The 'How' of adding more strings to your bow

The question of how to adapt to the many changes we’ve faced as an industry over the last two years has been a constant one. For many of us the answer has come by adding more strings to our bow. Ideally strings that both build on our experience and expand our options.

As freelancers, our careers are boundless in nature; we don't need the okay of a manager or performance review to begin expanding our careers. We can, if we choose, simply pick an area we want to develop and begin experimenting. Adding more strings in this way has long been recognised as a key skill for sustaining and expanding any freelance career. While the process is rarely short, and far from easy, an informed approach can make all the difference.

Step One: Make it matter.

In a world of limitless choices part of freelance decision-making is about identifying what matters most to you. A self-directed approach to career management has many benefits in terms of psychological well-being, resilience and productivity. Step One is ensuring that the strings you wish to add are ones that speak to you intuitively. We know that logic-based reasoning follows a linear path working from a limited supply of available information. Intuitive reasoning by comparison avails of conscious and unconscious information from all aspects of our experience. While blending both approaches is something we often do naturally we can forget that by starting with the intuitive we access a broader and deeper base of information from which we can later refine. So, trust your gut for the moment and write down three strings you'd like to explore adding to your professional portfolio. Which one does your intuition tell you would make the biggest difference to you if you could eventually master it?

Step Two: Experiment and explore.

We learn best by doing. This is as true for you now as it was when you were learning to walk. Step Two in this process is to create some 'crafting experiments' for each string. How can you test out each idea without impeding your current obligations? If you're interested in adding screenwriting to your skillset is there a writing group or course you could join for a few weeks? Where could you meet or hear other screenwriters talking about their experiences, to get a better sense of what that craft involves and feels like? Each experiment brings with it a wealth of additional information. Some will make it blindingly clear exactly which strings you want to pursue and which to abandon. A major obstacle for many considering adding more strings to their bow is the time, expense and commitment required to pursue them. Experimenting in this way allows us to test our ideas without committing to them fully in order to better understand which ones really gel with us and out future.

Step Three: Loosen up and let go.

Exploring other roles and skills can be a disorientating and uncomfortable experience. We all have a clear idea of who we are and who we’re not. When we begin to question that it can suddenly feel like we're on very shaky ground. Part of experimenting with new options requires us to loosen our definitions of ourselves long enough to let others in. If my idea of what a 'real' actor is doesn't allow space for an actor who also writes, my experimentation won't last long. We need to test and play with new ways of seeing ourselves as we explore our options and before we can feel comfortable adding a new role to our title. Part of loosening up these concepts of ourselves is also about letting go of some of the assumptions, beliefs or behaviours of our old professional identity. These can keep us tethered to the past and old ways of being. So, which assumptions or behaviours will you need to let go of to experiment with your options more freely?

Step Four: Make it make sense.

It's not only us creative folk who are obsessed with stories, we’re all hardwired to create narratives about almost everything that happens to us. You'll have a story of how you got to where you are now and what you feel is likely to happen next. These stories may change over time, as we do, but they are always present. In moving from trying something out to making it a part of who we are, we need to make sense of it for ourselves. Constructing career narratives in this way isn't just for Academy award-winner speech writers, it's an essential part of becoming who we want to be professionally. Step four; How would you make sense to yourself and others of your journey from actor to actor/writer or artist to producer/author?

Boundless, freelance careers offer us many opportunities to shift and shape what we need, when we need to. While this process is seldom quick, knowing that we will need time to experiment with our options, loosen up our assumptions and make it all make sense allows us to navigate these transitions more fluidly and successfully.