Inbetween Time
In the life of a freelancer there often come... periods... week, months, maybe even years, when there just isn't any work.
It's scary.
In January I was frantically running about town trying to get the costumes and sets ready for two different shows, buried under more work than I knew what to do with, and loving every moment of it. (Well, maybe not EVERY moment. That night I spent sleeping in the office of the theatre on a pile of old curtains was not a career high point...) After that things crashed. After sleeping off those weeks of work for a couple days I awoke to... a whole lotta nothin'. January and February are notoriously slow months in my line of work, and March and April are DEAD. So I usually have to work my ass off in November and December in order to bank enough to get me through to May. The problem was, I hadn't.
I was headed into middle February without much in the bank, and not a single job lined up. In fact I didn't have another gig until April, and it was a non-paying one. It was all I could do not to panic. I considered temping, that old fall back, that I consider every time I get in this situation, and I considered... well... all sorts of things.
Now, here I am, just around the time that my money was scheduled to run out. So where am I? Well, the situation is considerably less bleak. The proceeds from my gallery show have come in (well, the check is in the mail...). I'm back working on the movie that I was working on back in October. And since they are being filmed in the same studio that led to working on a new episode of The B-Team (see older episodes here, I am painting the backgrounds and making a few random props). Plus I'm doing props for an Equity Showcase downtown. And tutoring a colleague in Photoshop. And, and, and... a half a dozen other ands.
In other words, plenty of work. But no... WORK. Nothing in the vein of what it is that I actually do. Lots of stuff on the periphery of what I do though, and I guess that's okay. It just feels like I am not progressing much in the next few months which leaves me feeling a bit bleak.
But at least I won't be feeling a bit hungry, and that's what matters I guess.
It's scary.
In January I was frantically running about town trying to get the costumes and sets ready for two different shows, buried under more work than I knew what to do with, and loving every moment of it. (Well, maybe not EVERY moment. That night I spent sleeping in the office of the theatre on a pile of old curtains was not a career high point...) After that things crashed. After sleeping off those weeks of work for a couple days I awoke to... a whole lotta nothin'. January and February are notoriously slow months in my line of work, and March and April are DEAD. So I usually have to work my ass off in November and December in order to bank enough to get me through to May. The problem was, I hadn't.
I was headed into middle February without much in the bank, and not a single job lined up. In fact I didn't have another gig until April, and it was a non-paying one. It was all I could do not to panic. I considered temping, that old fall back, that I consider every time I get in this situation, and I considered... well... all sorts of things.
Now, here I am, just around the time that my money was scheduled to run out. So where am I? Well, the situation is considerably less bleak. The proceeds from my gallery show have come in (well, the check is in the mail...). I'm back working on the movie that I was working on back in October. And since they are being filmed in the same studio that led to working on a new episode of The B-Team (see older episodes here, I am painting the backgrounds and making a few random props). Plus I'm doing props for an Equity Showcase downtown. And tutoring a colleague in Photoshop. And, and, and... a half a dozen other ands.
In other words, plenty of work. But no... WORK. Nothing in the vein of what it is that I actually do. Lots of stuff on the periphery of what I do though, and I guess that's okay. It just feels like I am not progressing much in the next few months which leaves me feeling a bit bleak.
But at least I won't be feeling a bit hungry, and that's what matters I guess.
Don't I know about that.
There is really nothing that you can do when you are living the life of a freelancer, except make do.
Just be careful that you don't take a survival job that you start to care about to much that takes you out of what you're doing.
Making money hinders creativity - when you're at a certain level, that is - I believe, that if you give it your all, your talent will eventually win out and you'll be making money doing what you want to be doing.
I've also noticed, that just like me, my friends have a knack for making money when they need to - no one's gonna be sleeping on the street.
Keep plugging!