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Topic: Coping with deadlines during the holidays
| Author | Message |
| mad fingers | Posted – 12/19/2007 1:06:36 PM | show profile Was "gifted" with major re-write a few days ago. Almost every source I've tried to reach is away for the holidays or not responding to calls/e-mails, but the editor wants this tied up with a bow for X-mas. Suggestions, anyone? |
| WritingEd | Posted – 12/19/2007 1:36:23 PM | show profile It may be that the editor would LIKE it wrapped up pre-holidays, but doesn't need it by then. I'd suggest being honest, and specific, in saying you're having difficulty getting sources to get back to you. Maybe offer to try to find another source in some instances. As long as you don't sound like you just aren't trying, I think your editor will understand. Unless, of course, he really DOES need it by Friday, in which case maybe you can do a partial re-write to show good faith in trying to solve the problem. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 12/19/2007 2:57:38 PM | show profile I'd just tell him the truth. If you need to speak to a source to do the job, and the source is out of town, there isn't anything you can do. If a guy gives you an assignment a week before Xmas that depends on talking to a few specific people he shouldn't be surprised that it will be delayed. If he insists on you plunging ahead, you have to either (1) decline the assignment because it can't be done and (2) clearly set expectations about the fairly low quality he can expect because of the situation, and again ask for more time. |
| PluckyPane | Posted – 12/19/2007 5:03:12 PM | show profile You have my sympathies I'm going off on a bit of a rant here, but something similar just happened with my employer. The entire rest of the building was given the day off on Monday (a gift) except us. We're expected to work until 6 and we can't take off because we are all of a sudden on deadline. Mind you, he left early every single g-damn day of Hannukah so he could be home before dark (I'm talking he left at 2), which put us behind because we were waiting on him. So to make up for his selfishness, we have to sacrifice our holiday for the sake of a deadline. I sometimes understand why the younger generations don't care about their jobs--their employers only care about the bottom line. I wouldn't mind working if it wasn't given as a free day for everyone else in the company, a day that we won't get to use at a later time. But back to your post (sorry)...Did you try talking to your editor about this? She should be able to either throw up some red flags or find you alternative sources or extend the deadline into the new year. If your editor has any sense, she built time into her schedule for this dilemma. |
| wineaux | Posted – 12/19/2007 5:48:50 PM | show profile I'm going through pressure right now to finish materials related to a new product that is launching right after the first of the year. The other writer I work with is getting a lot more pressure than I am, and he dug his heels in and told our boss that he would NOT, in this busy time, be able to finish before Christmas. I had to respect it, as I didn't have the juevos to say the same thing. Instead, I'm scrambling, trying to get it all done before the holiday hits, while juggling my other freelance work, even though I have family flying in from all over for the holidays and am not together in the least. C'est la vie. Such is the life of a freelancer, I guess. He's my most consistant, and best paying client, so I'm willing to jump through hoops if he needs it. |
| mad fingers | Posted – 12/20/2007 9:36:27 AM | show profile That guy needs a kick in the tuches. sjr: If it was a high holiday, such as Passover or Yom Kippur, your boss's behavior would be understandable, but Hanukkah is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar. He knows he's taking advantage, but is probably counting on the fact that no one will call him on it because it would make them look like an anti-semite. It's schmucks like him that give the rest of us a bad name. My sympathies to you, as well. As much as I would like to pull a rabbit out of my hat for this editor (because he has given me reasonably steady work), I'm afraid there may not be any rabbits to be had. Oh, well. Maybe he'll settle for a duck. |
| pamelabeth | Posted – 12/20/2007 2:13:43 PM | show profile i was thinking the same thing--tuches kick seriously, sjr--sorry your boss took off every day at 2! that really was not reasonable, work-wise or religion-wise. if anything, the first night of chanukah is a "bigger" one to spend with family; but for the rest, one absolutely can wait until one gets home from work at the normal time (6, 7, 8, whatever) to light the candles. what, the kids are gonna be asleep at 7 PM? though i'm not really observant myself, i find it insulting to the practice of any religion when people "use" it so unfairly. looking to next week, when i think i will have rewrites due (by the end of the week) and the same problem of no one around! |
