Online Journalism News

• feed |
• newsletter |
• widget |

Click here to look at Katy O'Dowd’s full freelance profile on Journalism.co.uk.

Why did you choose to become a freelancer?
I chose to become a freelancer when I became a parent. It gives me the chance to work at what I love on my own time – as long as I hit deadlines of course – and to be there for my two boys. I discovered the 'work/life balance' and haven't looked back since, I can highly recommend it.

If you trained, where? If not, how did you become a freelancer?
I was very lucky where I trained as it was more or less an apprenticed way of learning – scary at the time to be thrown to the wolves, but well worth it. I studied a year of radio, TV and print journalism followed by two years of communications in Dublin.

Do you specialise in any particular field and what areas do you write about?
I specialise in entertainment but write about lots of other things too, so entertainment in the broadest sense of the word: from film and music to TV and books, and everything else in between.

Which publications have you been published in?
Before going freelance, I worked for Time Out for four years and was published in the magazine, on the website and in various guide books. I have also been published in Metro, Escape and Bizarre and have written a couple of quiz books for Marks & Spencer. I spent three years freelancing at Comic Relief and wrote for LIVE8, Red Nose Day and Sport Relief, as well as comicrelief.com

More recently, I have worked on a number of projects through pictureandword.com, a communications company set up by my husband, a freelance designer, and I.

Which articles, in which publication, are you the most proud of?
I am most proud of not an article, but the LIVE8 Make Promises Happen Post It Note International Campaign to remind the G8 leaders to keep their promises, which was featured outside landmarks around the world including Number 10 Downing Street, the White House and Congress in Washington DC.

What are the best and worst aspects of freelancing?
The best are freedom to work on your own time and to be there for things like school plays. The worst, without a shadow of a doubt, are getting the right money for job, late payment and having to chase payment.

Do you have any interesting anecdotes in relation to your experience as a freelancer?
Not so much an anecdote as a musing really: having worked as a full-time employee for various publications, it was such a lovely experience to go freelance. I never realised I had had enough of working with the same people in an inevitably tense, sometimes bitchy atmosphere, with the three hour 'let's put it on expenses' lunches and weary editors, who were never there until I flew the coop.

Being freelance means being your own boss and working with new people on more projects. And what's more, freelancers aren't tired old hacks – we have to make the right impression every time and work our butts off to get asked back again, so I really do believe that we are that bit nicer to people and that bit better at our jobs than full-timers.

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

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.