Thursday, April 19, 2007

Good grief!

Am I a chump, or what?

Some time ago, I mentioned that I'd been assigned to write an article made up of material from two old, old articles. I wasn't looking forward to the job, and in fact it has been a total pain in the ass from the get-go.

This morning, I had it done, and was giving it a final once-over prior to sending it to the editor when one paragraph set off a warning bell in my mind. It was simple enough; I wasn't certain if I had made an error due to sloppy writing in the original article or got my facts tangled. Either was possible.

Easy enough to be sure: all I had to do was call the guy who shot the pictures the magazine plans to run.

Surprise!

The story didn't match the subject in the photos!

They were similar, but the particular traits I babbled on about for two-thirds of the 2000-word total do not apply to what appears in the pictures.

Damn.

Damn.

Damn.

I've invested some serious time in this. All wasted.

The editor didn't bother to say anything about it, and neither did the photographer. The original story didn't match the photos; they never ran together. The photog sold the magazine another set of images with the same story.

I have to make a decision: do I drown myself now, or waste the rest of the day rewriting this turkey again?

The wet option looks pretty good right now....

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah that sucks....looks like your rewriting huh? Because I can hardly see you drowning yourself and leaving your cat to fend for himself. That would totally piss the cat off.

Anonymous said...

what a bummer!...dont drown yourself you would be missed by more than the cat!

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with the others, Hobbes would not be too happy if you drowned yourself!

Anonymous said...

I happened to smuggle some well aged Kentucky Bourbon back with me if you are inclined to drown yourself that way?

MrScribbler said...

T-E -- That's the best way to drown!

John0 Juanderlust said...

yikes

Doug said...

As one who has spent additional time doing over something I thought I had finished, all I can say is "I hate it when that happens..."