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Mary
Rosenblum
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Hello all!
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Welcome to
our Friday After Hours Forum.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I hope you've
all had a very good week and are enjoying the first week of official fall.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I wanted to
talk about the art of the interview tonight, because interviewing is a big
part of writing, whether you do fiction or non.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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In the
nonfiction arena it is hugely important. You don't have to have any
expertise at all...you can interview an expert as the main source for an
article.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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And editors
do want original source material...if you are not an expert you need to
find one.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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They don't
pay you to do research on the internet or in books that their readers could
do as well.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I get
interviewed pretty regularly, either via email, by phone, or in person.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Most have
been good, but some are pretty bad...I usually try to help out a bit. :-)
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Mary
Rosenblum
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It's easy as
a novice to sort of waste your time and that of your interviewers if you
don't do some prep work.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Let's say
you're writing a murder mystery and you need information about how a
detective handles a murder case.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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You get hold
of a detective from your local police department. He's busy, brusque, but
he'll meet you for lunch for an hour.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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So you go. By
the time you meet and greet, order, and get food, you've only got say forty
minutes or less left.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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So you start.
So...how do you investigate a murder.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Blat!
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Not a good
start.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Do your
homework. You can find books out there that will give you all the basics of
how a murder is investigated in general.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Answer all
the questions you can with the available research. Now take the questions
to a new level.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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When you
investigate a murder, is there a lot of time pressure?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Thinking
about what you need to know for your mystery, you ask the quesitons that
your previous research hasn't answered.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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What is it
like in the morning when you come in? Do you guys all kid around like on
the TV cop shows?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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You only have
a limited time. Make use of it to get information you cant' find on your
own.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Same thing if
you interview someone for a NF piece.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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What is your
piece about? What is the slant? Now go do research on the subject and on
the interviewee if you can find public information on this person.
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pook
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Is it ok to
tape record?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Always tape
record if you can.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Unless you
can do shorthand, your notes are going to be hard to read as soon as you
forget the actual interview.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Even if
someone feels self conscious at first, if you set the recorder out of
direct eye path -- off to the side -- most people will pay attention
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Mary
Rosenblum
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to your face
and forget about the recorder pretty quickly. Make sure your recorder has a
good mic to pick up voice at a distance.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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If you can't
use a recorder for some reason it is imperative to transcribe those notes
immediately into coherent sentences. :-0
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Mary
Rosenblum
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When I've run
across old field notes tucked away in files, I can't make ANY sense of
them. Of course I transcribed them at the time. But now...not a clue.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Hand written
notes mostly jog your memory. Once the memory is gone, they're pretty
useless unless you do shorthand and are very good at fast writing. AND...
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Mary
Rosenblum
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if you're
writing you can't make eye contact and engage your subject.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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You get the
BEST interviews when the interviewee forgets that it's an interview and
starts talking to YOU.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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If you're
writing you constantly remind the person that this is an interview and
they're much more formal.
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k c morlock
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Serious Q- who
buys the lunch?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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You ALWAYS
buy lunch.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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And let the
interviewee pick the place or if you pick, take that person to a nice and
quiet restaurant.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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This person
is doing you a HUGE favor. And they're not getting paid for this generally.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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But if that
person picks a sports bar with six TVs gently see if you can steer him to a
nice quiet steak house where you don't have to shout.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Go to an
interview with an agenda.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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You should
know what you want to cover in your article before you do the interview.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Know your
audience, your slant.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Now you can
make sure to ask the questions that you'll need to answer for your article.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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But
remember...any topic can net you three or more published articles. Don't be
afraid to chase a tangent.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Say you're
talking with a zookeeper about her job. You're writing for a women's
magazine and the focus of the piece is women in male-dominated careers.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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But as you
chat, she starts talking about wolves and how she volunteers her vacation
time at a wolf rehab shelter out on the Olympic penninsula and how she
raises money for the shelter to feed the wolves.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Wow...here's
another piece you could write! Might sell it to the dog magazines, wildlife
mags, or even outdoor mags.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Follow that
thread!
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Get lots of
facts, contact info for the shelter (that's another interview and article
right there) and everything you can squeeze out of her about her time spent
with wolves.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Now, for the
price of that lunch you have the original piece on a woman in a
male-dominated career, another piece about this woman's devotion to wolf
rescue and maybe another piece about this shelter.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Think on your
feet. :-) And when your interviewee gets enthused, follow that thread. :-)
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cpoetseye1
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Do I try my
best to keep the person talking?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Absolutely.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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If you sit
there and wait for this person to tell you everything, you may well end up
staring at each other silently for an hour.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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This is why
you want to come prepared with questions you need to ask.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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The answers
may suggest new questions, as with our zoo keeper. But come with a list of
questions that pertain to the article you want to write.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Especially
when you're new at this, you will in all likelihood suffer a complete
mental blank slate as soon as you sit down. :-)
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Happened to
me. After that, I learned to have those questions in my notebook.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I still have
questions listed when I start to interview someone. I'll usually take off
at a tangent, but I have those questions to fall back on if that person and
I don't hit it off .
