I was talking to some Taylor students about my freelancing work and one of them asked me this very question, “What is your greatest frustration as a freelancer?” Without a moment of hesitation I said,
“Not having as much time to play games.”
They were taken aback a bit. This quickly spawned a discussion because they were expecting my answer to be something about the actual freelancing work. Why was I not frustrated with the quality of the writing I edit, or meeting deadlines, or poorly written rules, or my compensation, or communication issues with publishers? Or a few other things they brought up that I can’t remember now. I explained to them that my answer has everything to do with perspective.
frustration, noun
a feeling of dissatisfaction, often accompanied by anxiety or depression, resulting from unfulfilled needs or unresolved problems.
(Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frustration)
Most of the things they mentioned I have encountered while getting into freelancing, but those were all expected as part of the profession. Each one I had to manage as I developed my talents, built my freelancing career and built relationships. So they were challenges but not frustrations. As I have increased my freelancing work in the game industry, I have found I have less time to enjoy the games I am helping to create. I spend more of my available free time proofreading, editing, and writing. Now don’t misunderstand, I love what I do as a freelancer. So this really isn’t a depressing frustration, but it is a dissatisfaction for an unfilled need.
I love games. It is that love for games that got me into freelancing in the game industry. Now I get to help make the games I love so much. As the students and I continued to discuss this, we agreed that similar frustrations exist in any career that is also a passion. Your world of play and work begin to merge. I do miss playing games as often, but I fill that time with working on games which I enjoy as well.
How has freelancing impacted you? Do you get to play as many games as you wish or is your time utilized more by your freelancing? What other frustrations do you have with your freelancing?