All Points North

Nah, not really. I did see about ten seconds of the voting where some comedian or other tried to get more time than anyone else by reading out a telephone number but thats about it. Terry Wogan was withering with his criticism though and a gruff ‘oh for goodness sake’ sent him on his way*

The freelance career is off to a stuttering start with a bit of work here and there. What I find most difficult is pitching for work. As I know that the wrong approach to a magazine ends in one of two ways. 1, who’s this loon that thinks he can just suggest ideas and expect to write for us and 2. What a great idea do we know anyone who can write this for us?

How exactly do you introduce yourself as a viable producer of competent copy about all things Apple when you’re on the outside? When I worked for MacUser it was simple ‘Hey I’ve had this idea it’s something I’m interested in and it can fill that 6 page gap in issue 23′ Now it’s a bit different but I suppose that’s the difference between a successful freelance writer and someone who used to be a freelance writer.

What’s really scary is how quickly your day disappears. When I had a real job I found that some days the clock would stop at 4pm and it’d seem like the last two hours of the working day would take four or five. Now I sit at my desk at about nine thirty in the morning and the next thing I know it’s five thirty and I’ve still got stuff to do. Not all of it earning me money. You’d think there’d be loads of time to remember to do things and time to spend chatting on the phone but it doesn’t seem to work out that way.

So in conclusion, should anyone require a freelance journalist with three year experience of working for the premier Mac magazine in the UK then please do get in touch. (Insert ‘and I can put you in contact with them jokes here’)

* I understand that the rest of Europe doesn’t get to listen to Sir Terry but I like the idea that there are families all over the continent tuning in to listen to an Irish Englishman be tragically passive / aggressive about something that he either cares about deeply or couldn’t give a flying fuck about and you’ll never be able to work out which.