Interviewing is the mainstay of good journalism. Simon Hattenstone, a master in the art at The Guardian, gave a masterclass for the UK Press Gazette. Here are his top tips... Above: Simon Hattenstone of The Guardian Be nosy. Really nosy. Shamelessly nosy. Read...
Can journalists make a living from e-publishing? This was the question at a recent London Freelance Bureau meeting. E-publishing models are catalogued at Journalism models, co-founded by NUJ vice-president Tim Dawson. Dawson says the most reliable moneymaker is...
Video is now crucial for content creation and PR. "All the emerging money is around web video, which is what all of the papers want now - so if you are going to cover a story, why wouldn't you film it as well?," says Pat Younge, BBC's chief creative officer, in The...
Fed up with procrastinating and not getting down to your blogging? Eating chocolate while you work? Checking Twitter so much you never finish your writing? Bad habits can really stop you achieving your writing potential. Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit,...
I am now 'journalist in residence' on a new project www.95pottergate.com 95 Pottergate is a grade II listed house in the heart of an area with historical links to Norwich's textile and weaving industry. Norwich was a city founded on textiles until the industry...
Tips from Jan Winburn's essay 'Finding good topics: an Editor's Questions' published in Telling True Stories (Penguin Books) What are the enduring issues of the day and how can those issues be seen from inside one person's life? Is there someone's life like...
This is a summary of some notes I made from a feature about boosting creativity in Scientific American Mind. I stumbled on this list while leafing through an old note book from 2008 (Black Moleskine, my favourite notebook at the time). Thought they were still relevant...
Clearing out my office I found an old cutting I had kept from Saturday Guardian 15 March 2014 called So you want to be a writer? Jeanette Winterson says that she doesn't 'give a shit what's in your head.' By which she means if it isn't on the manuscript, it doesn't...
My stock in trade is ideas so I'm obsessed with new tricks and techniques for coming up with more and even better ideas. I am also fascinated by what others do to come up with them. Indeed, I'm interested in the the whole notion of how ideas form and then grow - and...
It's Norwich Fashion Week 2014. Last night was the Vintage Fashion Show at Norwich Puppet Theatre, co-ordinated by Kerry Curl and styled and organised by Karen James-Welton from Fabulous Miss K. Vintage is a massive trend in Norwich, more popular than anywhere else in...
