COUNCIL
COLUMN by JACQUI ACHILLEAS
Hi . My name is Jacqui Achilleas and I ’ m a grateful recovering ... professional writer . Yes . That ’ s right . Recovering . As in , returning to a normal state of health , mind , strength , and financial stability . Where have I been , and from what have I been recovering ? It ’ s a phenomenon which afflicts many a professional scriptwriter and to which I have been immune up until recently . I ’ ve decided to lift the lid on this occurrence in the interests of sharing and offering advice to writers , who may or may not be in this position .
Since I started working as a scriptwriter more than six years ago , I have been incredibly lucky to work consistently throughout this time . My main source of income has been soapies , that gilded cage of a number of professional writers . Soap City is a curse and a blessing ; a blessing that provides security through a regular pay cheque , primarily . It is , however , also a curse , because it ’ s that same safety and security that forms a dependence which can stop you from exploring pastures new .
In the past year since I left Soap City , I ’ ve faced a number of challenges . For the first time in my career I ’ ve had to deal with the difficulties of the majority of independent contractors out there , and one in particular , the phenomenon known as feast or famine .
Now famine is a state that , up until recently , I had never been acquainted with . Friends , fellow scriptwriters , had often spoken of waiting for the phone to ring , the email to arrive with the offer of work . Then when it didn ’ t , their desperation and despondency as one month became two , two became three and financial hardship bit its cruel bite . I used to listen to these friends with genuine sympathy , help out where I could , but I also felt an enormous relief that I was not one of them . That changed in October last year ,
when the proverbial really hit the fan . Things had been slowing down for a few months , and it seemed that I couldn ’ t get a job for love or money . I was seriously considering leaving the industry completely . I thought my time in the desert , where independent contractors went to die , would never end . I enquired , and received the application forms from a world-renowned culinary institute . I decided I wanted to be a pastry chef .
Then , a few days before Christmas , the phone rang . It was an offer of work starting immediately , and through Christmas , to the end of February . Joy ! I was back from the wilderness . It wasn ’ t easy , but slowly things got better .
Feast is that rare state of an abundance of work , the phone ringing nonstop , new opportunities presenting themselves every day ... a healthy bank balance . And right now , this is where I find myself , gratefully . Who knows how long it will last , but having experienced the famine , I can only always be grateful for the feast .
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