26/02/17

If you are familiar with the electronic music artist Tricky, you are probably aware of the fact that he is not only trying on a coat of many musical colours, but that he can also be quite erratic, both to work with and on stage.

    Working as a freelance writer, you are also probably aware that you can be erratic. That is probably one of the reasons you took on being a freelancer - sometimes you just don’t feel like working, have something else to resolve and don’t like all the constraints the standard ‘9 to 5’ brings along.

    But then, working as a freelancer you can quite often run into Tricky-like situations form ‘the other side’, the one that should or does give you work. You may solicit for a job and not get an answer of any kind.  You may be offered a job with the potential employer changing his/her mind before the job has even started. 

    The possibility that the employer might not like your work  and does not want to cooperate with you anymore is something that is probably always in the back of your mind and you have already calculated it in as some kind of risk.

    But what if you get all the plaudits, good reviews and suddenly, the employer just simply disappears from the radar?It could be any reason - he is not being successful, has ran out of money, anything. That is potentially one of those moments you get a flicker of longing for that ‘9 to 5’.

    In those situations, just remember why you wanted to work freelance in the first place and try to account in all the good and bad experiences. Usually the good ones prevail. When you realise that, all possible “no letters, not even a postcard” situations will not bother you so much.

    And then you might remember Tricky more for his trip-hop masterpiece “Maxinquaye” that for his idiosyncrasies.