Meryl Street didn’t win an Academy Award for her spot-on portrayal of Julie Child in Julie & Julia. But her performance in the 2009 film marked the 16th time she’s been nominated for the prize.
I’m convinced the reason Streep’s been recognized so many times is because she’s a good picker.
By picker I mean Streep has a good feel for what roles would be right for her, overall and at that particular point in her career. My hunch is she takes into account the script, director, producers backing the picture, amount of time she’ll need to invest in the project, and finally, the money. Whether she’s got a good agent or just a keen sense of what works well for her, it’s made her career.
On Sunday night, Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for her portrayal of a take-charge mom who brought a homeless black teenager into her Southern white family in The Blind Side. Bullock’s a good actress too. Whether she’s on par with Streep is a subject for a different blog post. But Bullock’s been in lots of interesting, if not heavyweight films over the years. She’s also been in a lot of dogs: to wit, she’s the only actress ever to win an Oscar and a Razzie (for All About Steve) in the same year.
It’s taken the actress they call America’s Sweetheart this long to grab the golden statue because she isn’t as good a picker as someone like Streep.
So what does this have to do with writers?
Writers, like Streep, Bullock and other creative types, are only as good as the projects we pick.
Pick a stimulating assignment that pushes you beyond what you thought yourself capable of doing and you wind up improving your writing, your portfolio and your chances of that higher profile publication saying “Yes” the next time you query.
Pick something easy you’ve done over and over again, and you don’t grow.
Pick a publisher that pays peanuts, pays in exposure or can’t or won’t pay at all, and you end up frustrated, and quite possibly, broke.
Figuring out what projects to pursue is something some writers are naturally great at. Others are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Still others have to work long and hard to figure out the process.
If you’re someone who innately knows what projects are right for any particular place and time, hooray for you – I’ve love to hear how you go through that decision-making process.
If you’re not, here are some things to think about the next time an opportunity comes your way or when you’re thinking about which assignment you want to do next. Call them the 5 Ps of Picking a Project:
1. The project – Am I excited to do this? How much time and effort will it take? Does it fit into my writing specialty? Is it an area people are interested in, one that I could make into a new specialty? Do I already have sources I could talk to who know the subject? If not, how easy would it be to find them? Will I have to travel? If so, how much time will it take me away from other projects?
2. The people – Have I worked with the editor or staff before? If so, are they easy to work with or overly demanding, demeaning or rude? Do they make a story better or edit in mistakes? Are they quick to answer emails or phone calls?
3. The publication – Is it a magazine, website, newspaper, company I want to be affiliated with? What kind of reputation do they have? What kind of financial situation are they in: on the way up or down? How do they treat their writers?
4. The pay – Is the compensation worth the number of hours I need to put into the project to do it justice? What rights are involved? Are expenses included? Is it pay on acceptance or publication? If it’s low paying, can I reuse the research and pitch a different story to a different publication? Could it lead to more work or a contract or retainer position?
5. The big picture – How does this fit into my goals for my writing business this year? For my career? Could it lead to more lucrative work? Is it something I’ll be proud of? Can I squeeze this in without sacrificing projects I’m already committed to? How does this fit into my non-work life?
Nobody’s criteria for choosing project is exactly the same. But by going through a well-reasoned thought process you could end up like Meryl Streep, a perennial winner.
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Great list you have here that can be applied to any freelance type of job. I have greater success and happier clients when I make sure we ‘fit’.
There’s nothing better than a good fit – in shoes, relationships and jobs. Thanks for reading and for your comments.
Michelle
I’m definitely bookmarking this one! Thanks for the great post! It definitely reminds me to stop and think before I take a new job.
If you believe in the saying, you are what you do, it definitely pays to consider the projects you take – because it’s the best evidence of what you stand for, and what you’re capable of.
Michelle
[...] I don’t believe in all of that Law of Attraction stuff. However, that “like attracts like” thing may be right. Maybe too much frumpiness attracts the kind of clients who deserve criticism. I’m here jetting out emails to clients who are about to get news they don’t want and I’m not really sweating it. I know how they’ll react because I’d react the same way. If it’s not some kind of greater cosmic law, I might just be a good picker. [...]
Great post. Great list.
We refer to Hollywood’s good pickers as those with high trust factors. If those actors (like Streep) are in a movie, there’s a very strong likelihood that you won’t end up watching complete crappola.
Can I add another “P”?
Personality.
This may not be a deciding factor for some freelancers because it isn’t a huge issue in many projects, but it’s HUGE for me. I want to spend my time working with people I like. When personalities match up, that’s a huge bonus.
Thanks Carson, as a Hollywood outsider I didn’t know about the ‘high trust factor’ thing, but it definitely fits.
Love “Personality” and wholeheartedly agree. I might be willing to give up a bit of compensation or publication prestige if it gave me the chance to work with a dynamite editor. In fact, I did just that last fall, and the experience turned out to be better than I could have imagined.