It started with a long day of writing followed by a content meeting which spanned a few hours and an interview for an article. I arrived home almost zombielike and opened my e-mail account to send one final e-mail before succumbing to the exhaustion.

In case you were wondering, this was my first mistake. Much in the same way that you should leave sleeping dogs lie, I’m pretty sure that you have to be nothing short of a masochist to check your emails after nine in the evening. One particular shiny example caught my eye and I opened it. Never mind about seeing red, by the end of it I was seeing every single colour of the rainbow.

As a writer, you get used to receiving strange requests. I have been contacted by people who want me to write articles about their mothers-in-law, asked to review shows I haven’t been invited to and have even been asked to join a band (yes, really). However, something I will never, ever get used to is being asking to write copious amounts for free.

Far from being a small issue that only affects me and my peers, this national malady of expecting something for nothing affects almost everyone I know in the creative industry. From photographers to designers, to bloggers, to artists, it seems almost impossible to get people to understand that what we do is not just a hobby – it’s our job. When we were starting out, many of us spent years not being paid for our work and none of us complained because we knew that we were still green and had a lot to learn but past a certain point, it’s just plain rude to expect someone to do something for nothing.

If you don’t have the money then you shouldn’t ask people to do the work

A lot of people will cite lack of budget as the main issue but quite frankly if you don’t have the money then you shouldn’t ask people to do the work. As I’ve said previously, I don’t go into a shop, pick up something off the shelf and leave the establishment without paying for it so why shouldn’t I be extended the same courtesy? In addition to this being completely unfair, it also impoverishes our industry as a whole because the less that people are willing to pay for creative work, the fewer people will want to form part of the creative sector. Wouldn’t we all rather have first-rate writers and designers than a third-rate lawyer?

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