Thanks for the welcome, KimberHodgela. I appreciate it!
Regrettably, I can’t say I’ve been a particularly active fan, myself. I haven’t seen the majority of the Season 2 episodes, so I’m looking forward to getting the DVD set next week and watching them in proper order. I can say I’ll be watching regularly from now on, once the new season begins. Looking forward to seeing where they take all the characters next. (And yay for good extras like bloopers, which I usually find incredibly amusing. One man’s fumble over a tricky line is another’s great entertainment, LOL. Not that TJ ever flubs his lines, I’m
sure. We’ll find out next Tuesday. *GRIN*)
I'm sorry to hear about your work issues, Sherry. It sounds like it's been a rough time for you at work, and you're merely hangin' on by a thread! Keep your chin up, and hopefully you'll have a chance to voice your opinions too. Maybe it will make you feel better about things, and you and your coworkers can work together to fix what's bothering you all.
Oh, I’ve voiced my opinions plenty. I’m done now. *GRIN* Everyone else is still mad, and to make them laugh, I usually just hold up my fist and say, “Solidarity, man. We’re all in this together.” LOL.
Here’s what’s what: My company (can’t/won’t say which) has been letting people go, from various branches/departments/sites across the country over the past two years, part of ‘cost-cutting measures’ for the ‘good of the company,’ of course. We’ve seen a lot of good, talented, hard-working, knowledgeable people come and go, and have wondered for a long time whether the groups at our site would be next. But the higher-up executives continued to send work our way, in fact piling more and more work upon us -- and I promise you, I’m not whining over a little bit of extra work; this was the kind where you end up working from sun up till 9 or 10 PM at night, in order simply to get your regular daily work done -- and they assured us we were necessary and needed and ‘safe.’ Riiiiight. Almost three months ago, we were told that our entire building was going to be ‘let go’ and the site closed. We’re still here. And they haven’t given us any information since.
I’ve met with managers for hours, telling them what I do, how I do it, why I do it that way, pointing out issues, blah blah. Yet we have no idea what the hell is going on, when exactly they’re planning on kicking us to the curb, how we will transition our work, who’s taking it over, what information they need, what they will or won’t have access to, oh-so-many things they don’t seem to have considered. They haven’t even announced it to the rest of the company, which is the strangest part, because every time they’ve let other people go, they make an email announcement to the entire company that very day. For our ‘transition’? Nothing but crickets.
Part of my thought process on this -- heh, I’m starting to sound like Hodgins and his conspiracy theories -- is that they
want people to be uninformed because then employees will start to worry that they won’t find a new job before the holidays, that they won’t be able to provide for their families; consequently, they’ll start looking for a new job, take it, and quit this one, thereby allowing this company to gladly avoid having to pay out any severance packages. The reason I think this: the people who work in my department and all the other departments at this site have been with this company for a long time; some have been here for 15, 20, even more than 25 years. So if they stay until the end, whenever the hell that will be, their severance packages will involve a sizeable amount of money. Not a ‘Hodgins’ amount of money (heh), nowhere near it, but to us, to these people I work with, it’s something substantial they can really use, for a variety of reasons and options. All the more reason for this company to scare them out of here ahead of time so they don’t have to pay it out. Just my theory, of course, but I wonder more and more, the longer time goes by without any order to this ‘transition.’ I mean, it’s been three months. Not a word about ‘end dates,’ no decent follow-through, no organized transitioning of our job processes. I’m a relatively organized person, and this … the way they’re handling things is ridiculous and disorganized. And the fact that they keep touting the company’s ‘values’ of being caring and fair, among other things… becomes more and more hypocritical the longer they keep us in the dark.
My coworkers are planning to stay until the bitter end, because they have been with the company for a long time (15, 20, 22, 26 years). They want that severance package. But they’re frustrated, because of the disorganization, the lack of communication, and the seeming lack of respect for us and all the work we’ve done for this company. I can’t argue with that, so I understand their anger and hurt and fear and dissatisfaction with how things are being handled.
I’ve been with the company a little over five years, so I’m kind of on the cusp of things -- I could stay until the end and collect a semi-decent severance package, or I could start looking for a new job and kiss that severance package goodbye. A large part of me says, it’s not worth it anyway; just find a new job already and move on. The question for me is… what do I want to do now?
