It can be an interesting thing when a coursebook project you've been working heavily on goes the way of the dodo. Among many things, it means the English Raven blog is reopening for business as usual (you know, the usual squawking, feather-ruffling, and "Raven and Egg" ponderings), and here it also paves the way for a new post about why a "coursebook writer" would ever give up a lucrative new coursebook writing deal.
Well, to start with, I sort of had to give it up. When you write a series as big as Boost! (with 20 books covering five major skill strands, going global in distribution), you face two very real problems: (1) everyone associates you with a particular ELT age group segment, and seeks out your writing/design services for the same segment; and (2) you can't realistically write much for this segment any more because anything you make will technically compete with the publications you've already produced under contract with one publisher.
In this case, it turned out (after three rounds of editing and re-working samples under the direction of an entirely over-staffed editing team) that what I was working on was basically being made into a clone of one of the Boost! skill strands. I've never been particularly well-known for being patient, and I quickly tired of all attempts to steer the publisher away to a new and original concept. Interestingly, it became more and more apparent why this publisher had specifically sought out the Boost! author to start with, given they were going to launch this new title into a market where Boost! was already well and truly entrenched as a market leader...
Despite all the technical and legal ramifications associated with a non-compete clause in the Boost! writing contract, what became shiningly clear to me was that I no longer enjoy writing coursebooks - especially made-to-order ones for 'mainstream ELT'.
With this latest project in particular, I actually began to loathe the whole idea of writing a coursebook. Sitting down to write each day, I would have to force an increasingly bad taste in my mouth back down my throat, hoping my stomach acids would consume it quickly and pass it along to somewhere more appropriate in my digestive system. I often found myself staring out the window of my office, thinking in despair, "Is this what it has all come down to? Is this what ELT writing is all about now?" Despite the blue skies outside, what I saw there was becoming increasingly bleak. Full of details and features, but essentially barren.
Basically, some of the things I hear now (as a writer "on the job") from established, mainstream ELT publishers are becoming genuinely disturbing:
- "Put more warm-up questions in, because many teachers don't know how to get the learners talking..."
- "Explain the skill for the unit very simply and in less than 10 words, so that teachers don't get scared when they read it..."
- "Put in more 'useful words' under the writing topic, to help the learners think of something to write, and include a full sample answer to the writing topic so the teachers know what to expect from the learners..."
- "Add 2-3 more reading comprehension questions per page, because these days the schools want the learners to be busier and work harder..."
Okay, that's only a very small and over-simplified (in some ways) sample from the dialogue I've been most recently engaged in, and (of course) it is not meant to be taken as representative of all commercial ELT publishers in all writing projects... BUT, it does shine a light on what publishers and potentially the teachers they cater to think and expect these days from ELT course materials:
Do more of my job for me, thanks.
Keep my learners busy, but don't challenge them much, please. Actually... don't challenge them at all!
Don't feature anything new - more of the same, if you please!
There may be a whole range of arguments that challenge or rationalize the perceptions I've gabbled out above, but, to be perfectly honest, personally I'm sick and tired of them. ELT course material design has been in a sick state for a long time, and despite the colour and the gloss, it's only getting worse.
Treating teachers and learners like complete dummies may help to sell more books in the here-and-now, but I'd like to see anyone convincingly argue that it makes anyone smarter in the long run. It certainly doesn't make ELT writers any smarter...
The non-compete clause in my Boost! contract has put a serious dent in my earnings potential for the next year or two, but in a lot of ways it actually feels like it may have saved my 'ELT soul'. It gave me an exit ticket from a journey that was starting to take me through some really bad places, and avoided having to end up "back in the place I was before."
Right, feel better already. Now, how am I ever going to get my wife to understand this...?
Advice: Never give up a lucrative contract a couple of weeks before Christmas, especially when you have little kids. Wait until the New Year, and hope your wife's resolution will be to forgive you.
:-)
