Attitude is everything.
This fall, the biggest sports story in Oregon – aside from the Duck heading to the BCS championship – was the Aloha Warriors winning the state’s top division high school football championship.
Until last year, Aloha – located in a blue-collar section of Washington County between Beaverton and Hillsboro, just west of Portland – hadn’t ever made it into the playoffs. During one 14-year stretch they won only 17 games. For as long as I can remember, they were the easy win on their opponents’ schedules.
Then seven years ago, a new coach showed up. Chris Casey, the brother of Pat Casey, who took the Oregon State baseball team to back-to-back College World Series, worked tirelessly to instill a new sense of confidence in players. Over time, fewer and fewer requested transfers to attend and play for other schools. More kids started turning out for the city’s youth football program, which feeds into the high school. The community got behind the team.
Winning the championship wasn’t easy. Aloha is part of what’s arguably the toughest league in the state. In addition to playing a number of powerhouse teams in the league, they had a difficult pre-season schedule, then faced challenging opponents during quarter- and semi-final games.
In the end they won because of an inspiring coach, savvy play calling, a handful of phenomenal players and a rock solid defensive line.
But they also had something else. Attitude. They worked hard. They made a commitment. They refused to give up. They inspired each other to play beyond what they believed they were capable of achieving.
Two weekends ago, all that paid off when they won the title game on a cold, rainy day in Corvallis, with the Beavers’ baseball coach cheering his brother on.
What does this have to do with freelancers?
Too often I hang out with writers – in person or virtually, on writer message boards and forums – who spend a lot of time complaining about how hard they have it. This editor isn’t returning their emails. That one took months to get a story back. This assignment only pays 50 cents a word. The industry is changing, the markets they used to work for aren’t there anymore and there’s nothing to replace them.
To which I say: suck it up.
Nobody forced you into this profession, and nobody’s making you stay.
Times are tough, but complaining isn’t the answer.
The answer is hard work, commitment, creativity – and attitude.
As another year is coing to a close and you start planning for 2011 ask yourself:
Am I a whiner or a winner?
Do I see situations that occur in my work life as obstacles to success or challenges to overcome?
Do I settle for getting by, or push myself to work beyond what I’m capable of achieving?
Am I comfortable with the status quo, or do I set goals for how I’d like to expand my business, my writing or my life in the coming year?
If my years working as an independent writer for many different publications have taught me anything, it’s this: just as it is with coaches, editors and publishers have a choice about who they put in their starting line up. Time after time, they’ll choose team players who work hard and maintain an ‘I can do this’ outlook over more innately talented writers who complain loudly and walk around like the world owes them a favor.
Time after time, they’ll chose the winner over the whiner.
Next year, which one are you going to be?
It’s all in the attitude.
Another great post, Michelle! I admit I occasionally feel like venting, but I try to confide in one trusted person rather than posting on a forum or tweeting. It’s tempting to join in the bitchfest on forums, especially when you see other writers doing it, but you’re right, it’s not productive or professional.
Funny you mention the complaint about $0.50/word, because I’ve found that if you’re efficient and able to repurpose your research (for instance, spinning a second article off of something a source said that didn’t fit into the first one), $0.50/word can mean a very respectable hourly rate. It’s peanuts compared to what some magazine writers are used to, but I mainly write for online outlets, which have a shorter turnaround time and generally don’t require as many rewrites. It’s a brave new world in publishing, and we can still make a living, even if we’re not getting $2/word. Like you said, it’s all about perspective.
Excellent observations as usual Susan. I’m with you on the occasional need to vent. But if it’s the only thing you do (and I’m using “you” generically here), you run the risk of developing a complainer’s mindset, for lack of a better term. And if you do it on public forums you also run the risk of being seen as a whiner – and that could be dangerous, because you never know when the writer you’ve been friends with for years will get a full-time or freelance editing gig and suddenly be in a position to hire other writers (been there, done that).
As for per-word rates, yes, they’re all over the place right now. But smart freelancers such as yourself have always calculated the assignments they take not on the $$ but on the work required on a piece, how they can re-use the research, etc. It’s the only way. And I’m here to tell you, the $2 and $3/word assignments are still out there, you just have to know where to look.
Michelle
I had one $3/word assignment this year and a couple of $2/word assignments for magazines. On an hourly basis, it’s not always as glamorous as it sounds, because those markets tend to want extensive reporting and revising (the $3/word assignment involved traveling for several days). Sometimes it’s a nice change to have lower-paying markets that aren’t as time intensive!
