Explore The Underside.
Today's "Writers Tool Kit" card read "Explore the Underside." Good times. This is fiction.
"You suck," he said to me. "You should try to 'suck' less."
Wading through the underworld that is content-creation can be brutal. And I was just brutally slapped.
"He" is my manager; a senior editor at the wine-focused magazine where I just began working a few weeks ago.
Senior editor and I were just on AIM going over what was wrong with the text I submitted to him about a new wine storage refridgerator. He didn't understand why I didn't include some particular information about the fridge that was really technical.
"This is the kind of content our readers are looking for from us, " he said.
And I don't disagree. But when I started at the magazine a few weeks ago (being the lowly associate editor I am), I was hired based on the fact that I could write. I knew nothing about wine. They were aware of that. And now I am getting snapped at for not knowing all the little details about the wine fridge.
"I have been working in wine-publishing for over 15 years," he said.
I wanted to stand up and give him an ovation. I didn't though.
"Well," I told him, "this is why I have so much to learn from you. I don't even drink wine. So you're perfect for me to learn from about this!"
That was my response to him. And I tried to be sincere when I said it. Because there is a truth to it. I can learn a lot from him about wine-writing. But there was a lot of "passive-aggressive" sarcasm in it too. And he, to my surprise, picked up on it.
Which is why I got the comment, I got.
"You're just going to need so much more work than I expected when it comes to the subject matter. You suck. You need to 'suck less.'"
"You suck," he said to me. "You should try to 'suck' less."
Wading through the underworld that is content-creation can be brutal. And I was just brutally slapped.
"He" is my manager; a senior editor at the wine-focused magazine where I just began working a few weeks ago.
Senior editor and I were just on AIM going over what was wrong with the text I submitted to him about a new wine storage refridgerator. He didn't understand why I didn't include some particular information about the fridge that was really technical.
"This is the kind of content our readers are looking for from us, " he said.
And I don't disagree. But when I started at the magazine a few weeks ago (being the lowly associate editor I am), I was hired based on the fact that I could write. I knew nothing about wine. They were aware of that. And now I am getting snapped at for not knowing all the little details about the wine fridge.
"I have been working in wine-publishing for over 15 years," he said.
I wanted to stand up and give him an ovation. I didn't though.
"Well," I told him, "this is why I have so much to learn from you. I don't even drink wine. So you're perfect for me to learn from about this!"
That was my response to him. And I tried to be sincere when I said it. Because there is a truth to it. I can learn a lot from him about wine-writing. But there was a lot of "passive-aggressive" sarcasm in it too. And he, to my surprise, picked up on it.
Which is why I got the comment, I got.
"You're just going to need so much more work than I expected when it comes to the subject matter. You suck. You need to 'suck less.'"
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