Activity Updates
Well, the weekend was a quiet one. Paul and myself joined Kate and Warren on Friday evening to watch Fun With Dick and Jane at the Pavillion. The film was pretty entertaining- utterly forgettable, but a pleasant evening’s amusement none the less.
Saturday was spent doing basic admin chores like installing the pool light and erecting a 30 year old canvas tent in preparation for the drunks sleeping over this Saturday after my sister’s 21st. Although a thunderstorm hit in the evening, the weather in Durban on Saturday was good enough to plan an impromptu braai. Of the eight invites sent out, only one person, Warren, responded positively. Honestly, that left me fuming at the time in a social outcast kind of way. I sat plotting a snotty blog post, though didn’t get around to posting it at the height of my temper. The braai did happen though, although we were too lazy to play Settlers of Catan afterwards, preferring to veg on the couch afterwards and watch Robocop 1.
Sunday was so uneventful that all I remember about it was that Paul did tech support, I read a helluva lot of Calvin and Hobbes, and we played a massive 8 player stage of Warcraft III in practice preparation for the big celebratory LAN once Ian gets back from Burundi.
Since the week began I’ve mostly been working on my editing together my sister’s 21st birthday tribute (with my parents and sister interfering it’s difficult not to compromise the integrity of the clip), and doing work-related research for Paul’s company and some website ideas that he had. Today, Shirley phoned me about doing a technical manual for a Pinetown company. It’s industrial, and I know sweet fanny adams about that kind of thing, but I think I can sneak through my ignorance by keeping it simple. I actually know nothing about the project and will only hear about on Friday when I go for a meeting. My only reservation is that Gareth and Ellery, the old sales people from Evil Corp, are apparently involved and they were notorious for making promises to clients that could not be met. I could be walking into a surprise, unmanageable situation, where I’m expected to do something I can’t.
Anyway, the more pressing issue is what to charge. I do don’t know any freelance writers and I have no idea of what is suitable to charge, or what to base a quote on (pages, hours worked, word count). At the moment I’m thinking of charging R150 a page, presuming a page would take me an hour. So R150 would be my freelance hourly rate as well. If it’s a 15 page manual, that’s R2250. That’s for print however. Website copy differs page by page, and tends to be a lot more summarised, so that would be cheaper.
I’m expecting resistance. Along with design, people tend to think that writing is something they can do themselves. Exactly like design, writing by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, is often a disaster. Now considering I have my BA (Media and Communication) degree summa cum laude and English Honours cum laude, I don’t think I’m overcharging. At least my mother is on my side on the charging issue. She said that if people don’t want to pay what I quote, then I should walk away instead of whoring my time and energy. It’s their loss.
By the way, totally off topic but I have decided that Paul, when his hair is cropped very short, bears a non-hunky resemblance to Michael Scofield (played by Wentworth Miller) in Prison Break. Speaking of which, Tuesday is now officially TV night with The Amazing Race on SABC3 (Smallville is on MNET during the same time slot) followed by Prison Break on MNET, Nip/Tuck on the same channel and Weeds. Don’t let anyone tell you that Prison Break is the grittiest new show on TV. Nip/Tuck, always shocking, remains the most grim and unrelenting. No one ever seems to have a happy ending on that show.
Saturday was spent doing basic admin chores like installing the pool light and erecting a 30 year old canvas tent in preparation for the drunks sleeping over this Saturday after my sister’s 21st. Although a thunderstorm hit in the evening, the weather in Durban on Saturday was good enough to plan an impromptu braai. Of the eight invites sent out, only one person, Warren, responded positively. Honestly, that left me fuming at the time in a social outcast kind of way. I sat plotting a snotty blog post, though didn’t get around to posting it at the height of my temper. The braai did happen though, although we were too lazy to play Settlers of Catan afterwards, preferring to veg on the couch afterwards and watch Robocop 1.
Sunday was so uneventful that all I remember about it was that Paul did tech support, I read a helluva lot of Calvin and Hobbes, and we played a massive 8 player stage of Warcraft III in practice preparation for the big celebratory LAN once Ian gets back from Burundi.
Since the week began I’ve mostly been working on my editing together my sister’s 21st birthday tribute (with my parents and sister interfering it’s difficult not to compromise the integrity of the clip), and doing work-related research for Paul’s company and some website ideas that he had. Today, Shirley phoned me about doing a technical manual for a Pinetown company. It’s industrial, and I know sweet fanny adams about that kind of thing, but I think I can sneak through my ignorance by keeping it simple. I actually know nothing about the project and will only hear about on Friday when I go for a meeting. My only reservation is that Gareth and Ellery, the old sales people from Evil Corp, are apparently involved and they were notorious for making promises to clients that could not be met. I could be walking into a surprise, unmanageable situation, where I’m expected to do something I can’t.
Anyway, the more pressing issue is what to charge. I do don’t know any freelance writers and I have no idea of what is suitable to charge, or what to base a quote on (pages, hours worked, word count). At the moment I’m thinking of charging R150 a page, presuming a page would take me an hour. So R150 would be my freelance hourly rate as well. If it’s a 15 page manual, that’s R2250. That’s for print however. Website copy differs page by page, and tends to be a lot more summarised, so that would be cheaper.
I’m expecting resistance. Along with design, people tend to think that writing is something they can do themselves. Exactly like design, writing by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, is often a disaster. Now considering I have my BA (Media and Communication) degree summa cum laude and English Honours cum laude, I don’t think I’m overcharging. At least my mother is on my side on the charging issue. She said that if people don’t want to pay what I quote, then I should walk away instead of whoring my time and energy. It’s their loss.
By the way, totally off topic but I have decided that Paul, when his hair is cropped very short, bears a non-hunky resemblance to Michael Scofield (played by Wentworth Miller) in Prison Break. Speaking of which, Tuesday is now officially TV night with The Amazing Race on SABC3 (Smallville is on MNET during the same time slot) followed by Prison Break on MNET, Nip/Tuck on the same channel and Weeds. Don’t let anyone tell you that Prison Break is the grittiest new show on TV. Nip/Tuck, always shocking, remains the most grim and unrelenting. No one ever seems to have a happy ending on that show.
Comments
Honestly, when was the last time you trekked anywhere to do stuff with your friends, yet you expect us to drop what we're doing and head to yellowood park at the drop of a hat? How many times have I heard that you're not willing to drive all the way to Gateway to watch movies/have supper with your friends, that Musgrave is the furthest you'll consider going?
I tried to organise movies at Gateway one time, you 2 didn't even bother to let me know you weren't coming, you simply went to Musgrave. I sent you an sms asking "so are you coming?", only to get the response "just coming out of the movie now, it was quite good."
Grrrr, don't play that card, seriously. >:(
Talk about your gift horses in the mouth. Every other week you complain about a bank account thats emptying with no way to replenish it, yet...
Its only not worth your time if you are getting paid more to do something else.
No Noelle, its YOUR loss. They'll get their manual anyway, and you'll get nothing. If you're unwilling to negotiate, you're just screwing yourself over.
BTW, I didn't say I'm not willing to negotiate. I'm just not doing slave labour. Just as you wouldn't do a R1000 programming job.