MineZone Wiki

Notes on Treasury of Tips for Writers edited by Marvin Weisbord

Interviewing

1. interview for opinions, not facts
2. catch your subject at leisure
3. ask magazine to send a one-sentence note assigning you the story (to use to convince interviewees)
4. when seeking anecdotes and color, interview a group of people at once
5. edit while the subject talks
6. for depth interviews, go back several times
7. to see a celebrity, ask their friends
8. close the notebook and then listen for the best material
9. prepare questions, but let the subject talk
10. for reluctant interviewees, let them know that they'll have a chance to tell their side of the story
11. ask your subject to describe a typical day
12. research the subject and be prepared to chit-chat to get the ball rolling
13. when doing investigative reporting ask for exactly what you need and nothing that you don't
14. write down controversial remarks once the subject has moved onto a new topic
15. show sympathy, approval, and warmth
16. to pry without offending, say "If you'll allow me to be the devil's advocate. . ."
17. provocative questions
    1. What person influenced you most?
    2. What book, if any?
    3. What do you believe about people--can they be changed for better or worse?
    4. What do you do for relaxation?
    5. What was your greatest opportunity?

General

• leave of mid-sentence when you know where you're headed, to be able to pick up easily the next day
• show the piece to a "test audience" before submitting
• generate sample headlines to spur writing
• what gets cut out of an article may be salable elsewhere
• imagine how you would start telling a friend about the story, in order to generate the lead
• use "tk" (to come) to fill in gaps where you need to research or come back to
• check all long direct quotes with the source
• organize story ideas into
  • ideas to query
  • queries out
  • in research
  • in writing
  • manuscripts out
  • due