Definitely something I contemplated on my birthday, as you can imagine. I just turned 35. I don’t want to go on to another miserable job. I want to be happy and savor life and all the activities I enjoy most. So, where do I go from here? Not an easy decision. Hence, why I feel tired. (smiles)
Okay then! That went on far longer than necessary. Venting over. Sorry about that, gang.
Thank you again for your support! Allow me now to return it back to you…
And while I'm here on the sofa - anybody want to lend a shoulder to cry on? After a really terrible last week and weekend (1.5 hour root canal, face plant on water skis, jarred neck, scraped ankle), topped off by a bad day altogether - I received my first "nasty" comment about a fic I wrote. I'll admit it, I like slash. And this past year, I found myself writing slash only for a select few communities, and keeping it to myself. I have my other stuff over at ff.net, but never intended to post my slash there, just because I know a lot of people are offended. But I got up the nerve to post it on the weekend, and CLEARLY put in the summary that it was slash to ward weirdos off - and still I got nailed today. This is why I could never write professionally. I don't take criticism well (especially when it's just spiteful and mean), because my stories are personal and mean more to me than just words on a page. And I'm probably being entirely too sensitive about it...
First of all, I’m very sorry to hear about such a rough week and weekend. Wow. Hope everything is mending and pain-free by now.
Secondly, if you feel comfortable discussing it, what was the general nature of the nasty comment? Was it about your writing in any way, or just to complain about the fact that it’s slash-themed?
If it’s the latter, I would try to remember and be comforted by the realization that -- as you said yourself -- not everyone likes slash (or even the idea of slash) fiction, and that is simply their personal preference; in other words, their issue, not yours. Like with any film or television program or book, they have the novel option of (gasp)
not viewing or reading it. You are exercising your right to free artistic expression; in turn, they have the right to check it out or elect not to. If they don’t like it, they shouldn’t have opened it up in the first place, especially considering you clearly marked it with a warning.
If it was about your writing… without knowing details, it’s possible this person simply didn’t know how to word their criticism in a helpful and constructive way. Or, the person is a jerk who was trying to stir up a fight in order to shout their views from their particular soapbox. *GRIN*
As to you perhaps being too sensitive about it, well… there are ways to learn to objectively look at your work and edit it accordingly, yes absolutely.
However, no matter what, it
is still a personal process. Some people I know even refer to their writings as their babies or their children; it’s that personal and important to them. So,
of course it’s a sensitive subject to you! Of course it’s painful and upsetting to hear someone didn’t like what you wrote. Don’t beat yourself up for having feelings about that. You spent valuable time and put your own heart and energy into the writing of your story.
As a writer, without question I’m empathetic about your hurt feelings because I know the work that goes into creating a story, even a short short one, when you put a lot of time and effort into it, especially in comparison to those who seem to throw theirs together half-assed. Everyone has their own approach and their own style, of course, and not everyone is going to like or appreciate every story that’s out there. And in the wide realm of fan fiction avenues, I can safely say I’ve come across a good deal of gorgeous, touching, insightful, character-driven stories, and also, sad to say, a lot of craaaaap.
I’d say this: Take a look at your piece. If there are parts that could be edited better, parts that have plot holes, or issues with unrealistic dialogue or lack of decent character development, there may be things you can do to clean it up a bit, make it better. That is, if you honestly, truly want to put that much effort into it, and if perhaps you have someone who will thoughtfully and constructively beta your story for you to assist you in your progress. If you don’t want to, that’s certainly your prerogative. Not everyone has the time or energy or desire to commit to doing things that way, and not everyone has the same goals for their fan fic writings. On the other hand, if it feels solid to you, if you feel it’s the best you could do (or the best you want/have time to do), and you’re happy with the way the story turned out, I say, that is all that should matter to you. That person can F&^K off. Pardon my language. (I hope you’re laughing now, because that was partly my goal. LOL.)
I don’t know if you found any support or comfort in what I had to say (I hope you did!), but anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter at this time. Feel free to respond here, or email me, if you want to chat about it further.
All my best to everyone!