Freelancer in Focus for April 2008 - Ronne Randall

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Address: Nottingham Email: ronnerandall@aol.com Telephone: 0781 386 9704 Area of Expertise: Writing, Americanization, Anglicization

Description How have you found working freelance? What are the highs and lows, the frustrations and the bonuses? I have been working as a freelancer since 1993, and I have not had one moment’s regret at making the change. I love the flexibility – it is wonderful to be able to choose what I want to work on (and reject what I don’t), and to be able to make my own hours. And of course the comfort of working from home is fantastic. Even now, after 15 years, when I wake up on a foggy, icy winter morning and realize that my “commute” is only across the landing to my office (instead of the 20-mile drive I used to make across sometimes difficult roads), I rejoice. Of course, there are disadvantages: some clients take ages to pay, and cash flow can become a problem; it’s usually a “feast or famine” situation, and I have had periods where I’ve been convinced I’d never get another assignment (fortunately, the fears have always been groundless, and I often have to turn work down); and I sometimes miss the camaraderie you can only have with workmates in an office situation. Also, you are often at the mercy of other people’s schedules – and schedule crises – which can have a knock-on effect if you are working for more than one client at a time (as I nearly always am). But the pluses far outweigh the minuses. I would never, ever go back to being employed. Has being a member of Freelancers In The UK helped you? We’d like to think so but how? Yes, in more ways than one. I have got work through the website, and made contacts I would not have otherwise, including potential clients who may well become actual clients in the future. Checking out the listings at “Projects and People” also helps me feel more in touch with what’s going on out there, and helped expand my horizons. I think the website is brilliant. What are the biggest challenges for you for the rest of 2008? A major one will be juggling schedules and finessing my workload even more than usual. I’m hoping to take a month-long break in New York later in the year, at a time when I’m normally really busy. It means I’ll have to be careful to take on projects I can finish before I go, but not leave myself without work for too long a time. I’m planning to reassess my overall workload for the long term as well, as I’d like to devote more time to my own writing – I do lots of writing on commission, but I have my own files full of half-developed ideas and stories I’ve started but not finished. I’ve neglected them for far too long Who’s your favourite author and why? My favourite author is Ann Tyler, who writes the kind of novels I wish I could. Her ability to develop characters who feel like people you know, and crafting intriguing stories based on seemingly ordinary lives – and doing it all with great compassion, warmth, and enormous skill – make me admire her immensely. I have read almost everything she’s written, and enjoyed it all. I am hoping there will be a new novel soon.