Art of the Interview Part II: The Interview Itself

One thing I forgot to mention in Part I is to schedule your interview on a Thursday or Friday. People are not as rushed then as they are the first of the week and tend to be more talkative/relaxed.

Use a tape recorder and don't make a big deal about it. When you bring out your tape recorder (or tell them on the phone that you'll be recording the conversation), do it in a casual, business-as-usual kind of way so they don't freak out. I always say, "It's just so I don't have to take notes and can concentrate on what you're saying," which is true and why you should use one. (Note: People aren’t as nervous about tape recorders today as they were right after Richard Nixon was President. He gave tape recorders a very bad rap.)

Whether on the phone or in person, it's a good idea to start with something spontaneous/easy/conversational, just to get them relaxed, like: "So, before we get started, tell me, where did you grow up?" Or "I have to ask how you ever got such an unusual first name…"

Keep your intro short. After a brief set up per above, get right to it. People are busy; they don't have time for a lot of chit-chat.

Have your questions in front of you, and ask them in the same order as those you've e-mailed them ahead of time. This makes it easier for the person and helps with organization later. You can ask anything else you've thought of after you've gone through your list.

Stay in control of the interview. Although a little straying can be OK (and can often yield surprising rewards), it's important that you get everything you need within the allotted time. So if they start going off on too many tangents, gently steer them back on course.

Let them do the talking. Remember, you’re not at a party, so this isn’t about having a good conversion, it’s about getting information. If in the middle of your interview, you respond to something they've said like, "Oh, you went to Notre Dame? My brother graduated from Notre Dame!" it can change the whole tone and get you totally sidetracked.

At the end be sure to ask them if there's anything you haven't covered that they might want mentioned. I usually say something like, "Is there anything else that might be important for our readers to know?"

Re: Follow up

Stay in organized mode. If you realize you've forgotten to ask something, wait until you transcribe your tape before calling the person back. That way, if you have more questions or need further clarification on a point, you won't need to call him/her back a second time.

I supposed I should do a whole thing on the next step -- turning your notes into a story -- but that would take far more energy than I have today, so perhaps another time.

The Art of the Interview: Part I

I have to do a lot of phone interviews in my work, and if you’re going to be any kind of writer (even a novelist), you probably will, too. So I thought I’d share some of my interviewing tips with you -- in two parts, 1) Preparation and 2) the Interview itself. Here’s Part I:

Re: Prep Work

Be prepared. I cannot stress this enough. Have your questions in front of you and your tape recorder handy, even if you're just calling to schedule the interview. I learned this the hard way when I finally reached a busy designer to arrange a time to talk, and he said, "I'm leaving for Europe tomorrow, but I have a half hour right now I could give you…"

Don't worry about being a pest. You will probably have to call a few times before you actually reach the person to schedule the interview, but that’s just part of the job. Contrary to your feelings, you won't be perceived as a stalker. In fact, most people will appreciate your tenacity.

Ask for backup. When you do reach the person, ask if there’s any online or previously published background info s/he could send you ahead of time.

Do your homework. Carefully go through your background material making notes on questions to ask, good points to make, etc.

Listen to yourself on tape before you call the person. I have a little note posted on my phone that says "Yore, Fore, Shoor," because when I first heard myself as I was transcribing an interview tape, I noticed how AWFUL my diction sounded! The words "Yer, fer, shur" jumped out and screamed in my ear. Seeing my note reminds me to speak clearly and distinctly

Listen to Terry Gross (“Fresh Air”) on NPR. I used to think Terry Gross was a terrible interviewer because she never reacted to things people would say. I remember once when she was interviewing Paul McCartney, he sang a little bit of a really beautiful song. Instead of reacting to the song, Terry went right into her next question. Well, now I understand it: she only has so much time and needs to get a lot of questions in. (Side note: I just finished her book, “All I Did Was Ask,” and it was great!)

Re: Your Questions

Never ask a question that can be answered with a "yes" or a "no." This one is so basic I almost hate to include it, but it's so important, I have to. Example: "Why do you think humor is so important to having good mental attitude?" vs. "Do you think humor is important to having good mental attitude?"

