Making a career out of freelance journalism

This lively seminar covers the essentials of freelance journalism, with advice from working writers on everything from sourcing stories, to pitching to editors and getting paid.

You’ll learn how to identify the right publication for an idea, tailor your concept to their audience, and craft memorable articles that both readers and editors will love. You’ll leave with a realistic understanding of what it takes to be a freelancer, and feel more confident about pitching your ideas to editors.

Course content

• Guardian writer Stuart Heritage on what you can expect to encounter in your first year as a freelancer
• Writer and BuzzFeed UK culture editor Bim Adewunmi on coming up with ideas and breaking into freelance journalism
• Award-winning journalist and novelist Will Storr on the mistakes every freelancer makes – and how to avoid them
• Freelance journalist Nell Frizzell on coping with rejection and how to stay upbeat

This course is for you if...

• You’re considering freelance feature writing, either as a career or sideline, and are looking for insight into how the journalism industry works
• You’re a journalist who would like to learn how to increase your chances of getting your pitches commissioned
• You’re a journalism student or graduate looking for a realistic overview of what is expected of a freelance writer, and how to find paid work in the field
• You have ambitions to break into freelance journalism but don’t know where to start

Tutor profiles

Stuart Heritage is a freelance writer who mainly writes about film, TV and music. He founded and wrote the award-winning satirical celebrity blog Hecklerspray for five years from 2005, and has been writing blogs, liveblogs, interviews and features for the Guardian since 2009. In addition to this, he co-runs www.luvandhat.com and has also written for several television programmes, none of which he is prepared to reveal because none of them were very good. Stuart has also written for the NME, Radio Times, Cosmopolitan and Vice. He’s also on the telly sometimes, but often not (he blames his haircut).

Bim Adewunmi is culture editor at BuzzFeed UK. She also writes The Crush, a weekly column for Guardian Weekend magazine, and blogs at www.yorubagirldancing.com. Bim has previously written for the New Statesman, Comment Is Free, Monocle, The Independent magazine, Mslexia, Red magazine among many others. She tweets too much and watches too much telly, but also enjoys reading and eating. Find her on Twitter here.

Will Storr is an award-winning journalist, novelist and photographer. The Independent have called him a “versatile, imaginative, committed long-form journalist with a populist touch.” His stories appear in broadsheet newspaper supplements such as the Observer magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine and Guardian Weekend. He is also a contributing editor at Esquire magazine and GQ Australia. Will has been named New Journalist of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year, and in 2012 he was presented with the One World Press award and the Amnesty International award for his work for the Observer on sexual violence against men. Find out more about Will on his website.

Nell Frizzell is a freelance journalist, writing for VICE, the Guardian, The Debrief, Vogue, Elle and anyone else who can keep her in teabags. She writes a lot about gender, sexuality and art, as well as lorry drivers, motorway service stations and train food. She blogs at thumbsforhire.co.uk and recreates famous portraits using rubbish from around her flat at goppeldangers.tumblr.com. In fact, she’s created more tumblrs than you’ve had hot dinners. She also spends too much time on Twitter and runs so much her legs look like conference pears.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website