What’s the golden rule about speaking out in anger? Count to 10 before you open your mouth. This is true in personal relationships as well as in business. When someone angers me, I not only count to 10 before I open my mouth, but I also count to 10 before I start replying to their email. I then put that email on hold for a day or so to give myself the chance to reread my comments when I’m in a calmer frame of mind.
Sure, everybody gets angry, but remember that advice your mother always gave you? Don’t put anything in writing that you don’t want the world to read. One nasty email can ruin your reputation, especially if it is published.
In the past week, I have received emails and copies of emails that contained extremely abusive comments. They were sent in by two separate individuals and were concerning two totally separate situations.
The first was a professional yet confrontational and threatening email from a “publisher” who owes a writer $70. His own words, written in anger, in emails to the writer and in posts to our forum, are what put the final nail in his professional coffin, so to speak. You can read the entire thread at the link below. Once you do, you’ll understand why I’m giving this advice today. I don’t want any of you to make the same mistake this unprofessional character made. See:
http://www.writersweekly.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1023
The second incident arose after a fellow by the name of “Dick” started participating in the WritersWeekly.com Whispers & Warnings forum. He joined the forum to criticize one publisher and promote another. Fair enough. However, he reacted to a calm and professional email sent by another user with malicious abuse. I emailed him about his comment and provided him with a warning about our forum guidelines. Abusive individuals are banned from participating. That was his first and last warning.
He responded to me with an email full of profanity. The guy is, literally, a jerk. Noticing that he owns a so-called publishing company, I wanted to warn other individuals of his temper. So, I posted his email to me to the forum. And, you can bet that no writer in his/her right mind will do business with that person after seeing what kind of unstable email that is!
Things said in anger are almost always later regretted and always leave a lasting, if not permanent, impression on others.
Have a super week, everybody, and be careful on Wednesday night!
Hugs,
Angela