tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post8588434791482368290..comments2024-02-13T10:20:04.888+00:00Comments on David Hepworth's blog: People who miss deadlinesDavid Hepworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05973053694541321308noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-16943849490669654892010-12-15T12:39:13.332+00:002010-12-15T12:39:13.332+00:00Late *anything* is one of the main frustrations of...Late *anything* is one of the main frustrations of a production editor/editor. In basic terms, all employers (no matter at what level or type) want to work with people who make their jobs easier - or who certainly don't make them more difficult anyway. This goes for PRs and writers alike.<br /><br />It's difficult enough working in the media today, without making things difficult for yourself. And that means not only making sure your copy is in on time and without mistakes, but also perhaps even early, to house style, without mistakes *and* to commission - I've lost count the number of times I've had copy in where it's clear the freelancer didn't even look at the commission. <br /><br />Oh, and the next time a PR sends me several emails with one image attached (and without the info I originally asked for) I might go on a murderous rampage ;)<br /><br />There are thousands of good writers and freelancers out there. If someone is repeadedly late for me, I go to the next name on my list, simple as that.Monty Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01958397616115845882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-11547351989785274052010-12-13T22:34:23.760+00:002010-12-13T22:34:23.760+00:00I think I might have taught Martin ... and Geoffre...I think I might have taught Martin ... and Geoffrey, tales of locked lecture room doors are not apocryphal; it still happens at Cardiff journalism school. I have done it myself sometimes but there are some much more hardcore lecturers who make it part of the deal – if you're not on time, you don't get in, you miss the story, the page leaves without you. They thank us in the end ...Tim Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10894315371206292227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-66804680795403044102010-12-13T19:11:49.636+00:002010-12-13T19:11:49.636+00:00Rob
I was really hoping your Wiki page on Procras...Rob<br /><br />I was really hoping your Wiki page on Procrastination would be a blank page with<br /><br /><i>Text goes here <br /><br />Please check back later<br /></i><br /><br /><br />but sadly, no...Little Johnny Jewelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01558411111310661753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-14577087607203251032010-12-13T12:05:47.771+00:002010-12-13T12:05:47.771+00:00Part of the problem is the way we have mythologise...Part of the problem is the way we have mythologised people like Tom Wolfe and Hunter Thompson, who were supposedly so late with their copy they wrote it at the printers, etc etc. At least they were geniuses, unlike most of the bastards who deliver late copy.<br /><br />And just a word to Martin (above) - this is publishing, we're talking about. Just imagine if your Sunday newspaper wasn't there on Sunday morning, but the publisher thought he could get it to you on Monday - how much "humanity" is there in that??Gerontiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07794068929768376891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-53407867594023716692010-12-13T11:32:28.465+00:002010-12-13T11:32:28.465+00:00The wiki page on procrastination is worth a read.
...The wiki page on procrastination is worth a read.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrastination<br /><br />Although I'm now reading that instead of sorting out some paperwork.robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891781037248090988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-29221153513245923652010-12-13T10:03:25.013+00:002010-12-13T10:03:25.013+00:00people who are perpetually late in life always hav...people who are perpetually late in life always have a complex justification for it in my experience, often it involves blamimng it on other people and also a underlaying belief it makes them cool, roguish etc rather than selfish and rude.BLTPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06564846497205095201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-56441277999027936002010-12-12T23:42:07.454+00:002010-12-12T23:42:07.454+00:00Ditto.
