7pm at The Writers Room
740 Broadway, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10003
Whether you’re writing a nonfiction book, a magazine article, or checking the facts about anything that really matters to your health, home or livelihood, the ability to cultivate and interview sources can be more authoritative than anything you can find on the internet. Getting original information out of experts is key to tapping into the premium fees offered for investigative features and non-fiction book advances.
This class will cover:
- Basic interview manners, charm and protocol
- Discussion of “off” vs. “on” the record
- How to get information out of your sources (even reluctant ones)
- How to get a sense of whether you can rely on the information you get
- Cultivating sources
- In-class practice via role-playing
Instructor: Katherine Wessling has spent more than two decades as a fact checker and reporter. She honed her skills as a researcher at Esquire magazine working with writers such as Tom Wolfe, Jim Harrison, John Berendt, Pete Hamill and Peter Maas. Since then, she has created the research department at Good Housekeeping magazine, been a research editor at O, The Oprah Magazine, gone in-house as a research consultant for Mediabistro and freelanced in the research departments of over a dozen other major national media outlets. As a corporate communications consultant for News Corp., Katherine mined online news sources and blogs daily to create the go-to list for media news. She has also done primary research for playwright Eve Ensler, YA writer and style journalist Veronica Chambers, investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author Vicky Ward, and others.
Date & Time: Tuesday, 19 November 2013; 7-9pm
Cost: Free! Please RSVP here. Although the seminar is free, we would very much appreciate donations. Any amount you can donate goes toward our production costs and helps make our awesome events and workshops even more awesome.
Location:
The Writer’s Room, 740 Broadway, 12th Floor, NYC
The Writers Room has graciously allotted Ideasmyth with a temporary residency in its office space. Ideasmyth appreciates the kindness of those at The Writers Room and asks that you donate whatever money you can to keep writers in NYC thriving. Learn more about The Writers Room and donate: http://ideasmyth.com/the-writers-room/
Ideasmyth is a holistic creative communications, coaching and branding consultancy founded by Victoria C. Rowan whose previous professional lives included founding the multi-million-dollar education division of Mediabistro.com, artistic programming of the greatest living writers for the 92nd Street Y, writing for dozens of publications, websites and public radio including: Time Out NY, New York Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times, The Moscow Times and NPR. Through personalized coaching and workshops, Ideasmyth mentors and supports clients in creating and cultivating their endeavors, increasing their brand exposure and achieving their most important personal and professional life goals. Since 2000, her Independent Project workshops and coaching practice have helped nearly 1,000 writers produce many critically acclaimed books, theater, websites and other multimedia projects.
Ideasmyth is in residency at The Writers Room, New York City’s first shared work space for emerging and established writers of all genres. Founded in 1978 by writers for writers, in this professional workspace creativity flourishes in an atmosphere of mutual support. The Writers Room provides over 200 writers with a quiet, affordable place in which to work. In addition to workspace, the Room offers a reference and research library for the use of its members; seminars and workshops on subjects of interest to writers; readings of members’ works; and community for people working in a solitary profession. In 2012, members published thirty fiction and non-fiction books and many magazine articles, plays & screenplays. Members have written more than 1,000 books since the doors of The Writers Room opened. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
