Freelance??

[Ready]

How easy is it to find freelance work??

I would love to work freelance and escape the 9-5 but it's never that easy surely??

I bagsy this one

???

Don't really understand what the bagsy crap is all about... if there is anyone out there that can help, I'd appreciate it.

What sort of freelance work do you mean, Ready?
Writing articles? Writing novels? Editing? Proofing?

Thank you PorpoiseonEarth; Initially writing articles for magazines and periodicals is what I would like. I am doing a creative writing course at the moment, with a view to earning a living as a writer (is it just a crazy dream?)

My dream would be to write a novel, but want to get my teeth into the course before I start actually writing any fiction.

Do you know why this was 'bagsy'ed?? I'm relatively new to mumsnet, and am not in the 'clique', so a bit perplexed by Clement's comment.

I think it's important to target the people you want to write for eg if you have expertise/interest in a particular topic, issue or style

No idea about the bagsy thing - maybe Clement posted on the wrong thread by mistake.
And Bundle is right. If you want to write for magazines, you need to target the ones that cover areas/issues you know well. And you need to get a handle on their style and tone.
Look inside the magazines and find out who the commissioning editor/features editor is and then send in a few ideas: keep them brief and to the point, and, above all, make sure they would appeal to the kind of reader who buys/subscribes to that publication.
To be honest, it's quite a hard world to get into if you don't already know anyone working on magazines. If you have a specialism in something, it does help, though.
Don't want to put you off but don't want to pretend it's easy, either.

also you may want to try for a mixture of regular work (say writing a newsletter for a charity) and one-off articles to keep the money coming in and stop you from getting too bored. personally I would find it v hard to work without the stimulation I get from my colleagues (I'm a radio journalist)

Thank you both.

I am under no illusion that it will be easy, I really appreciate your opinions. I suppose it's just a case of giving it a go, and seeing what happens. If I don't try I will always wonder about it. The course is really interesting, and if nothing else, it keeps my mind active!!

I think it's best to stick to writing for the things I like to read.

Radio journalism must be so interesting. But even harder to get into than magazines and newspapers!

Do be aware that there is a crucial difference between creative writing and journalism, even if some of us try and combine both!

Freelance journalism is incredibly competitive here and very, very difficult to crack. The best way is by far to have a specific subject that you can write about, a niche so to speak. And networking is very imprtant so if you can engineer situations where you can actually meet people in the bsiness tat would help.

Creative wrting is a completely different skill to journalsm.

Bloody new computer keyboard isn't as sensitive as I am used to which is why it is leaving out letters.

Actually if you want to be a journalist, I'd get some journalism training too.

It is quite hard though I have had written things on spec for the baby mags and had them published in the past. one good site i can recommend is redbus.me.uk for budding freelance journalists/ writers.
i would just go for it - send something on spec to a magazine and fingers crossed!

Thanks ladies. I am not really trying to be a journalist. Just wondered if it was too crazy a dream to think I might be able to make a little money writing for magazines.

Well done on you who've made it though!! I imagine with journalism degrees?