I’ve never wanted to be a teacher.
My mother taught special education for 35 years, bless her. My husband, a former newspaper editor, teaches college classes.
He’s always grading papers. Last week, when his back went out, he lay propped up on the couch with the heating pad on his back, and the cat, his red pen and a folder of students’ stories on his lap.
But when I was invited to talk to a University of Central Arkansas journalism class on nonfiction writing, I said yes. I like the teacher, and I like the subject.
I’ve been writing for newspapers for 35 years, plus I wrote in my college journalism classes, so I figured I’d share what I’ve learned.
Specifically, the students in the class are about to embark on writing personality features. I’ve done thousands of them in my career.
Here are what I called Tammy’s Tips for Feature Writing:
1) A good feature might be found anywhere — talk to people, ask questions, read. Example: I did a feature on Rick Henry after he came to my garage sale, and I commented on his calm voice and asked what he did for a living. He’s a funeral director. I loved that interview. I also found out he collects funeral fans.
2) When you’re interviewing someone, observe! Look at what they’re wearing, plaques/awards in their office or home, collections, photos, etc.
Example: When I interviewed banker Shawn Rea, I glimpsed a tattoo under his watch. I asked about it, and his tattoos became the beginning and ending of the feature.
Also, when I interviewed UCA President Houston Davis right after he was hired, I asked what award he had received meant the most to him. He said the Dave Thomas Integrity Award, named for the founder of Wendy’s, who has a foundation for adoption. I asked Davis why, and he said it is given to a male and female who were adopted from Agape of Nashville, Tennessee. That’s how I found out Davis was adopted. I was the first reporter in this area to have that information.
3) Don’t be afraid to ask any question. The subject can refuse to answer, but they rarely do, in my experience.
Example: When I interviewed Jeremy Crabb, a former UCA police officer, about entering the AIDS LifeCycle Race in California, an HIV/AIDS charity event, one of my first questions was, “Readers will want to know — are you gay?” He is. Then I asked, “Are you HIV positive?” He isn’t.
4) Write down questions that you have, but don’t be afraid to stray from them. Sometimes the interview takes you in a whole different direction than you expected.
Example: I was doing a story on a preacher at a new church. He mentioned he’d been in prison, and I asked for what.
Murder. That story took a bit of a turn.
5) Show, don’t tell. Give examples. If you’re interviewing a law enforcement officer, ask him what his biggest case was. Was he ever scared he was going to die? Let your subjects tell you their stories.
6) Don’t quote mundane information. There is nothing interesting when someone says, “I graduated from UCA in 1985.” You can just include that fact without a quote.
7) Call back if you’re unclear. Sometimes I call an interview subject back five or six times — or more! They will appreciate your effort to get it right. I always ask for the person’s cellphone number, “in case I have questions.”
8) A good feature needs multiple sources. Call the person’s co-worker, mentor, mother. It helps get perspective on the person’s personality and can yield great information and quotes.
9) I always write three or four leads (that’s the first paragraph in journalism lingo) before I pick one. Experiment with them.
10) Write like nobody is standing over your shoulder. You can go back and edit. As a great editor (my husband) always says, “Make it live!”
Several of the students asked really good questions. One took notes. I left business cards and my list of tips.
I hope maybe something I said made a difference to at least one of them. That’s what I try to do every day as a reporter — help people understand or learn about an issue, program, business or event, or get to know a person in their community better.
Maybe I do have just a tad of a teacher in me after all.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.