Agreed. That’s why I enjoy blogging here and in my paid blogging gig along with juggling much larger projects – it’s exercising different parts of our writing “muscles.” (man, I am really stuck on sports metaphors today)
Michelle
Great post, Michelle (although I must admit I might not have read the part about sports exactly word for word). I am a brand-new freelancer and I have discovered resilience and determination that I didn’t know I had (even in creaky middle age). Those qualities are serving me well when I am disappointed and feeling like I’ll never get traction. Feeling stressed or disappointed is natural in any career, and can be used as a springboard for more action. Whining is a waste of energy.
You’ll have to excuse my sports metaphors. With a high school senior who’s played football since fifth grade, a dad that taught me the rules of the game by the time I was 8 watching the Green Bay Packers in the Vince Lombardi era and a husband who’s a Domer (as in Notre Dame alum), they come naturally.
But I hear you on resiliency and determination. It is easy to let rejection get you down. But if you use it as a learning experience to figure out what you’re doing wrong and how to make it better, it can be a positive, as you stated.
Love your enthusiasm!
Michelle Rafter
Hi Michelle, a great post. And really its not even about freelance work is it? This holds true for everything that is important in life. One of my truths on my blog is ‘Fix it or deal with it, stop whining’. This makes for winning attitude and this is what I live by. 🙂
Good observations, very true.
Michelle
Yes! I became self-employed last year, and times have certainly been hard, but I didn’t help myself by whining about having little to no work when people asked me what I did for a living. I hoped that if they had any connections they’d help me out, but I’m sure I sounded excessively negative. I don’t do that any more. I just describe my freelance work, and if it happens to appeal to them then I’m sure they’ll let me know, without having to be guilt-tripped into it. (And things have certainly been better in the last couple of months – maybe it’s just about patience and positivity.)
I’ve switched from full-time staff jobs to freelance work three different times in my career, always for different reasons. The first time was the hardest because I’d only been working four years, was feeling unchallenged by the work I was doing but didn’t have the qualifications for the job I really wanted. That time I freelanced for about 13 months, long enough to travel, learn how to pitch a variety of publications, decide on a specialty, and get enough clips in said specialty to interest a publication that was one step away from my dream job. After another 18 months that position led to my dream job. In that case, freelancing – all for pretty low rates – paid off because it got me where I wanted to be. But I had a plan, and a positive attitude. It also helped that I was single, with no mortgage, no kids and an old car, so my overhead was low. A lot of my friends were in the same situation so we had fun keeping each other entertained on the cheap.
Michelle
Connections are good. But as you’ve learned, it’s better to be subtle about your new self-employment than heavy-handed. It’s OK to let people you’ve set up shop and are handling X, Y and Z type of work. If and when they need some of the services you provide they’ll know where to find you. It’s also a good idea to network with organizations and groups that are new to you, to expand those connections.
Michelle
Cool post! You’re spot on.
I went freelance at the start of this year, and will never look back. No doubt it’s tough, and it’s easy to romanticise the comfort of a regular wage and the easy production requirements.
But nothing outweighs the freedom of investigating your own stories and the need to work harder to get your stories published.
As the internet disrupts the existing media landscape, there are so many opportunities for freelancers, that are out of the reach of full-timers.
I really like your blog! I was wondering if you could point me to some other useful resources for freelancers?
Happy holidays!
Cheers
Mahesh
PS i’m from Australia, and it’s interesting to see that you’re also paid 50c/word!
Hi there! I love your blog, though I’ve been a lurker until now. This is a great post, one I read out loud to my family this evening. Thank you for the inspiration! I did have to say, though, that I don’t think all the people who live on Cooper Mountain or all the neighborhoods surrounding Intel, Synopsis or the rest of the Silicon Forest would agree with your assessment of Aloha as being blue collar! 🙂
~Angela 🙂
P.S. Yes, it’s possible that I am an AHS graduate. 🙂
Angela: Thanks for de-cloaking. Having one of my posts read aloud to non-writers is about the highest honor I can think of – thanks again. Hope you didn’t take offense to the “blue collar” remark = I was restating a phrase that’s been used often (by the Oregonian and others) this year to describe the AHS team. And congrats, by the way, for an amazing season. My high school senior son plays for another team in the Metro League although I won’t say which one in case it would bias you against any return visits!
Michelle
No, not offended, just teasing you. I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Aloha is blue collar, but you know, them crazy journalists will say anything to sell a story (I’m teasing again). 🙂 And I’m going to guess Sunset. But don’t worry, I’ll still come visit! It’s true that I went to AHS, but it was a very, VERY long time ago. Ha! 🙂
~Angela
Nope, not Sunset!
Michelle