out there are unprofessional? Not only that, but that crap shouldn't exist in the first place? I know that sounds odd, me saying shitty things should exist, but some things end up being bad and need time to be bad. Take TV shows for instance, the first half-season of any show is the writers and directors and actors getting a feel for it, it wanders and has sevearl misses before it picks up. A writer's first published novel is often not that good.
That doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. Those people that made it still put the effort into it, they still made something, and thus making it they deserve to be acknowledged as professional. Technically, if someone is willing to pay you for it, then you're a professional. Anyone can slap anything into an ebook, put it online, and call themselves a writer - and bad or good, they can.
This isn't to say people should accept shoddy work and pass it off as professionalism, which I don't think the fandom publishers do. The amount of effort that goes into these endeavors is great, and to dismiss it on account of there being mistakes, or that the individuals behind them don't have degrees and years of experience, is bullshit (and the guys running those publishers have the experience of doing it for a long while). The kid hired by the auto shop is a mechanic, regardless of how good he is. His mistakes are his, and can be rightly pointed out, but you can't say he's not a mechanic.
2) I want you to imagine someone saying that to a writer or an artist. "Hey you aren't confident in your abilities, so you should stop." "You're not great at what you're doing, you shouldn't be doing it."
Acknowledging you know where your weaknesses are isn't admitting defeat (nor a dodge to absolve you of your mistakes but that's not the point). Knowing your weaknesses, hey, tells you where you need to improve. It also tells you where mistakes likely are going to be, so you can get help.
3) When you get down to it, editing is two things: understanding grammar, and understanding storytelling. Both of these you can learn from books and workshops and so on. Maybe when they say a "more experienced editor" they mean "someone to check your work" - yes, seeing what you missed is important. But editing, and any creative work, is not a mystery that requires an apprenticeship. If a writer can teach themselves to write without a mentor, can build themselves up with books, panels, and beta readers and practice, then so can an editor, and so can other creatives.
It strikes me that they are trying to protect the traditional way of things. Editors are Hired by other editors (or more accurately, publishers who may not be editors). The idea anyone can start an anthology and call themselves an editor is an affront on the work that these folks have put into being professional editors. A threat. I can start my own anthology and share royalties and call myself an editor, what does that say about them? Stop this kid before he makes us look bad, he's ruining it for us.
To bring home all three points: if their advice were to be taken seriously, then indie comics would never have happened. Or indie game development. Or really anyone saying "I do not have a job doing this, but I am going to make this thing, and put it out there because someone may want to buy it". Those sorts of mom-and-pop creative works where there wasn't enough money to color it, or have good paper, or any number of things that would qualify it as not professional-looking. There's not enough money in the fandom to be a big machine with lots of employees. We get paid what we can, and volunteers help out with the rest.
And you know what? I think I'll accept a few books with mistakes over there being no books. That's where this would go, if their advice were made real: no publishers, no books, unless they were done By Professionals. Nah, I'd rather just get better at what I'm doing now, thanks.
One friend told me I should take them to task for being so full of bullshit. Honestly I was too cowardly to do that. Anything I said that was disagreeing would have come off as shrill and defensive - who was I, the noob telling them their business. Also it would have been emotional and vicious because let's face it, feelings are hurt. I could email one of the individuals (because they are a moderator) and give them the content of this post, but I'm not ready for that (and I don't want to establish a dialogue, I don't want their reply, I just want to stuff mine down their throat). Maybe I never will.
This post is in part for me, but also for you. I'm posting it to tell you that some people may kick your teeth in. Don't let anyone tell you it shouldn't exist. Don't let anyone tell you to stop. And if they do? Fuck them.
You're allowed to not be perfect. You're allowed to put that not-perfect stuff out there. You're even allowed to sell your not-perfect stuff. Stand beside it and say, "I did my best." Accept it when people point out the imperfections and learn from it, so that the next thing you do will be your new best, better than your old best, because you've learned and improved.
The only thing you can do is the best that you can do. If everything you do is your best, then be proud of it, and don't let anyone take that away from you. Including yourself.
Earlier this week I started a thread over on the FWG forums about about improving the standards of editing in the fandom. The conversation was constructive, so I said to myself, "I will ask this same question in a non-fandom place, somewhere with professional editors who may suggest some resources or other methods to improve." So I posted a similar thread, explaining the situation in the fandom.
The two responses were pretty much "lol noob, get a job". Well, it was harsher than that.
I explained that the fandom's publishers are very small, so small they can't afford to hire editors. They do all the work and thus farm out editing for anthologies to anyone who stepped up. The response to this was: "Then they are doing a shoddy, unprofessional job, they're too cheap to pay editors to do it, and they shouldn't be doing it at all." I said that I felt weak in some areas of editing and was looking to improve. The responses were "It's clear because this post is full of errors" and "If you do not feel confident in your abilities, then you shouldn't be doing it at all." I asked what ways was there to become a better editor, there aren't many panels or workshops, and the response was "You can't learn it from a panel or workshop. The only way is to work under a better editor."
This made me a little sad. That is to say, I asked the mods to delete the thread because I was so destraught I didn't want anyone else to see it ever again, and wasn't sure I could keep from lashing out. For a while I doubted anything I could do. How could I keep on editing when I was so bad? How could I put something out that wasn't good? How could I be proud of it when the whole system wasn't professional? When I wasn't a professional?
After talking to some other people and mulling it over, I came to a realization.
Those guys can go fuck themselves.
