Online Journalism News

• feed |
• e-news |
• syndicate |
• digg it |
• del.icio.us |
• stumble

Click here to look at Claire Spencer's full freelance profile on Journalism.co.uk

Why did you choose to become a freelancer?
Although I love my writing job [at Financier Worldwide], it is inextricably linked to the world of finance, and I have many other interests that I wanted to cover.

Thankfully, my bosses have a great attitude towards freelancing, and have always encouraged me to pursue it. Being able to write on anyone and anything at any time is both entertaining and enriching without being horribly constricting.

If you trained, where? If not, how did you become a freelancer?
I couldn't really afford the fees for a journalism postgraduate course, so, armed with my English degree and a tendency for spontaneous reviews, I tried to get bits of work for online music publications.

I managed to get some onto the BBC site, which I was very proud of. I just wrote, and managed to get my current job from that, which opened even more doors for me - people seemed much happier to give me a chance once my status as 'journalist' was official.

Do you specialise in any particular field and what areas do you write about?
Aside from corporate finance, my specialisms are music, animation, and the creative arts. Channel 4's 4Talent have been particularly great, and pass quite a lot of work my way.

Not all of it is paid, but I don't think many writers are in the industry for big bucks - sometimes it's just nice to have the opportunity to write about things that you didn't know before.

Which publications have you been published in?
Financier Worldwide and 4Talent Magazine, as well as BBC online, Channel 4 online, and Noize Makes Enemies, an online music magazine.

Which articles, in which publication, are you the most proud of?
It's hard to choose really - I think, equally, my review of Busted at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) for the BBC, and a scarily massive piece on investment in biotechnology for the Financier.

The former showed my willingness to put personal tastes to one side - giving a decent pop band credit where credit was due, and the latter demonstrated how quickly I was assimilating a new subject.

Aside from a maths A-Level, my forays into the world of finance had been fairly scarce, and I was afraid that I wouldn't progress quickly enough.

What are the best and worst aspects of freelancing?
There's a certain amount of unpredictability to it, which you have to prepare yourself for when you take the plunge. I'm not sure that I could ever freelance exclusively for that reason.

On the other hand, it's wonderful to manage your own time, and incorporate everything you love into your work. The idea that people are reading your work and taking it on board is incredibly gratifying and seeing your name in print never gets old.

Do you have any interesting anecdotes in relation to your experience as a freelancer?
Reviewing a Jeevas gig, I tried to grab a quick word with Crispian Mills at the end, only to be intercepted by a man who was convinced that I was Hermione from Harry Potter.

I can only assume he meant the actual character, as I look nothing like the much lovelier Emma Watson. After some hilarious banter pertaining to Hogwarts and the UCAS system, I eventually autographed his newspaper to get rid of him, observed by a highly confused Mr Mills.

Tags (click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed):
freelance | freelancer of the fortnight |

Sign up here for our free, daily email newsletter to get all the latest stories, jobs, tips and more.

Got a story? Call our news team on +44 (0)1273 384290 or email them.