Class notes from Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012

Here are my class notes from Tuesday night, Oct. 9, 2012

The most important aspect of this class is that it gives you the nudge, the excuse, the necessity to write on a regular basis. The second most important thing you will take away from this class is the feedback you will get on your writing. You’ll get lots of editing from me, but just as important is the critiques you will get from your classmate. They won’t all agree, we hope they will be civil and I know they will be valuable. You have an audience. Listen to what it tells you.

            Also, starting on Tuesday, Oct. 23, I will be available for individual meetings with you, probably in the HUB, before this class meets. There is a calendar on the web site that I hope you can use to sign up for these voluntary sessions.

            Class anthology. http://www.blurb.com/user/Viatorium 
            The meeting about the anthology is Dec. 4, which is when you will meet Jessica Murphy, who teaches Winter and Spring quarters of this class.

            The books:
            “On Writing Well” by William Zinsser. For the purposes of this class, I skip the chapters on specific writing categories (science, business, sports, etc.) but I encourage you to read them.
            “The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride” by Daniel James Brown. The author will talk to us on Nov. 13 about this book and the proposal he wrote for selling his next book (coming soon) and the film rights.
            “Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer” by Roy Peter Clark. We will do these exercises each week, and if you want to hear directly from the author, I highly recommend this 

 


Roy Peter Clark is a very entertaining and effective writing instructor. Jaqui is a Pultizer winner and a great teacher. Ken Armstrong, another Pulitzer winner, is a skilled researcher and clear writer as well as a helluva nice guy. This is well worth the money and a day at the Seattle Library.

Let’s talk about interviewing:

From “The Craft of Interviewing” by John Brady:
“Interviewing is the modest, immediate science of gaining trust, then gaining information.”

“Above all: ask. Pursue the blind alleys; voice your human – as well as professional – curiosities. Ask intriguing, innumerable questions, with enthusiasm and only civil restraint. In the end, interviewing is less a technique than an instinct. An interview is simply a lively and thoughtful conversation. The more life and thought you invest in your questions, the more answers you’ll get.”

Decide whom to interview
Find experts on your subject; use them to find others.
You can write about anything if you know the right people to talk to and the right question to ask.

            Getting the interview
Call, e-mail, write. Be persistent
Don’t lie to get an interview; don’t pay (does that still apply?)
Ground rules: Set a time for the interview, expected length of time, a place, all at their convenience
Even when you call to set up the interview, it should be obvious you are informed and interested. That is because you have prepared for the interview . . .

Preparing for the interview

Read, read, read. Do other interviews first. Don’t show up as an ignoramus. 10 minutes prep for each minute of interviewing? That’s what the book recommends, but it’s more than I usually do.

Conducting the interview

Consider doing an interview outline, but be ready and willing to depart from it.

Another option: Write out your questions

Novice vs. an experienced interviewee. Treat the newbie with kindness.

Everyone spells their name to you. That’s when the novice realizes this may get published (and why you do it at the end of the interview), and that’s when you make sure you are being accurate. Their title, too.

To tape or not? I use it as a safety net. Don’t over-rely on it.

If you only have time for one question, what is it?

If you get more time, do you have questions to ask?

Ease into the uncomfortable questions

Bring a camera to remember what she wore, what the office looked like, what pictures on wall, etc. Don’t waste note-taking on that.

Arrange for follow up questions.

Also give them this opportunity: “And if you think of anything you’d like to add . . .”

After the interview

ASAP, go fill in your notes

Transcribe or mark your recording (“1:42 on tape he talks about when his dog ate his homework.”)

Type up your notes, file them with time and place so that you can easily retrieve specific information in them (Spreadsheet? Great for longer projects – ask Cheryl about hers.)

Follow-up
Send a thank-you, if appropriate. A politician who has been interviewed a thousand times won’t expect it, but someone who held the key to getting your story done, might.
Additional questions (you made arrangements for this, right?)
E-mail copies of published stories to people you interviewed (I don’t let interviewees preview what I am writing with a couple of exceptions: highly technical info, very complicated timelines or other such circumstances. Even then, I don’t send the entire story, just their part or the part I am worried about getting right). I have e-mailed to people who turned me down for interviews to let them know what they are missing.