How to Manage Your Freelance Writing Career Straight to Neoliberal Hell

Losing at the game of George

The New York Times, in which I have not been published.

There’s apparently an app for freelance writers that allows you to turn yourself into your own nightmare Taylorite panopticon, monitoring the prisoner/employer who is yourself. You’re supposed to log in at 15-minute increments, reporting to the manager (who is you) about whether the employee (also you) is optimally performing to maximize profits, or is slacking off by getting a snack or messing around on social media or pausing to contemplate the yawning abyss of guilt and self-loathing that has opened in their soul for some reason.

I found out about this app through a post on a professional network for writers. I will call this professional network “George.” George is a supportive online community where writers share past successes, talk about strategies for future successes, problem-solve barriers to success, and explain how you too can get a byline in leading venues like The New York Times and also The New York Times.