Building a specialism in your freelance writing career

IF you check out my portfolio here, you'll see that there are several headings for the different subjects I like to write about.

For the time being, "business and careers" is missing and I find myself having to make room to put that section back.

I've added a new one instead - "technology". That's because here I am interviewing a politician's campaign team about their use of 'micro-blogging' for today's Guardian.

Earlier this week, I also interviewed a Microsoft marketing man for his take on this new technology.

Writing about this stuff makes me smile - it's such a change from "our tiny miracles."It does feel like this specialism has crept up on me somewhat but there is some reasoning behind it.

I've been contributing Technobiles for a while now, which I really enjoy, ranting about some of the 'simpler' applications of technology in our lives.

For me, complaining about Satnav or a scary experience at a toll booth has more appeal than honing in on the latest gadget I'd probably struggle to get out of the packet.

Thanks to the support and encouragement of the editor, not to mention the emails I get telling me my stuff has made someone laugh (hurrah!) I'm now sure it strikes a chord with readers.

When I began to read about Twitter, and its implications for bloggers, I spotted an opportunity. I knew that there would only be a relatively small number of journalists writing about it so far - just like one of my already established specialisms - twins and more - so it's not so different after all.

Shiny launched their blog dedicated to it, and I asked if I could join the team.

Writing for the blog, alongside the much more tech-savvy Stuart Dredge, allows me to keep a close eye on developments in my chosen field, again in the same way as my own blog means I'm on the ball with news about a pretty specialist subject within parenting.

I'm really not so great on the really technical stuff, but reporting skills mean you can research the subject and ask the questions that matter to a mainstream audience. For me, that will always be about what the technology allows you to do, rather than the ins and outs of the technology itself.

On my training course all those years ago, I was told there's "no such thing as a stupid question." I still agree. As the interviewer, I'm not trying to dazzle the interviewee with my knowledge of the subject, I'm representing the readers who'll hopefully enjoy my piece later - asking the stuff they will want to know.

And how can you do that? Put yourselves in their place, they may not know what all this jargon means, they aren't as close to the subject as you are. If you don't understand an answer, nor will the readers - so take great care to make sure what you're writing is clear enough for the man or woman in the street, or however we are supposed to describe the public these days.

I do find my specialism surprising. But I'm perhaps not as surprised at what I've ended up reporting on as is the lovely Ellie Levenson, who, as well as being a most excellent drinking partner, often writes about politics for the broadsheets. She tells me she was actually more interested in "sex and lipstick."

Aren't we all? Ellie Love, aren't we all? Unfortunately, it's a bit of a crowded market.

Watch this space for an interview with Ellie about her thoughts on freelancing, by the way.
[Linda]

Comments

[Sally]

Hi Linda

I definitely agree with your training course - my tutor at City Uni always told me that a journalist's job isn't to know the answers, it's to know the people who know the answers.

When I started covering technology, and then HR, and then hedge funds, I didn't understand the inner workings of many of the things I wrote about. But I asked lots of really dumb questions and eventually got to know enough to get by.

It's an approach I still take - this week I've written a piece about performance management in the public sector. I know roughly what this is (software that tells you how good a job you're doing at serving customers) but I rely on my interviewees to provide the details and expertise.

As a writer - again, as my tutor said - your expertise is your ability to put together words and explain stories in a way that people want to read them. Everything else is what you get from other people.

[Kristine]

Hmm... lipstick and sex? I truly think I'd be bored to death if I was forced to make a career writing about that. I feel lucky to be a media journalist/commentator, because I genuinely think our changing media world is one of the most exciting subjects around. I can't actually recall any topic I've previously covered, like the city, politics etc, I haven't been fascinated by, and I think, as your post suggests, that is part of the charm of journalism: learning new things all the time, often from the top experts in a given field...

[Pem]

I think there is some invaluable advice here - especially on there being "no such thing as a stupid question."

We are reporters - and having the opportunity to conduct an interview is a chance our readers rarely get. We are there for them. If we don't understand the interviewee's replies, language et al, then sure as hell, neither will the reader.

Clarification is as much a part of our job as coherent grammar and punctuation. A very helpful piece of advice. Many thanks Linda.

[Katie B]

Very useful advice Linda... Many thanks.