2024: doing less, doing more
[The end of 2023 looked like this. And my son ate so many clementines he turned into an orange!]
It’s gone 10am, and I still haven’t written anything.
I can tell my brain isn’t in gear today, because I did a bunch of chores to procrastinate. I emptied and filled the dishwasher, wiped down the kitchen, took the nappies off the clotheshorse, tidied my bedroom floor and brought a basket of Arthur’s clothes upstairs. I showered. I gathered up my knitting, which was sprawling across a side table in the living room, and brought it upstairs to put away. Which was a huge mistake, because I then ended up knitting for a couple of minutes.
Okay, five minutes.
Fine. Ten minutes.
I’m so productive when I have work to do.
And I do have work to do! That’s something I’m incredibly grateful for and, as most freelance creatives in the current economic climate know, absolutely not a given. Along with the eye-rollingly repetitive, unnecessarily in-depth analysis of the Calvin Klein ad starring Jeremy Allen White*, LinkedIn’s been rife the last couple of weeks with people reflecting on a less-than-successful 2023.
Obviously 2023 wasn’t a brilliant year for me, work-wise. Despite (perhaps inadvisably) powering through the sleep deprivation and destabilisation that come with a small baby, and despite stretching over my napping infant to reach my laptop and keep working, and despite skirting a mental breakdown, sales dropped through the floor. I started the year with three (brilliant) employees, and ended it as a writing studio of one.
In case you were wondering, I’ll be keeping it that way – in 2024 and beyond. Building a writing agency and working with Grace, Alys, and Liz was an incredible journey and privilege, but I never want to let people down like that again. Now, I’ve got different ambitions and more focused plans.
The summary is this: I’m a brilliant writer and brand maker, and that’s all I want to do. Less of the stuff I’m not as good at, or don’t like as much. More of the stuff that gets me up in the morning. So, in 2024 I’m going to…
Focus on brand stories and language
I work on Yarn projects three days a week. In 2024, I’ll be filling that time with what I do best: brand voices and stories. If you need help transforming your brand’s language; rethinking its story and messaging; coming up with a name; or creating a new brand or product from scratch, I’m your writer. So if you’re a brand or design agency in need of a verbal branding partner, I’d love to hear from you. And I won’t be actively looking for social, web, or other content writing projects, unless it’s part of a brand rollout.
Cost for projects – not time
It’s been a long time since I charged a straight day rate. I don’t book projects in days, and clients pay me for my expertise, ideas, and skill, not for the time I spend sitting at my desk (besides, I come up with the best stuff in the middle of the night, on dog walks, and while I’m messing around with Arthur). So in 2024, I’ll only be quoting full project costs in response to briefs. I’m always happy to give a range if you haven’t quite nailed down the details. Just ask.
Stick to my boundaries (wherever I can!)
The thing about a rough commercial year is that when the work starts coming, you don’t want to say no. To any of it. Because what if it dries up again?! That meant I closed 2023, in the words of Bilbo Baggins, like butter scraped over too much bread. I felt burned out, grey, and brittle, battered by long hours and relentless viruses. In 2024 I’m scheduling as far in advance as I can, saying no when my calendar’s stacked full, and only working after hours and during naps when I really have to (or want to, because sometimes I really do!). Speaking of, if you might want me in February, get in touch as soon as you can; I’ve got two weeks of jury duty coming up, so my schedule will be extra tightly squeezed 👩⚖️
Write, and write, and write
While 2023 was rough and didn’t turn out how I’d planned, I’m a lot happier now I’m back doing what I do best. I’ve got bags of ideas – and not just for Yarn. I’m about to start writing a novella, with a short story collection in the works too. And if you like reading what I write, you can sign up to my Yarn newsletter (where I basically just share my journal entries, so you don’t miss them) at the bottom of my Journal page, and my creative writing Substack, Titbits, here.
Altogether, this year is about doing less; being more focused and selective with my projects and schedule, to make room for more of the good stuff. On a personal level, I’m going to stop setting myself a million and one things to do and calm down a bit, just making time for simple things like cooking, yoga, and reading (for the booky and/or nosy among you, find me on Goodreads!).
Speaking of focus – it’s now past 11:30. Better knuckle down on that client work, eh? Happy new year, everyone!
*Which I’ll now add to, of course! I’ve found the majority of the posts incredibly boring and infuriating, because to me there doesn’t seem to be anything especially controversial or interesting about it. Brands as powerful as Calvin Klein don’t need a big, clever, award-winning concept. They need hot people in their underwear. It works; that’s why they do it. It’s like criticising McDonalds for plastering pictures of (deceptively juicy-looking) burgers across city centre bus stops, instead of coming up with a smug little head-scratcher for the ad gang. Oh yeah, and the difference between objectifying a man and objectifying a woman is that it hasn’t been used to repress, control, and justify violence towards men for most of human history (and, I daresay, never will be), so it’s not dangerous. Jeremy’s going to be fine. He’s rich, he’s gorgeous, and I bet he’s got loads of free pants out of the deal, too. Rant over.
