Freelance writers can shape their careers to the extent that their talents and motivation allow. Why choose to be depersonalized, devalued and disrespected?

by Maya Payne Smart

In his new book "Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?" entrepreneur Seth Godin describes a multigenerational American conspiracy in which schools, governments and social contracts led us to trading genius and artistry for presumed corporate safety nets. Work hard, keep your head down and collect your pension were the rules of the game — until they weren't. The layoffs, furloughs and other cuts prompted by recession show a system breaking under its own weight. Yet many of us keep toiling as if old bargains still hold when a new approach to work is needed.

Rather than remaining cogs in a broken industrial machine, Godin argues that we should shrug off the thinking that's brought us here and use our strength and creativity to instead become linchpins, the indispensable individuals who hold organizations together and propel them forward. Although his message is largely intended for employees who cling to outmoded expectations of their employers and themselves, his insights are valuable for freelance writers, too. In a sense, freelancers are even more vulnerable than full-time staffers because we work with few guarantees and are all too often underpaid and under-insured.

Moreover, in the media industry, content farms and even some legacy media companies are applying the old industrial model to further commoditize journalism. Like the pin-making factory in Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations," they've broken down the content creation process into tiny tasks undertaken by low-paid workers to produce much more copy than a skilled artisan working alone ever could. But as freelance writers who work without corporate paychecks, benefits and backing, we have even less reason to take the bait than the manual laborers of yesteryear.

The way forward as freelance writers is not to push ourselves to become more efficient and productive parts of some insatiable content machine. We'll never be fairly compensated in a system in which our primary value is being compliant and interchangeable with the next writer. So let's not play that game.

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