Freelance journalist Ben Frain Why did you choose to become a freelancer?
I started freelance and I loved if from the off. It gave me the opportunity to write about the topics that interested me for the publications I liked.
If you trained, where? If not, how did you become a freelancer?
My degree was in media but the filmmaking side of things. My path to freelancing is therefore unorthodox: I'd made a short film around the time that digital video editing was just being adopted and I wanted to share my experience with others. I sent the idea to the editor of a relevant magazine, which he liked and it was published. I just learnt 'on the job' from there.
Do you specialise in any particular field and what areas do you write about?
Although I personally love writing about all sorts of things, my expertise is technology: Personal computing, Phones, Mac, iOS, GPS, imaging systems, Web design and technologies (the subject of my first book 'Responsive web design with HTML5 and CSS3') as well as aviation technologies such as inflight entertainment devices and media distribution.
Which publications have you been published in?
MacUser, Macworld, Computer Active, The Guardian, In Flight Entertainment, APEX, Digital Arts, Which as well as writing a training script for Marks and Spencer.
Which articles, in which publication, are you the most proud of?
I wrote a piece on HTML5 for MacUser before people really knew (or cared) much about HTML5. I also like a piece I did recently on the Android platform in the aviation industry for APEX. There was a lot of input from industry insiders and tying it all up was a tough but satisfying job
What are the best and worst aspects of freelancing?
Cash flow is really difficult. If you don't get used to that fast you can always feel broke (even if on paper you're not) and it's always a disappointment when publications cease but thankfully, in my experience, that's rare. The best thing is that, as long as you work hard, you get to find out and write about anything that interests you, at whatever time of day or night suits, and get paid for it. You also get to connect with people in industries, locations and walks of life completely alien to your own. It's like being Michael Palin but from the comfort of an office and without the dysentery.
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