hackwork
Writing for paycheck
Hackwork is writing or creative work done purely for money, without artistic ambition or care.
The term implies churning out formulaic content to meet commercial demand: He paid the bills with hackwork while saving his best ideas for personal projects.
A hack is someone who produces such work, though the word can apply more broadly to anyone performing routine work without inspiration.
Compensation for labor
- commissionPayment for services rendered
- hiredGiven employment
- contractEnforceable written agreement
- commercialPaid broadcast promotion
bread-and-butter · freelance · ghostwriting · assignment · editorial · deadline · client · potboiler
Careless and hasty
- sloppyCareless and untidy
- substandardBelow required quality
- inferiorOf lower rank
- botchedPoorly executed, spoiled
careless · rushed · hasty · cheap · crude · low-quality · perfunctory · negligent
Function's rate of change
- formulaicFollowing a set template
- unoriginalNot new or novel
- hackneyedOverused and unoriginal
- clichedOverused and unoriginal
trite · stale · banal · pedestrian · unimaginative · lifeless · cookie-cutter · boilerplate
paycheck
Compensation for labor
- commissionPayment for services rendered
- hiredGiven employment
- contractEnforceable written agreement
commercial · bread-and-butter · freelance · ghostwriting · assignment · editorial · deadline · client · potboiler · volume
slipshod
Careless and hasty
- sloppyCareless and untidy
- substandardBelow required quality
- inferiorOf lower rank
botched · careless · rushed · hasty · cheap · crude · low-quality · perfunctory · negligent · haphazard
derivative
Function's rate of change
- formulaicFollowing a set template
- unoriginalNot new or novel
- hackneyedOverused and unoriginal
cliched · trite · stale · banal · pedestrian · unimaginative · lifeless · cookie-cutter · boilerplate · paint-by-numbers
- pulp fictionpulp, pulp fiction, pulp magazines, pulp novels, dime novels
- popular fictionbestsellers, genre fiction, page-turners, popular novels, pulp fiction
hackworkcraftsmanship
Skill in making objects
masterpiece · masterwork · fine art · artistry · magnum opus
hackworklabor of love
Work done for fulfillment, not payment
passion project · life's work · personal vision · artistic expression · art for art's sake
work, hack, hacker, hacking, hacked, hacksaw, hacksaws, unhacked, hackable