Freelance

Spring in Chicago means baseball. The Chicago Cubs are entering their one hundredth year without a World Series Championship ring. There are people who waited their entire life to watch the Cubs win the series, and then they moved on to the big dugout in the sky without seeing it happen. For the rest of us it’s been a lifetime but there’s still hope.

Being a Chicago Cub’s fan is about looking for hope when all feels hopeless. It’s a bit like trying to forge a career as a writer; the odds are long and there are no guarantees at the end of the day. But you’re in there because you love it and you can’t imagine doing anything else. I’m a Cubs fan – what am I going to do, switch to the Yankees, simply because they win?

I’m a Cubs fan and I’m a writer. I work mostly freelance. Which conjures up all sort of romantic images, but which in reality isn’t. Like baseball; ask any rookie free agent if he likes being so free. Sure it works great for the superstars, but for the little guy it’s not such an enviable model.

Free lance is a term with its origins in the middle ages. It meant a mercenary, a soldier who literally sold his lance to whatever crown was paying the best wage. This week I was contacted by a gentleman who heads a small publishing house. He stumbled over my web site, read some of my work, and decided to approach me about working on a screenplay adaptation of one of their novels. I can’t say much about it until the project’s further along but that’s how this business works – you never know where the next lead is going to come from. I’ll look the material over and make a decision. In the end it will be up to me to determine if it’s worth while and that decision will be no one’s but mine. Freelance work.

For many writers freelance is another way of saying I play a lot of X-Box. It shouldn’t be. It’s important for a writer to write even when they don’t have a specific project that they’re working on. Write. Everyday. Write something. Think about it; produce just a page and a half a day – in a year that’s a novel length manuscript. Writing is a craft, and like any craft it has to be practiced or the craftsman will get rusty. Let that happen and then, when something unexpected comes along, you’ll be the guy with the surprised look on his face, watching as an opportunity slips away. A smart man once told me to take every opportunity that comes along, because one day they stop coming. I want to be ready.

A writer’s got to be prepared. It’s not an easy way to make a buck; if it were, everyone would be doing it. But there’s certainly value in calling the shots, making your own decisions. If you strike out, with the bases loaded, it’s all on you. But if you pull off that grand slam, that’s all yours as well. This new project will more than likely be a small new project, but you never know.

My buddy Marcus Sakey sold his first novel, The Blade Itself, to great review. He then sold the rights for the film version to Ben and Casey Affleck’s production company. Now he has a six book deal. It doesn’t happen often but it does happen.

That’s all I need, just a chance. Freelance work allows the space to dream. It’s dreams of bringing this whole thing together that keep me working, wondering what’s next. And keep me rooting for the Cubs.

— Ric Hess, Apr 4, 09:53 AM

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