18 February 2011

Die Hard

Time for my regular work rant. I'm delighted (really) to be incredibly busy. In the life of a freelancer, this is definitely a Good Thing. It's just that, right now, all the work I have is of the deathly boring variety. My field is finance, so thrills are few and far between at the best of times, but even within this narrow spectrum I am currently at the wrong end.

I could just about grin and bear it if it weren't for one particular client. This person begins requests with 'May you do ...' (the horror), and frequently asks me to send things 'to myself' (to him). He works in marketing, so it's probably not entirely his fault. I could almost forgive him (well, not really) if he didn't take it upon himself to edit my work, adding words like 'thus' and 'whilst' and 'value-add', and changing everything to passive voice. Yes, I'm a writer, so I'm used to my work being edited. When it's my magazine editor, I don't argue (even if I disagree); when it's a literate publishing client, I keep my mouth shut. When it's a pompous, sub-literate marketing twit, I want to stab him with a red pen.

There. I feel slightly better now.

I will go and have my yoga lesson later today and emerge a less angry person. Perhaps.

6 comments:

Susan B said...

Heh. I hate having to bite my tongue when a colleague tries to correct someone's vocabulary and grammar, and they're WRONG. But those pseudo-intellectual, pretentious twits are the worst.

Tiffany said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one, Pseu. It's so incredibly frustrating ...

Rubi said...

I know what you mean -- despite having made a renewed commitment to nonviolence this year, I haven't dropped the (mostly metaphorical) cudgel with which I would like to beat "The Elements of Style" into that sort of writer. (And I know my journalism professors would approve.)

Tiffany said...

I think I need to make a commitment to non-violence, Rubi, as I'm increasingly tempted to switch my metaphorical cudgel for a literal one!

materfamilias said...

Oooh, sounds like the worst combination -- ignorance and arrogance, yikes!

Tiffany said...

Exactly, mater. I try not to judge people who haven't had the benefit of a good education, but when you add arrogance to the mix, I do see red.