We wanted to get to know Ruth Thaler-Carter (NAIWE’s Networking Expert) better, so last month we sat down with her. Here is what she shared with us.

What do new and existing writing businesses have in common?

New and existing writing businesses probably share a common goal: for the owner’s words, thoughts, and perspectives to find an audience and outlet. Their owners might be at different stages of creativity, visibility, or success, but every writer wants—even needs—to be seen and heard.

Please explain why all writing is not business material.

A lot of writing isn’t oriented to business use, starting with poetry, fiction, plays, and memoir, even though a writing business can be about getting non-business material out into the world. Where the concept of a “business” comes into play is in applying business-like principles to getting the work done, finding agents and outlets for the work, responding to editing and proofreading input, getting paid, and related details.

Do audiences and readers carry the same weight in writing businesses?

Readers are audiences! Whether someone is writing a novel or a press release, a poem or a white paper, a play or a case study, a how-to book or a personal blog post, we all want what we write to be seen and appreciated. Clients might be more demanding than readers, but every audience or reader matters. We want everyone who sees our writing to understand it, respond to it positively by publishing reviews or acting on it somehow, recommending it to others, and reading or buying the next piece we write.

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Starting a writing business is exciting and challenging. Writing is a creative act. Having a writing business is a practical process. Get some practical, effective tips from a long-time, award-winning freelance writer/editor in this session. Learn about types of writing that can be the basis of a business; getting experience; finding outlets, audiences, readers and clients; avoiding scams; and more. Whether you want to write and publish books or articles, fiction or nonfiction, this session will get your writing business off to a strong start (and enhance an existing one).

You can join in this conversation on May 20, at 7 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on giving your writing business a strong start. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Non-members can join for $30. Register today!

We wanted to get to know Kristen Fischer (NAIWE’s Journalism Expert) better, so last month we sat down with her. Here is what she shared with us.

What types of questions add to the story?

Personally, I approach every story as if another outlet is covering it, because that’s likely happening. I’m always on the lookout for a different quote or a different angle to explore in addition to that main news. For me, questions that add to a story go beyond the who-what-when-where-why. Depending on the story, the type of story (say, feature versus exclusive breaking news), and the audience, questions that add to the story always dig a little deeper. And you have to do so in a way that doesn’t cause the source to clam up, so you have to build that objectivity and trust, and avoid being accusatory. That’s why I often go beyond the “why do” to “why don’t” types of questions. That prompts the source to give you more information and really explain it in a way that gives the reader the whole picture. It’s hard to give a specific question, but I believe that by being aware of the different kinds of questions we can ask, it will give reporters an edge.

What are some types of open-ended questions?

I like to ask “what does that look like” to get the source defining what we can expect–other than “we’ll see” or “it’ll be good or bad.” It forces them to give more detail. Then if they do, you can go from there with any additional questions. I also like to ask sources to explain something to me like a layperson if something is confusing, so they explain things and both I and the reader understand the point they are trying to convey. I like to ask “what’s next” in certain cases so the source may speculate on the implications of a news development–that’s the kind of digging that takes my story a step further and sets it apart from the competition. I rarely ask a yes/no question.

Is there a situation when a yes-or-no question works best?

Yes, definitely. Though I rarely ask them (or rarely only ask a yes-or-no question), these questions are great when you want a source’s stance on something and they are not being clear. Make your question clear and you may get that yes-or-no answer that in many cases gets a source to go on the record with their stance on something. Otherwise, yes-or-no questions don’t lead into much of a response. There’s definitely a type of story that they are imperative, and in other stories, they’re not as relevant. You have to know when to ask a yes-or-no question, in terms of thinking of the primary objective of your article. If it’s to get a lawmaker to state their stance on something, it certainly fits. But I think we owe it to readers to go beyond that and understand the sources reasoning for that response as well.

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Journalists have to guide an interview, and how they do it can make or break a story. In this webinar, we’ll explore different tactics for asking questions that receive more open responses, and produce better sound bites. Come prepared with one example of a great question you’ve asked in the past, and one that you thought was great yet fell flat.

You can join in this conversation on April 14, at 10 am eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on asking better interview questions. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Non-members can join for $30. Register today!