Why is it I seem to insist on learning lessons the hard way? My mother scolded me for it many times when I was small, maybe she should still be scolding me.
I just learned another lesson the hard way. Always research where your writing will go. We live in a time where anything you say online can stay there forever, and though it might vanish for a while, it can pop up, unbidden, any time it pleases. I know this, or, I thought I did.
I jumped at the chance to write for pay. It seemed like it'd be a good topical match and that I'd just landed in a patch of good luck. Well, it might have been for someone else. Unfortunately, it just wasn't a good match for me, and I didn't realize it until after I'd agreed to do it.
The woman I was talking to was generous and told me I could back out of it. No legal binding contracts or anything. But I felt like I'd given my word and that I could write something (a good something). I don't like to break my word, to anyone. I've just sent off my article and feel good about what I wrote, but I'm sad that it won't be on-going. In large part because I really thought it'd be a good match, before I looked into it more carefully. In small part because I really like this woman (her online persona). We could be friends I think; we seem to have a lot in common.
But my heart was just unsettled at having my words be part of something I wasn't feeling good about. And, if we add in the bonus that online our words seem to be eternal-- well, I knew it wasn't something I could maintain.
Insert a check marked for lesson learned, the hard way.
1 comment:
I did this a while back. Sold an article then read the editor's blog and decided he/she was not someone I wanted linked with. Live and learn.
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