Last week, a reader requested an open thread about what happens when you mess up royally. I’ve already shared my experience with copy errors, but sometimes other stuff happens. Computers die. Voice recorders malfunction. Paper files get lost. Emails get sent to the wrong person.
Hopefully you’re backing up your data and double checking the email address before you hit send, but like I said, happens. And when it does, it’s usually best to take a deep breath and own up to it. Don’t wait until deadline day, hoping maybe your computer might magically repair itself or that file you need will resurface.
Once you’ve confirmed that you have a problem, call your editor/source/client and offer up a solution ASAP. “My voice recorder malfunctioned but I’m available tomorrow if you’re willing to offer me another interview.” “Just wanted to you know that the original file is gone, but I’m borrowing a computer so I can recreate it.” I know, easier said than done sometimes.
Have you had to handle a crisis? What did you do?
In the early days of computers, there were all sorts of easier ways to mess up. For awhile hitting "y" was the command for "yank," meaning delete all of the text you had just typed. That's the way I lost several editorial files at The Wharton Magazine, published by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, back in the early 1980s.
Several years later, a fellow reporter and I unknowingly typed four d's in a row and shut down the Time Magazine computer system for half a day. Who knew?
When I mess up, and I have, I fix it. My problem, my time spent fixing it – for free. Once I wrote the wrong article for a publication – totally my fault. I was so overwhelmed with projects that I misread and delivered 2K words on the wrong topic. So I spent my free weekend fixing it. Again, the client doesn't pay for my mistakes.
You're right, Susan. Own up to it immediately, apologize once, and get busy fixing it. Stuff happens. We've all had it happen. Rare is the client who will skewer you for unexpected errors, human or electronic.
I was trying to do something HTML wise on our server and totally took the entire magazine offline. I was scared stiff! I marched right into our publishers office and told him what I did. He told me to calm down and that he'd call our host company to get it resolved. I was relieved he was so understanding!
I was a daily newspaper reporter and mistakes happen ALL THE TIME, as many of you know, especially because newspapers are short on reporters (who are writing more than they can handle) and copyeditors, there to fix the mistakes and ask you questions when things don't make sense so that many of the would-be mistakes are caught.
That being said, things slipped by–wrong names, wrong addresses, math that went wrong. When you're writing two stories a day, every day, and conducting all those interviews, you can imagine.
The wrath usually came from story subjects (never once my editor), and it was punishment enough. I found that calmly explaining how the mistake had been made, apologizing profusely and running a correction typically did the trick. (None of my mistakes were life-alteringly huge, thank God.)
Of course, there are always those interviewees who'd call in with "mistakes" that I would rename "facts you don't like."
Every writer who's been at it for a while has messed up plenty of times. The single most important thing, if you're on an assignment with a deadline, is to keep in frequent contact with whomever is expecting your manuscript. This establishes trust and credibility, so if you do have a writing catastrophe your client will be compassionate and cut you some slack.
Check out "7 Habits of Highly Successful Writers" at The Oracular Reader, http://www.oracular-reader-book-review.blogspot.com
Couldn't agree more that when you make a mistake you just need to own up to it. And, if possible, offer a solution. "Here's what happened – here's what I can do to make it right." I've never had a problem that wasn't resolved quickly once I'd taken that route.
This is a great thread! Everyone messes up sometimes — even editors. The best thing to do is admit it to yourself, then to anyone else affected. And fix it!
My father always said, "It's not going to go away…so don't put it off. Deal with it." My father was right. You are too. Thanks, peace,
Diane