Not to mention the stress being late with ...Ditto.<br /><br />Not to mention the stress being late with your copy can cause to other people at the magazine - like the art department who will have to lay the damn thing out at the last minute.londonleehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08431179744928331353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-18999248217555107822010-12-12T20:14:49.692+00:002010-12-12T20:14:49.692+00:00Quick word to Martin. I am with Dave all the way o...Quick word to Martin. I am with Dave all the way on this one when it comes to running a business. Getting stuff in late is just unprofessional, humanity has nothing to do with it. I am if anything more obsessed with timekeeping than Dave appears to be, starting meetings on time irrespective of who has arrived, and the like. In the meantime one of my oldest and dearest friends is simply ALWAYS late, and I forgive him because I love him. But tardiness at work? It's a choice, and if someone makes that choice they have to take the consequences, which if I have my way is generally pretty unforgiving.Phil Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16777445282811927114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-53530208284530416972010-12-11T20:16:39.090+00:002010-12-11T20:16:39.090+00:00I've spent most of my career in software syste...I've spent most of my career in software systems. The same principles apply there - some people seem to regard project deadlines as an initial negotiating position. It's the same for some programmers, some project managers. It's the same for software, or documentation, or components for a bid. Some people feel that the dates don't apply to them. In the fullness of time, those people are more difficult to employ. They rarely recognise their behaviour as being difficult, or unprofessional, or hard for others to work with.elhombremalohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04848207967272901033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-25660049056546339722010-12-11T09:42:30.007+00:002010-12-11T09:42:30.007+00:00I suspect lateness is a state of mind. I'm an ...I suspect lateness is a state of mind. I'm an academic and have long since realised that some people just never turn up in time to hear the beginning of a lecture. They presumably just cant bear to leave home ten minutes earlier. <br /><br />There's a story, maybe true, of a Harvard Law lecturer who would lock the doors of his lecture room at 09.30 and not let late arrivals in. By the second or third lecture the law students got the message and they all turned up on time. His comment "if you cant get to court on time you'll never be a working lawyer".Nackohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05908694273020453053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-43331934894323888372010-12-11T09:04:06.713+00:002010-12-11T09:04:06.713+00:00One of the reasons that I stopped buying comics wa...One of the reasons that I stopped buying comics was the tendency for writers working on monthly titles to reach a certain level of fame and then switch to a release schedule of their own devising. <br /><br />In effect they were holding their publishers/investors hostage and breaking faith with their readers.<br /><br />Conversely Will Eisner - one of the pioneers of the graphic novel - produced high quality storylines and artwork and treated deadlines as sacrosanct.backwards7https://www.blogger.com/profile/04902342759719621771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-36895715657662786042010-12-11T00:08:32.721+00:002010-12-11T00:08:32.721+00:00I have to say that you sound like a robot. You so...I have to say that you sound like a robot. You sound like you have no humanity.<br /><br />I am often late, and generally because I can't say no and end up taking on stupid amounts of work.<br /><br />Thankfully I don't have to work with someone as, let's say, perfect, as you.<br /><br />I might also say that if you were nice to people and understood that there is a range of behaviours in humans and that there is, similarly a range of reasons, not all deserving of pejorative judgements, that accounts for tardiness.<br /><br />Regards<br /><br />MartinAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12996920676014003332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-57360274989120998162010-12-10T19:56:54.944+00:002010-12-10T19:56:54.944+00:00As you've blogged about this kind of thing bef...As you've blogged about this kind of thing before, it appears to be a problem close to your heart and all too common.<br /><br />Do you find there are recidivists to whom you deliberately give a "pretend" early date, knowing that they'll miss it while still hitting your "true" deadline? Or would admitting that send the wrong message to the self-same souls who may be reading this entry? Or do you just not use the latecomers again - one strike and you're out?<br /><br />I ask as one who has had to corral teams into producing work to deadline, with the concomitant challenge of applying differing styles of motivation. My only conclusion has been that there's no easy solution.<br /><br />Incidentally, have a good trip to Bruges. Sounds like fun.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03799894229055390798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38548109.post-88720878015842028992010-12-10T16:54:44.304+00:002010-12-10T16:54:44.304+00:00I'm sure you operate a mental late list in you...I'm sure you operate a mental late list in your head. I'd be very surprised if you kept giving the best assignments to dullards who always ring you at the 11th hour with the modern day equivalent of 'the dog ate my homework' scam. Maybe some publications still operate like that. Do some editors believe that prompt=good but late=better?John Meddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10547777949324509522noreply@blogger.com