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When we first launched The Friendly Freelancer, I tried to convey our mission with the newsletter to a good friend of mine when we met for drinks. I quickly found myself stumbling as I tried to explain why it was going to focus specifically on creative freelancers. And it wasn’t because I’d already had a few beers.
Because what even is a creative freelancer? And isn’t there a creative element to everybody’s work?
In the end, I tried to explain by insisting who The Friendly Freelancer was not for, namely the kind of freelance programmers, data scientists and web developers who I imagine do very well for themselves, the ones who work in industries where budgets are big and their skills in high demand, the ones who have day rates that physically hurt a little to think about.
Being a creative freelancer for me isn’t so much about the creative element to our work, but the shared existential conditions under which we operate.
In the world of creatives, budgets are rarely big and if you won’t do the job, someone else more than happily will. And, also, we expect you to do this first assignment for free since we haven’t worked with you before? That type of BS.
As creative freelancers, our desire to work on projects we’re passionate about often eclipses the business side of our freelance practice, even though we know that passion doesn’t pay rent. Many of the industries we work in are shaped like a pyramid, with a select number of commissioning clients and organisations at the top, and throngs of competing freelancers at the bottom.
As creative freelancers, we’re not just pretty isolated but also – and that’s maybe the harder part to admit – quite happy to only fend for ourselves. Maybe it’s tunnel vision, maybe it’s a scarcity mindset, but it often feels like there’s little solidarity between us. We do the best we can for ourselves, and everyone else will just have to do the same.
Yet one of the best things we can do for our careers and for the industry as a whole is to link up with other creatives. Many of us are running into structural problems, and structural problems require structural solutions. And that means taking collective action.
Thankfully, more and more of us seem to be realising that. The industry I know best – the journalism one – has undergone something of a sea change in the last five years. More and more freelancers are organising, speaking out about bad industry practices and publicly shaming the publications who treat freelancers in unacceptable ways. Last year, Dutch photojournalists went on a nation-wide strike that persuaded the country’s largest news agency – to raise its rates with 5%. This morning, I saw that Europe’s umbrella organisation for journalists has decided to create its first-ever programme specifically focused on empowering and connecting freelance journalists – an announcement that gave me so much life that I decided to change the topic for today’s newsletter to instead focus on this.
I do think that the best way to achieve change is to become involved with a collective, professional association or labour union. I know, though, that that’s not for everyone.
But there are other, smaller ways we can all leave our little islands behind. It can be as simple as inviting a few fellow creatives to join a Slack channel or Whatsapp group where people can throw out questions or ask for advice. It can be plucking up the courage to reach out to a few fellow freelancers on LinkedIn and asking them to meet for a virtual or online coffee.
What’s the worst that could happen? Sure, you might get a “nah, I’m good”. Or - and I think this is much more likely - you’ll get a resounding “yes” because it turns out they’ve also been looking for a way off their little island this whole time.
What do you say?
Linda
What I’m reading, watching, listening to this week:
This Switched On Pop podcast episode about the rise of lo-fi music. I only recently discovered this genre and it’s become my go-to soundtrack for working and reading.
This Alonement podcast episode with Dr Michelle Dickinson, a New Zealand-based scientist who proudly identifies as an introvert. There’s a really interesting bit toward the middle where Dickinson explains why introverts don’t fare well in meetings, and why they don’t like to improvise that I found really illuminating.
I was recently interviewed by the lovely Sibylle Greindl for the Humans of Accountable series. We talked about survival strategies, starting out during a recession, plus some tips for newbie journalists and freelancers.
This newsletter was written by Linda A. Thompson, a Belgian freelance journalist specialised in covering corporate tax and social injustice. She’s written for Bloomberg Law, Deutsche Welle, OZY, International Politics & Society, USA Today, Underpinned, IJNet and Equal Times.
You’ll hear from Selma Franssen in two weeks. Selma is a Dutch freelance journalist living in Brussels. She is the author of Vriendschap in tijden van eenzaamheidand has written for Charlie Magazine, OneWorld, De Morgen, De Standaard, The New Statesman, Bustle, Knack, VPRO, and Newsweek.