PROFESSIONALISM

Professionalism or the act of behaving in a professional manner is a subject that is often over looked. All of the self help books will talk about how to format, remind you to spell check, grammar check and punctuate but they rarely discuss what lies at the heart of professionalism.

These days we find ourselves living in an increasingly hostile, rude society. It is a society full of rage drivers, rude comments, threats, criticism and oneupsmanship. It is so easy to shoot back some obscenity at some rude person. We often fall to that temptation. But calling a rude, overly agressive overly testosterone laden (or estrogen laden) person a maggoty brained piece of crap will not improve the situation you are upset about.

With examples of bad and stupid behavior i.e. Kim Kardashian getting knocked up by Kanye West while her divorce is miles from over is just plain tacky. Cheap. Tasteless. Rude. With the LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian's out there we are shown on a daily basis how not to behave. Yet these people and many like them earn a bazillion dollars being very not nice people. Bear in mind that this is MY opinion and I'm entitled to have it whether they agree or disagree. My view in no way alters the fact that skeezy behavior is still skeezy.

We live in a culture that condemns honesty and decent behavior, while it applauds teen moms getting reality tv shows. Bad, rude, impolite and uncivil behavior abounds.

We have politicians and mouthy windbags espousing their "smaller government" while trying to regulate our personal, intimate lives, by telling us who we can love and who we can't love, wanting to demean a large section of our population. Some of this is based on who is getting bought off by lobbyists and some based on pseudo religious rules that even those who spout them do not follow.

We are bombarded by such irrational, hateful, hate filled behavior that it is often easy to forget that we must act like professionals if we ever want to be seen as a worthy professional capable of doing the job.

As a professional who has been published in traditional book and magazine, I stepped out of the life for awhile to deal with personal health issues. When I decided to come back I knew the publishing game had changed considerably, that it was more elitist and cut throat. It had lost its professionalism by stooping to wallow in the gutter and fight for scraps like starving dogs. Again, not all fell to that level but too many did.

The entertainment field has always been a world of nepotism and favors, of the old casting couch where desperate starlets sell their souls for half a chance. Be it music, theater, writing or modelling all of these still have areas of unprofessional behavior.

As a writer, and I use that term as author should be reserved for one who has been legitimately published and paid for it, we have to set guidelines for ourselves and follow them.

When we openly bad mouth another writer, or give them the old backhanded compliment, when we are dismissive or publicly tear apart their work, we are not being creative or using constructive criticism, we are being assholes. Being an asshole is not being professional. It is being petty.

Being a professional is being able to be civil to people you do not like or do not trust, yet are forced to share space with, even if it is cyber space. Curb your tongue and your temper, put a leash on your arrogance and self importance.

When I returned to writing after my health enforced hiatus, I wanted to share some of my work on a public site to see how it might fit in with current writing out there. I received rave reviews that were flattering but left me a little uncertain; I received hurtful comments, sneers and open attacks.

I was actually told by a grand dame of the psuedo literary field that I should *sniff sniff* dust off that little piece and sub,it it to XYZ e-zine. They might publish it. The e-zine she spoke of was public domain that offered no protection for your work nor any payment. I told her that my piece was already accepted for inclusion in an anthology, but thanks for the tip.

What I wanted to say was Bite me you fucking arrogant bitch! But I bit my tongue.

There are always people who think they know more than you do. There are always writers who want to keep you from writing, so they can  show off their work and not have to compete against you. The simple fact of the matter is that we are not in competition. There is a massive online audience as well as physical audience looking for a good read. Millions of readers, millions of stories, millions of writers.

The best way to make an impression is to write well, tell a good story. While I carry the title of author with pride, I busted ass to get it. But at the heart of it all, I am an old fashioned story teller. In the olden days I would be the lady sitting around a campfire huddled beneath my blanket as I told children and adults tales to pass the time or enlighten them. Of course that would be after I made my potions and herbal remedies for sore throat and cholic.

Today, we live in a society that desires fame, attention, popularity at all costs. We have forgotten that to carve out our place we must first base ourselves on something solid and consistent.

That solidity and consistency comes from training ourselves to be gracious, humble and civil if not polite.

When someone rips your work to pieces it is out of jealousy, envy, insecurity and or hatefulness.It is not a true reflection on your work because this person is too blinded by their own demons to see any truth in anything.

For example, at one site there is a guy who goes around reaming everyone and everything that does not meet his lofty standards. He has attacked female writers with rude and crude commentary damning their gender one and all for being whores and frauds. His girlfriend or whatever left him and he now hates all women. It is easy for a blind man to see that this fellow has some emotional issues, but the few that try to help him or pray for him are abused as well. It is my belief that the girlfriend/wife or whatever she was to him bailed when his hateful misogynistic behavior grew to be too much. He sees himself as a literary genius, as an artistic icon, yet he does this with stolen art and poor reproductions of others' efforts.

You will encounter these kinds of people and it will be very difficult to deal with them. Bear in mind that you are a professional and professionalism dictates that you handle the situation with class and a touch of finesse. I blocked his ass because I do not care to waste time dealing with his psychosis. If he wants to claim he can see patterns in the universe that no one else can see, I say good riddance to bad rubbish. None of us needs the babblings of a misogynistic rager in our lives, it tinges our mellow and creative energy.

Professionalism also means holding your tongue, yet not being afraid to speak out. We all have our opinions, our thoughts, our beliefs, but we must keep in mind that we are not all alike. I can be very angry at the fanatical evangelical movement that tries to oppress and force us all to their ways, as I am a polytheist who follows a private spiritual path, but I have to remember that I have friends of the Christian faith who are not like that.You cannot make blanket statements. Part of professionalism is stepping back enough to see that blanket statements do not fit everyone.It is pure ignorance to think that they do.

Educate yourself, look things up, don't fall into lazy, stupid patterns of behavior that make you a liability for others to be seen around, associating with or reading from.

Hold yourself to higher standards, but allow other to seek their own level or standards.

Refrain from online verbal sparring matches. We face the battering from trolls at every turn. Delete their comments from your blog, Facebook, or what ever site you use and block them. If they continue to harass report them.

Professionalism is all about learning to respect yourself, and others, enough to step above the pettiness and baser behaviors that so many participate in. It does not mean to pursue a snobbish, elitist or condescending manner, it means to step UP from that.