Work Text:
Tidsoptimist (Swedish) — (n) a person who is always late because they think have more time than they do; a time optimist
Varying values are at the heart of your frustration. It is not the differing of belief that bothers you, however — it is the utter lack of consideration that makes your blood boil. After all, it is polite to be cognizant of someone else's time and effort, is it not?
You understand that masterpieces cannot be created overnight — they require care and compassion, which can take months, perhaps even years. Still, you have deadlines to meet and supervisors to please, so you cannot always afford to wait for brilliance to merely appear.
Writers need to work diligently, and if they have no inspiration, they need to make it. They cannot be subject to writer's block or a lack of willingness to produce.
That is your problem. Shigure Sohma, one of your bestselling authors, is your problem. His last editor had quit on him, and you can understand why. While he was an excellent writer and storyteller, he is impeccably lazy, writing only on whim and whenever it suited him. He puts no effort into it otherwise.
You have tried everything — you visit him on a weekly basis, you send him gifts of chocolate, you email him articles on how to defeat writer's block. You even invite him out to coffee to see if you can jog his ability to transfer the ideas in his head onto paper.
Nothing.
You receive nothing in return, only a silly smile that he seems to think will make your next meeting with your boss all right.
It is not all right.
You have books you need to sell, and fast. Otherwise, you'll be out of a job.
You will never understand his constant waltzing through his ideas — does he not have bills to pay, too? He supports his cousins, after all, and you know that two young boys probably put a significant dent in his grocery tab. He also pays for electricity and water and his cousins' school expenses. How does he do it? How is he comfortable living from deadline to deadline, especially if he is unsure if the next manuscript he presents to you will even be published and sell on the market?
You shake your head — he is just the type of person who annoys you with his easy-going nature.
If you were not his editor, you might call him a friend. And even then, you might find it in your heart to harbor your irritation if he continued to be so careless about the amount of time he has. Really, he needs to learn to be more realistic — optimism can only get you so far in life.