Day 159: I’ve been called a liar and a cheat

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompt

Day 159: I’ve Been Called a Liar and a Cheat

As a freelance writer, I always keep an eye open for new opportunities. When I noticed a group on Facebook called ‘Content Writers’ I thought it might be a good idea to join, thinking that there might be writing jobs. I applied and got accepted.

It didn’t take long for the Jax V.M., the moderator, to post the message “just wait ,but can you do me a favor ? Please provide your real picture on your profile ,thanks.” 

So far, my profile picture was that of a cat. Sometimes it was Charlotte, sometimes Holly, Halley or Greyson. I changed it regularly. 

Jax responded with “you can't get job here if you do that, no one believes in you ,ok,please be responsible if you want to do this kind of work.

Okay, I could understand that, sort of. Personally, I don’t see what a picture has to do with someone’s writing abilities. A picture will reveal if someone is female or male, old or young, beautiful or ordinary, etc. But is any of that important? As a client, I would prefer to see a writing sample rather than someone’s face.

Judging by Jax’s writing, I didn’t have much confidence in her. She didn’t capitalize her sentences. She left a space between the last letter of a word and a comma. She didn’t leave a space between the comma and the first word of a new sentence. And she stated ‘you can't get job here if you do that’ instead of ‘You can’t get a job here if you do that’. 

This was not the work of an accomplished writer.

Anyhow, I complied and posted a picture of myself, this picture. 

Jax responded with “ i am asking a real picture of you right?” 

I didn’t see what the problem was, this was a real picture of me. She replied by posting this picture, taken from Wordpress and said “Ok if you say so that is not copyright”

I responded with “Not sure what you mean by that Jax. Are you saying that I took someone else's photo?" To which the reply was “ it isn't necessary but i do have an instinct ,anyways leave it”

This irked me. This person thought that I had stolen someone else’s photo and pretended this was me! Where did she get off calling me a liar and a cheat? Not in so many words, but that was the gist of it. When I tried once more to assure her that this was indeed me, she responded with “ok if you say so,goodluck” To me, ‘ok if you say so’ is as good as ‘I don’t believe a word of it’.

So looked at Jax’s Facebook profile and … I found a picture of a young girl, little more than a child really. I’m not good at guessing ages, but she looked about 15 – 17. That’s who I was dealing with! A kid! No wonder she acted so immature.

The other members didn’t seem very credible either. One claimed to have studied at Oxford but her writing let me doubt that.

She wrote:

My name is xxx am a content writer with over 5years of experience do check out my gigs

Contact me asap let get it started

Am here let deal

I don’t know at which Oxford this girl studied, but judging by her command of the English language it wasn’t the one in England.

Other writers’ spelling was even worse. They applied to jobs with “R U looking for a writer?” Now, this really rubs me up the wrong way. It’s bad enough that regular people write in abbreviations, but so-called professional writers should know better.

Either way, I decided that this wasn’t the site for and left.

If you like my blog, sample one of my books.

www.connymanero.weebly.com

Why are we such liars?

While nobody likes to encounter a rude person or be on the receiving end of painful criticism, one thing is for sure … this bluntness is an honest expression of feelings.

With flattery and compliments on the other hand it becomes increasingly difficult to believe anything people say.  Do they mean what they say, are they just being nice, or do they want something?

Take my neighbor for instance.  The woman recently had a baby and proudly showed the infant to anyone who cared to look.  Without fail, everyone admired the baby stating how cute he was, what an adorable nose he had and remarking how big he was.

Once the mother was out of earshot the baby compliments turned to criticism. 
“That was the ugliest baby I’ve ever seen.”
“That baby is so fat, it’s gross.”
“Was that a nose or a beak?”

The previously admired name (Jace) was also racked over the coals.  While the name was praised as original while the mother was present, once she had turned her back her audience shook their heads in disgust.
“What kind of a stupid name is Jace?”
“Is that short of Jason or something?”
“I feel sorry for that kid when he goes to school.  A name like Jace is an invitation for bullying.”

The same lot often befalls authors.  While the writer is present, readers praise their work, but if he or she were a fly on the wall they might hear something quite different. 

From personal experience, I recently “read” a book from a woman who proudly presented me with a copy of her work.  I intended to read the book start to finish, but I didn’t.  Chapter 1 had so many flashbacks I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. 
Chapter 2 introduced characters that I can only describe as complete nuts. 
By chapter 3, I was rubbing my forehead, frowning and sighing … this wasn’t just bad writing, this was atrocious.

Naturally I can’t mention the author or the name of the book.  Suffice to say it had something to do with vampires and it is the writer’s intention to turn her work into a series.

Which left me wondering, what is it with people and vampires?  Do they want to jump on the bandwagon of success seeing that the “Twilight Saga” and “Vampire Diaries” are so well received?

And why a series?  Do they honestly think their work is that good that people won’t get enough of their story telling?  What’s wrong with writing a story, seeing how the book does, and then write a sequel?

Equally bothering is the fact that many writers give their book a title similar to a bestseller.  Recently I saw a book called “Prejudice and Pride” and “Murder she writes”.  I mean please, this borders on plagiarism.

As for my work, I made it a point not to ask for feedback.  If someone hated the story, it’s unlikely that a reader will say so.  And if someone is honest enough to criticize, I probably won’t like it.  So really, what’s the point?

Perhaps the saying “If you have nothing good to say, don’t say anything at all” is not such a bad idea.