Welp, everything's going to crap with work. 2/3 Clients looking to bail as the deadline approaches, leaving me with 30 hours of work done this week, and nothing earned. This what you get for being lenient and trusting, self.
I'm fighting the urge to say Fuck This Shit, I'm Out... but maybe that's just the rebound from my excitement and "Can Do, Lets Go!" attitude getting doused. Flaky clients can bail on you at the last minute, unless you bomb them with legally-binding paperwork before you get started on the work. Which I might have to start doing. But... god, I just want to be able to trust people to honor their word. Is that so much to ask?
"Unlimited Revisions? Sure, I trust you wont just pay me for 10 hours of work, and ask for 20 hours of revisions. Not happy with your game idea? I know you're just paying me for art, but I like this enough to throw in some free game design and consultation too. Got a tight budget? I'll keep my research and sketch work time off the clock, and we can just work out payment once I've got everything ready to deliver. I trust you."
I like being flexible with others, and can be generous with my time and energy. I'd love to be able to be nice, give these projects my all even if I think they're stupid as hell, and try to go beyond people's expectations. When this gets repaid by folks flaking out at the last minute, and and generally taking advantage of my kindness and trust... that kills me. Not to mention leaves me with a fraction of what I thought I'd be earning this month.
Looks like my birthday gift to myself will be an Expired and Invalid License Plate for the car. Among other things. Woohoo.