I am thrilled to work in a job where a great deal of my time is spent writing. And in order to write, I have to interview a fair number of people. So, for this reason (as well as to be in the same room as Charles Cross), I went to Charles R. Cross's How To Write Like I Do workshop on interviewing at 826 Seattle.
Charles Cross is author of seven books, including Led Zeppelin: Shadows Taller Than Our Souls and Heavier Than Heaven, his biography of Kurt Cobain. A writer who knows how to interview people to be sure. http://www.charlesrcross.com/
So here are a few of the tidbits I gleaned from two precious hours under his tutelage.
Prepare
1. Write a wish list of interview subjects. (Cross says his list may be 12 people for a magazine article and 300 people for a book)
2. Do informational interviews to find out "who else to talk to."
3. Make up a matrix of who to talk to when, as in at what point in the writing do you need that critical information or after you have some critical information that you need in order to gain valuable perspective from a particular person
Asking for the interview
1. Don't pay them. Offer to buy them lunch.
2. Make them feel like they are essential to the story being told.
3. Be prepared to do the interview when you make the call to ask for the interview. Have the tape recorder ready to go, questions ready, pen and paper at hand.
4. If they're famous or have done other interviews, read and listen to everything the person has said and don't ask the same questions.
5. If don't reach them, record the date of the call and when to call back. Never give up. Never get mad or take it personally if the person doesn't call back.
During the interview
1. Be friendly, but stay professional at all times. In other words, control the interview. Ask the questions you need to ask.
2. Record the interview.
3. Listen attentively. Never underestimate the power of silence.
4. Ask a question repeatedly in different ways until you get the answer you need. But don't get testy, mad, or defensive.
5. Practice the Columbo technique: act dumb but never act like you know as much as you do, as in don't act like you've never heard it before.
6. If anything is controversial, let the person you are interviewing bring it up.
After the interview
1. Transcribe the interview
2. Go back to people when you find out new information.
3. Choose wisely what you use.
4. Capture the essence of someone's voice.
October 5, 2009 Ron and Don of MyNorthwest.com interview Charles R Cross
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