“It’s not so much that I have confidence in my opinions – it’s just that I think I’m saying the obvious!”
This week’s episode is a bit of a fangirl moment for me – Hadley Freeman, author, journalist and Guardian columnist is somebody whose writing and wisdom has inspired me for a number of years. She kindly gave me some of her time to talk about her career path, sharing your opinions for a living, and dealing with feedback from commenters and twitter trolls alike.
Also, just a heads up that there’s some adult language in this episode.
Hadley’s Guardian columns|Twitter|books on Amazon
Things we talk about in this episode:
- How Hadley got to be a columnist for The Guardian
- Owning your opinions in writing (even if you’re not super opinionated in real life!)
- How social media has helped make columnists and op-ed writers more accountable
- Reading the comments (and twitter responses) on your work in the press
- The demographic of people who comment, and why they don’t might not always be representative
- How not to take online criticism, comments and trolls personally
- Deciding what is too personal or raw to share
- Why your personal life isn’t the only thing you have to write about
- The importance of telling other people’s stories, and not just what’s easy
- How to get started in newspaper journalism now
