Apr 07 2009
Being a Responsible Writer
Are you a responsible writer? I’m in the process of learning a valuable lesson. I sort of screwed up and it may have cost me a client. Here’s the scoop. With the influx of people contacting me for writing assignments, I accidentally misplaced one of the emails and totally forgot about someone. Seriously, I forgot about them all together.
This person contacted me today to see how the article was coming along, and I had a panic attack. As soon as I saw their name in the from field, I knew I was in trouble. I sent them an apology letter and told them what had happened. But more important, I took responsibility for my actions. I didn’t make any excuses, like the dog ate my computer or anything like that. I was honest and told them that I’d forgotten about the email.
This person sent a message back and sounded like they understood and had forgiven me, but I guess time will tell. I went ahead and finished the article, then told the client that there was no charge. I feel so guilty for spacing them off, that I didn’t think asking for money would be appropriate. I had made a mistake but that doesn’t make it easier for a client who’s expecting an article on time.
In my real world life, I’m a Boy Scout leader. One of the things I try to teach the kids, and my own children for that matter, is that we all must be responsible for what we do and say. It’s the same thing for writers. When someone asks us to write for them, we have to be responsible enough to do the work in a timely manner, and make sure that they’re happy with the end results.
I hope the client is happy with the article, and that they will come to me again in the future. Though it’s true that stuff happens, it’s also true that we writers have an obligation to meet our deadlines and have the decency to be held accountable for what we put down into words. When there are a few or a hundred other people out there reading the things we have to say, we need to take into consideration that those words may hit home with some. We need to be responsible writers.