Now, that's not being said out of defensiveness. Sure, my feelings are hurt, but it more comes from the overall message:
1) If a created work is not perfectly presented, it should not be sold and the seller is not a professional.
2) If you are not perfect in your ability, you should stop.
3) The only avenue of becoming better is direct mentorship.
Every point there is utterly false. It's both defeatist and incredibly insular. Allow me to pick this apart one at a time.
1) According to Sturgeon's Law, 90% of everything is crap. Does that mean that 90% of those that put that crap out there are unprofessional? Not only that, but that crap shouldn't exist in the first place? I know that sounds odd, me saying shitty things should exist, but some things end up being bad and need time to be bad. Take TV shows for instance, the first half-season of any show is the writers and directors and actors getting a feel for it, it wanders and has sevearl misses before it picks up. A writer's first published novel is often not that good.
That doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. Those people that made it still put the effort into it, they still made something, and thus making it they deserve to be acknowledged as professional. Technically, if someone is willing to pay you for it, then you're a professional. Anyone can slap anything into an ebook, put it online, and call themselves a writer - and bad or good, they can.
This isn't to say people should accept shoddy work and pass it off as professionalism, which I don't think the fandom publishers do. The amount of effort that goes into these endeavors is great, and to dismiss it on account of there being mistakes, or that the individuals behind them don't have degrees and years of experience, is bullshit (and the guys running those publishers have the experience of doing it for a long while). The kid hired by the auto shop is a mechanic, regardless of how good he is. His mistakes are his, and can be rightly pointed out, but you can't say he's not a mechanic.
2) I want you to imagine someone saying that to a writer or an artist. "Hey you aren't confident in your abilities, so you should stop." "You're not great at what you're doing, you shouldn't be doing it."
Acknowledging you know where your weaknesses are isn't admitting defeat (nor a dodge to absolve you of your mistakes but that's not the point). Knowing your weaknesses, hey, tells you where you need to improve. It also tells you where mistakes likely are going to be, so you can get help.
3) When you get down to it, editing is two things: understanding grammar, and understanding storytelling. Both of these you can learn from books and workshops and so on. Maybe when they say a "more experienced editor" they mean "someone to check your work" - yes, seeing what you missed is important. But editing, and any creative work, is not a mystery that requires an apprenticeship. If a writer can teach themselves to write without a mentor, can build themselves up with books, panels, and beta readers and practice, then so can an editor, and so can other creatives.
It strikes me that they are trying to protect the traditional way of things. Editors are Hired by other editors (or more accurately, publishers who may not be editors). The idea anyone can start an anthology and call themselves an editor is an affront on the work that these folks have put into being professional editors. A threat. I can start my own anthology and share royalties and call myself an editor, what does that say about them? Stop this kid before he makes us look bad, he's ruining it for us.
To bring home all three points: if their advice were to be taken seriously, then indie comics would never have happened. Or indie game development. Or really anyone saying "I do not have a job doing this, but I am going to make this thing, and put it out there because someone may want to buy it". Those sorts of mom-and-pop creative works where there wasn't enough money to color it, or have good paper, or any number of things that would qualify it as not professional-looking. There's not enough money in the fandom to be a big machine with lots of employees. We get paid what we can, and volunteers help out with the rest.
And you know what? I think I'll accept a few books with mistakes over there being no books. That's where this would go, if their advice were made real: no publishers, no books, unless they were done By Professionals. Nah, I'd rather just get better at what I'm doing now, thanks.
One friend told me I should take them to task for being so full of bullshit. Honestly I was too cowardly to do that. Anything I said that was disagreeing would have come off as shrill and defensive - who was I, the noob telling them their business. Also it would have been emotional and vicious because let's face it, feelings are hurt. I could email one of the individuals (because they are a moderator) and give them the content of this post, but I'm not ready for that (and I don't want to establish a dialogue, I don't want their reply, I just want to stuff mine down their throat). Maybe I never will.
This post is in part for me, but also for you. I'm posting it to tell you that some people may kick your teeth in. Don't let anyone tell you it shouldn't exist. Don't let anyone tell you to stop. And if they do? Fuck them.
You're allowed to not be perfect. You're allowed to put that not-perfect stuff out there. You're even allowed to sell your not-perfect stuff. Stand beside it and say, "I did my best." Accept it when people point out the imperfections and learn from it, so that the next thing you do will be your new best, better than your old best, because you've learned and improved.
The only thing you can do is the best that you can do. If everything you do is your best, then be proud of it, and don't let anyone take that away from you. Including yourself.
Ira Glass once did an interview about the creative process (and being an editor is a creative process) which you should listen to because its aimed squarely at where you (and I) are at.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PbC4gqZGPSY
But yeah, those people are full of shit. You've already given them far more thought than they deserve.
I think we're doing pretty good for what we have. And yes, it takes time to quit giving fucks about pretty much everything without becoming cynical.
Also note that the mainstream publication of Fifty Shades of Grey likely had nothing to do with the quality of the writing and everything to do with profitability.
The way the editors treated you on that board reminds me of the time someone from Green Ronin Publishing brushed me off when trying to ask some basic questions after a panel at GenCon. They weren't very polite about it either.
I've seen this kind of attitude in a huge range of groups, cultures and industries - the belief that if you're not a "professional" then you're doing it wrong. Which, I suspect, as you theorised, if I took it correctly, that they're worried that "non-professional" threaten their own positions, which I find to be an amusing notion - there will always be a market for professionals, assuming what they offer is a suitable service, but I think a lot of them are finding what they thought was a suitable service, the market is disagreeing with them.