Today has been a hell of a day at work. Yesterday was terrible, too. Just a lot of things starting to get beyond what I think I can handle, and I'm wondering if I'm even capable of doing what's expected of me. Some of it is being in a job that I never wanted and am not trained for, and some of it is things coming up that, though it's in my area of expertise, don't seem to have reasonable solutions. I feel very stressed and despondent.
Given that, it isn't a good idea to heap more stupid on my plate. Thus, when I received a stupid string of messages on ffnet, I wasn't exactly charitable in my responses. Here's the whole string, mostly for my own venting, but hopefully it will entertain you as well.
Him: hi. how are you?
Me: Hello! Doing fine, thanks! How are you?
Him: Fine. Can you help me?
Me: It depends on what you need. What's up?
Him: I am doing a doctor who fan series and i need writers
Me: Well, I'm not usually able to write on demand (I just write what pops into my head), but if you let me know what your series is about and what you might need, I can better decide if I want to contribute.
Him (three days later): Doctor Who
Me: If you want to do a fan series and actually attract people to write for you, you need to actually have a plan, not just "I want to do Doctor Who." At the very least, you need to know what the series is going to be about, so that your writers can determine if they want to write what you're envisioning. If you already have people committed to it, any new people you try to attract will want to know what everyone else is doing and how their work will fit in. You don't even seem to know which Doctor you want in your series - personally, I can't write for Twelve or Nine.
They're also going to want to know what you're going to do with what they write - how you plan on publishing it, if you're going to try to get publicity, and who will end up owning their finished work, you or them. And then there's the question of compensation and/or royalties, depending on how you're publishing it.
You need to have all of this information ready before you start asking people to contribute their hard work to your project.
Him: Oh sorry. will you ask me question or info to what you want
Me: No, I think it's pretty obvious that you don't have a plan, so I'm not interested in contributing.
Him: I do have a plan
Me: No, you don't. If you were truly serious and actually knew what you wanted, you would have told me when I asked about it the previous three times. Please stop messaging me and wasting my time.
Given that, it isn't a good idea to heap more stupid on my plate. Thus, when I received a stupid string of messages on ffnet, I wasn't exactly charitable in my responses. Here's the whole string, mostly for my own venting, but hopefully it will entertain you as well.
Him: hi. how are you?
Me: Hello! Doing fine, thanks! How are you?
Him: Fine. Can you help me?
Me: It depends on what you need. What's up?
Him: I am doing a doctor who fan series and i need writers
Me: Well, I'm not usually able to write on demand (I just write what pops into my head), but if you let me know what your series is about and what you might need, I can better decide if I want to contribute.
Him (three days later): Doctor Who
Me: If you want to do a fan series and actually attract people to write for you, you need to actually have a plan, not just "I want to do Doctor Who." At the very least, you need to know what the series is going to be about, so that your writers can determine if they want to write what you're envisioning. If you already have people committed to it, any new people you try to attract will want to know what everyone else is doing and how their work will fit in. You don't even seem to know which Doctor you want in your series - personally, I can't write for Twelve or Nine.
They're also going to want to know what you're going to do with what they write - how you plan on publishing it, if you're going to try to get publicity, and who will end up owning their finished work, you or them. And then there's the question of compensation and/or royalties, depending on how you're publishing it.
You need to have all of this information ready before you start asking people to contribute their hard work to your project.
Him: Oh sorry. will you ask me question or info to what you want
Me: No, I think it's pretty obvious that you don't have a plan, so I'm not interested in contributing.
Him: I do have a plan
Me: No, you don't. If you were truly serious and actually knew what you wanted, you would have told me when I asked about it the previous three times. Please stop messaging me and wasting my time.
Comments
As for the other, you still have the other job, right? That place you keep going back to is full of crazy, it seems, and they use you right up. I don't know what to say other than I hope things work out the way you need them to.
I only have the one job. It pays great and it's been good for the most part, but recently, it just seems things are spiraling out of control. I think our studio has bitten off more than it can chew, and since I'm in the position of having to make all these things we want to do actually happen, I feel like I'm set up to fail. Perhaps I might feel better about it if I had been asked if I wanted the position before being placed in it. I probably would have said yes, but at least then it was my decision to do it, you know?
*HUGS*
I'm sorry about the job stress, I can empathize… hang in there! ♥
Edited at 2015-08-11 01:43 am (UTC)