Yesterday I was figuring out my schedule for the summer. What are my commitments? When will we be able to do that family vacation?
I realized when I was mapping it all out that I am going to be busy this summer. I will have three regular contracts, and they will span the entire summer -- starting next week and continuing right up to the end of August. When will I be able to take a week for vacation? It looks like no matter what I choose I will end up with a working vacation.
When you work as a writer, you cannot turn down work. It just seems that it all arrives at once. I'm lucky though because this summer it looks like I won't have any down time. Last summer was mostly down time.
How do you schedule your work? Do you ever have to turn anything down? I don't think I could do one more thing this summer, and I hope I won't have to.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Feast or Famine
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3 comments:
I have turned down work... twice. In 3 1/2 years. And I hate it.
I hate that I turned it down, and I hate that I don't do it more often. Because I know exactly what you're talking about.
But at least we *can take our work on vacation with us I guess.
I've turned work down before. If the rate wasn't what I wanted, or the contract was bad, I turn it down. I think working writers can turn work down.
Lately there have been crazy contracts flying around... all rights grabs, snagging moral rights, crazy clauses.... and the pay doesn't increase. So I've turned some writing down.
But I've just come to believe that it's also for my sanity. I put a high price on my sanity and my family time and if I'm not being paid adequately or I'm selling myself short... then it's really my sanity and my family time that's being sold short.
Now, for scheduling... I do tend to try spread stuff out... no more than two deadlines a week!
I turn down work all the time - I've got a fairly rigid priority set, and though it doesn't make me as much money as I'd like, I'm unhappy when I change plans so dramatically that I have to fit clients into my schedule. Its not fair on them, and it makes me a bear to live with.
I keep telling people I don't have a time management problem - and I don't - what I think is the problem is that I take on too much. I can manage my time effectively, and on paper it should all fit, but for some reason, even when I stick to things, to the letter, something always gets dropped. I think its partially about being a parent too. Something else always comes up ;)
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