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charie'
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Prepare
questions that can't be answered "Yes" or "No"
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Yes, that's a
good idea, although you may have some yes/no questions to answer. :-)
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I did answer
this Kolanda. It's better to use a tape recorder so that you don't have to
keep scribbling. That way, your interviewee can forget it's an interview
and talk to you.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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If you can
get that person to talk to YOU as a person, in a conversation, you'll get
much more information.
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kolanda
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This may have
been addressed already, I was late tonight. Do you write the notes by hand
or take along a small tape recorder?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Oops, sorry.
That was the question I was answering. :-)
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cpoetseye1
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Being a good
people person helps a lot, right?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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It does
indeed, poetseye.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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If you can
make your questions conversational rather than reading from a formal and
stiff list, you can get that person talking
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Mary
Rosenblum
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and they'll
usually volunteer WAY more than you ask.
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rae
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Can it be done
only in writing? I have a speech problem
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Absolutely.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Whle you can
establish a nice rapport in person, it doesn't always happen. And if you
send an email list of questions to a subject that person
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Mary
Rosenblum
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now has lots
of time to think about his/her answer. You get less spontenaiety but you
may get more coherent answers.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I prefer a
personal interview because I have good people skills and most of the time
I'm able to create a rapport and get someone talking.
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kolanda
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Do you ever run
into a real "dud", you just have to pull the information out?
What is the best thing to do when that happens?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Oh, I
certainly do have the occasional dud. :-) When I do the LR interviews those
misfires really make me sweat in order to keep it interesting.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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And sometimes
you and the person just rub each other the wrong way.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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This is where
your list of questions really is invaluable.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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You get
through them as politely and positively as you can, you say thank you, pay
the lunch bill and depart.
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k c morlock
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Are we
obligated to let the person approve our work?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Not at all.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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It's entirely
up to you.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I don't offer
to let someone look at what I'll write.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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If someone is
uneasy about what might show up in print and asks to see the article before
it goes in, I'll agree.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Most of my
interviewing is for works of fiction. I generally offer the person an aknowlegement
in the book and a copy when it's published.
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geezer
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Seems it might
be good to submit Q by e-mail and then do the live interview. He'd have
time to think and also be spontaneous.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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You could do
that. It's extra time for your interviewee though.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Many people
are reluctant to agree to an interview because they're busy.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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To be honest,
I would rather not send a subject my questions ahead of time.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I get some
very interesting responsis at times when a subject reacts spontaneously to
a question. :-)
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Mary
Rosenblum
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You get some
nice 'between the lines' insights.
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destiny8
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It's a good way
to check your facts, though. Isn't it
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destiny8
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To let him/her
read what you wrote
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Absolutely. I
do recheck facts if I'm at all uncertain about something in my notes.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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But if you
have that tape recording you have a good reference you can go back and
check. The hand written notes are where you can end up unsure.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I did a LONG
interview with a former CIA operative, a co-worker of James Tiptree/Alice
Sheldon and even though I thought I was being SO clear
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I had to
recheck a ton of dates and details.
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kolanda
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Is there a
beginning, middle and end in an interview and what happens if you are
running out of time and you are still at the beginning?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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That can sure
happen, Kolanda.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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When you
organize your questions, list the 'must answer' questions first, then the 'background'
questions
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Mary
Rosenblum
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that would be
nice to have answers to, but are not critical.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Some people
are on a strict schedule, others are happy to spend an extra fifteen
minutes or so and chat.
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cpoetseye1
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Should I
routinely speak well of the person to relax them
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, yeah.
:-) If you have done your homework and you can comment on this person's
career, body of work, whatever, that person is going to feel flattered
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Mary
Rosenblum
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that you took
the time to pay attention to him/her and will relax generally and be more
forthcoming.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Use your
conversational skills to make it pleasant and friendly.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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And it won't
always work.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Sometimes you
just get someone who is wary, not talkative, who will answer only what you
ask and as briefly as possible.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Get what you
can, say thank you very politely, and depart.
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rae
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Is it better to
have one long interview or a couple of short ones?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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IF you can do
it, an initial interview and then a follow up to patch any 'holes' in your
information is best
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Mary
Rosenblum
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but
remember...this person is taking time from his/her life to do this for you.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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This is our
After Hours Forum, with me, Mary Rosenblum , your web editor I've published
eight novels, more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any
questions you have. We're talking about interviewing tonight. If you're new
here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the
'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in
order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can
use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works
better for you..
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Try using
/ask KC
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k c morlock
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How do you end
an interview quickly when you discover the other person has an agenda?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Just end it
politely. Well, that was very interesting. Thank you so much for your time.
I really enjoyed chatting with you.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Hey, if you
carry a cell phone, you can always act as if it's set on vibrate, glance at
the face plate and say 'Oh, there's my next appointment. I've got to run,
but I really appreciate the great information you shared with me.