Use superlatives/extremes. When asking questions, go for extremes, using terms like most, best, worst, hardest, least favorite: "What's the most rewarding aspect of your job?" Or "What is the best piece of advice you ever received?" This gets them thinking in the right direction.

Ask for their opinion on things, such as, "What do you think is the reason for such and such?" or "From your perspective, what's the most important feature of this new program?"

Include some out of the ordinary questions, something they may never have been asked before such as, “How do you think this ever became a law in the first place?”

E-mail the questions ahead of time. And give them the option of e-mailing back the answers. You may get most of what you need that way, depending how well they do, or at least it will give you a good start.

Write down the scheduled interview time in your calendar, and don’t be a minute late when you call them.

Next week: The interview itself.

Writing as a hobby

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I know I offended some people with my quitcherbellyachin’ piece.

My point was really, if you want to earn a living as a writer, there are lots of ways to do it.
I didn’t mean to imply that writing that you don’t get paid for isn’t real writing. Ohmygod, I would never think that.

I encourage everyone to write. It’s not only a great creative outlet, it’s cathartic; it helps you understand yourself, organize your thoughts, and rid yourself of pent up stress. It’s good for the mind, and it’s good for the soul. It’s as creatively satisfying as painting, sculpting or any other kind of art. The only difference is you can’t sell it at a craft show or hang it on your wall. So you put it in a box and shove it in a closet.

Most writers probably start out as hobbyists, myself included. I guess the thing that bothers me is how everyone equates “real” writing with getting published. When people ask me what I do for a living and I tell them, the first thing they say is, “Oh, really! Have you been published?” And I want to say, “Yeah, about a million times – have you seen that billboard on U.S. 131 about banking at UNC bank? That’s mine!”

Of course, blogging and MySpace type sites have created a whole new wave of writers, but that’s worth its own discussion some other time. My only mission today was to explain my last posting a little more.

And now I’m off to California for another writing job – one that won’t get published but will pay well. Adios.

Quitchyerbellyachin’

I’ve checked out some other writers’ blogs and I see a lot of people sitting around bellyaching about not “getting published.” Well, what the hell is that all about? If you want to be a writer, get out there and do it!

To me, writing is not the thrill of seeing my name in print, or the hope of becoming famous some day, or having my words live on in posterity. It’s about making the house payment. I mean, if you’re going to go through all the agony and ecstasy of writing, don’t you want to get paid for it?

Because even if you do “get published,” or even write a book, it’s pretty hard to make a living at that kind of writing. If you really want to earn an income as a writer, you have to go where the money is. And you won’t find it in literary magazines.

Today there are more opportunities than ever for freelance writers – the web, PR and ad agencies, corporate communications and marketing departments, newsletters, newspapers, regional magazines, non-profits organizations, even radio stations.

Writing for others can improve your own writing, too. Working on features for newspapers or magazines helps you hone your editing and dialogue skills for short stories and novels. Want to write screenplays? Try doing a thirty-second TV spot. It’s the same thing, only shorter.

Of course, the problem is, once you start earning a living as a writer, sometimes it’s hard to find the time, or desire, to get back to the stuff you really want to do. That’s kind of what happened to me. After sitting at a computer all day, it’s the last place I want to be when I’m not working.

It’s like I asked a young gal who’s a medical researcher but says she wants to try writing: Do you want to be a writer or just write as a hobby? There’s a big difference.

The really lucky people are those who have somebody else supporting them while they pursue their writing. They’re the ones I’m a little jealous of.

I keep saying, when I move into the retirement home, I’ll finally get to do the kind of writing I’ve always wanted to do but nobody would pay me to do: Personal Essays. I mean, who’s gonna pay me to write a thing on how jet skis contribute to noise pollution on our lake or what a wonderful little community radio station WYCE is?

So I continue to write newsletters, brochures, web profiles and all the rest to keep food on my table and the wolf from my door.

(Note: In the near future I’ll be writing more specifically about the pros and cons of each of the for-profit writing opportunities mentioned above. So if you’re interested, stay tuned.)