What one person have you always wanted to speak to, looked up to or most admired? If you could ask them five or six questions, what would they be? Does asking them those questions seem impossible? It’s not. As a writer, you can use your “journalistic” powers to meet almost anyone. This is the part of my life as a journalist I’ve enjoyed most. Here’s how it works.
- Write down the questions you want to ask the person you admire.
- Use an Internet search engine, like Google, to local the person and find out how to contact them.
- Send the person an email, a letter or place a call to them. Contact his or her publicist, if really necessary. Be sure to mention how much you admire then and to ask for permission to ask your questions and to publish the answers. If you know where you will publish the story, mention this as well. Mention if you will do this in person or by phone or with an emailed Q & A.
- After they respond, set up the interview, conduct it (tape it as well), then write a short article, blog post or essay about it–and get it published.
Voila! Your dream has come true. Journalistic or writer’s privileges come in quite handy some times.
[…] like to approach a potential interviewee in writing. It gives them time to respond so they don’t feel caught off guard. It also gives them […]