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cpoetseye1
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If the person
has become a friend, it's the road to success?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I"m not
quite sure what you mean, poet. :-) But sometimes you do make new friends.
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bud
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Mary, aren't we
all interviewing you right now/
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Well, an
interview is usually one person asking the questions with a particular
agenda. So I guess you could say that you're all in the process of
interviewing me. :-)
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kolanda
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Years ago I had
a short community radio talk show and that is a place where you really
learn to be prepared as you have a set time and usually a topic. Do you
think listening to radio or watching TV interviews would be helpful.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Absolutely. I
routinely listen to Terry Gross's interviews on NPR in the
evenings...'Fresh Air'. I have a lot of fun analyzing them.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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She's an
excellent interviewer and you can compare the interviews where she and the
interviewee have hit it off
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Mary
Rosenblum
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with the ones
that are very formal with the ones where the interviewee is prickly or
downright hostile.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I've listened
to her go to her list of questions once or twice. :-) Doesn't happen very
often, but occasionally.
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geezer
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If you can get
the Hugh Hewitt Show on radio, he is the very best interviewer I have ever
heard.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Some of the high
profile interviews are very agressive and combative and are designed to be
so. That is not a particularly good way to get information from someone.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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These are
done that way FOR the tension and combativeness. That is the draw.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Generally you
will get a LOT more information from someone by NOT
being confrontational or asking direct questions
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Mary
Rosenblum
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that reveal
your agenda if your agenda runs counter to this person's.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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It is much more
difficult to effectively interview someone you don't agree with or don't
like personally.
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kolanda
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Do you find it
hard to bring the focus back when the interview gets off topic, what is the
best way to do that without offending?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I don't, but
that's simply a skill like roller skating. The more you work at it, the
less often you fall on your butt.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'm much
better at interviewing than I was ten years ago, that's for sure. :-)
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Generally you
can see a path to get from this topic back to your desired topic. :-)
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I always have
an agenda when I do the LR interviews.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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That's why I
take questions out of order.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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And some of
my guests are better at staying on topic than others.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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The more
preparation time you put into an interview, the more you will get out of
it.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Google
everybody. You never know what will pop up.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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If they have
a website, check it out.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Find out all
you can about their job so that you don't waste time on questions you could
have answered for yourself.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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rapidwrites
asked: How do you know the best question to ask an interviewee?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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You have to
know first and foremost what you need. What are you gonig to do with that
information?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Knowing what
you need to find out dictates those questions.
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kolanda
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did you ever
feel intiminated by someone you are interviewing because of who they are --
example former CIA...or is that something only us novices
would feel
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Oh gosh, I
felt intimidated by EVERYBODY at first. Especially Sheriffs Department
folk. And a DEQ agent. Talk about paranoid! Whew! But once these folk
decided I really was what I said I was, some of 'em were a great source and
a lot of fun to chat with.
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rae
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Is it okay to reinterview
someone you have already interviewed?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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If that
person has time.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Remember THEY
are doing YOU the favor.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Don't ask for
too much, be polite, and be very grateful. They could say no.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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If I walk
into a Sheriff's department and ask for an appointment with someone to get
some research material, I ask for fifteen minutes and you better believe I
have my questions ready.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Sometimes I'm
there an hour if the officer isn't busy and we hit it off.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Sometimes I'm
out the door in fifteen minutes.
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kolanda
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Do you find
that certain personality types make better interviewers than others?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Sure. Just as
some people are easier to talk to than others. If you are flexible, you can
be genuinely interested in your subject and convey that with your body
language, you'll get better results
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Mary
Rosenblum
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most of the
time.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I do body
language, facial expression, and tone of voice very consciously.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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But if you're
naturally outgoing and friendly you'll do better than someone who is stiff
and formal and not terribly articulate.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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You'll do
better than someone with very dominant and threatening body language most
of the time.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Make it a
conversation but be sure to get your questions answered.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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try typing
/ask in your regular send bar, then your question, rae.
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rae
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Because of my
physical limitations, would it be better for
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rae
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me to have
someone else do the interview?
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Mary
Rosenblum
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It could be.
Or maybe not. A lot of it depends on you and how comfortable you are with
your subject.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Well, this
has been an interesting topic.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I'll
certainly come back to it again.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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A few quotes
from an expert are a great way to get some of those short articles
published.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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And
interviewing experts is a great way to end up selling feature articles.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Try
interviewing friends. It's not a bad thing to practice.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Thanks for
coming tonight. :-)
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I'll post the
transcripts in the usual place: Writing Craft: Forum Transcripts
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I'll see you
all on Sunday for our casual chat.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I should be
back for it...I'll be at a dog show down in Corvallis but it should end early.
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Mary
Rosenblum
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Thanks for
coming all!
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Mary
Rosenblum
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I'll see you
on Sunday!
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