Generating Ideas in Freelance Journalism

In this week’s episode, we look at how to generate ideas for stories. Writer and lecturer Ellie Levenson and freelancer feature writer Amelia Tait talk us through how they get some of their best ideas and where they find inspiration. 

The Guests

Ellie Levenson

Twitter: @EllieLevenson 

Instagram: @ellie_levenson

Amelia Tait

Twitter: @ameliargh 

Website: https://ameliatait.com/

Resources

Museum of brands

https://museumofbrands.com/

Amelia’s bubble bath brand story in The Observer

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/aug/21/whatever-happened-to-novelty-bubble-bath-toys

Ellie’s story on the Lockerbie bombings

https://www.ft.com/content/7c3001fc-9b21-11dd-a653-000077b07658

Amelia on how crips flavours have changed

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/jan/14/so-long-salt-and-vinegar-how-crisp-flavours-went-from-simple-to-sensational

Amelia’s story on pathways

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jun/14/paths-of-desire-lockdown-has-lent-a-new-twist-to-the-unofficial-trails-we-carve

Google trends 

https://trends.google.com/trends/?geo=GB

What commissioning editors want

https://freelancing-for-journalists.captivate.fm/episode/what-commissioning-editors-want

Lily’s article about running fees

https://www.lilycanter.co.uk/lifestyle/runners-world-where-do-my-fees-go/

Freelancing for Journalists newsletter 

https://freelancingforjournalists.substack.com/

Freelance Recommendations:

Joe Zadeh

https://www.noemamag.com/the-tyranny-of-time/

https://www.joezadeh.com/about

Mark Savage 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63074469 

Twitter: @mrdiscopop