I ?met? Caitlin Kelly through the organization we both belong to, the American Society of Journalists and Authors. And I was struck by her commitment to writing ? both as a profession and an art form ? and impressed by her extensive and diverse background. From investigative pieces, personal essays and informational articles, to her recent book, Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail (2011), Caitlin has traveled far and wide (metaphorically speaking) in her goal to bring information and insights to her readers.
So of course I wanted to know how she does it ? and how she handles all the challenges that come with this career choice. And here, in this two-part interview, Caitlin shares her experience and knowledge. (For more about Caitlin, visit her websites at Caitlin Kelly.com, Blown Away by the Book, and Malled, and her Broadside blog.
Tell us a little about yourself.
Caitlin Kelly
I write a variety of stories, from 2,500 word business features for the Sunday New York Times to personal essays to standard magazine stories, like a recent look at current library design, written for the trade magazine of the American Society of Interior Designers. I most love writing long, deeply reported stories with multiple themes and layers, which are difficult assignments to get these days.
I love doing investigative stories that break news, like ?Prescription for Obsession?, [that] I wrote for Chatelaine, a national Canadian women?s magazine, about a horrible side effect of the drug Mirapex, which is prescribed for both restless leg syndrome and Parkinson?s disease ? it can also cause uncontrollable addictions to gambling, shopping and sex due to its effect on brain chemistry. I actually received a letter from a reader whose doctors kept blowing her off until her mother read my story and made sure they took her off those meds. She said my story had saved her life. I can?t imagine anything more satisfying.
I also write for on-line markets, like the story I wrote for aarp.com about my hip replacement in February 2012 or the on-line personal finance column I wrote for five months this year.
I?m happiest writing books, with the huge canvas, up to 100,000 words, to truly explore an issue in depth and breadth. Only then can I get
Malled
to the many subtleties typically ignored or left out of standard media stories. For Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail (2011), I read 10 other books to get a deeper understanding of the issues of low-wage labor.
It is the greatest luxury to have the time, income and outlet to research and think deeply, then try to apply my thinking and analysis to a timely, national issue ? like women and guns, in my first book, Blown Away: American Women and Guns (2004) and low-wage labor in my second.
Do you find it difficult to switch from one writing type to another? What techniques do you use that help you switch ?writing gears??
Not really. I?ve worked for three big daily newspapers, so I start every story and book using the same techniques: What are the story?s main and secondary themes? How do they inter-relate? Who will best express them? How can I best illustrate them? How many interviews do I need and how will I source them? What background material ? books, surveys, polls, white papers, other pieces, film or broadcast material ? do I need? How much assistance will I need; I often hire and use assistants.
Personal essays require a very different voice, whether funny or poignant. Writing Malled was much more challenging than Blown Away, as I blended straight reporting with memoir, and the latter genre was wholly new for me and I?d never formally studied it. I read other writers to see how well they have handled a specific genre, and that helps.
How long have you been writing? When did you first know that you were a writer?
I was winning prizes for my writing starting in seventh grade, through a tough competition at my private school, and again in high school, so I felt confident I had some talent. I wanted to be a journalist from a very early age, maybe 12 or 14, as my mother worked in the field and my father made award-winning documentary films. I grew up around people who made a good living telling compelling stories. It looked like such a great life!
I started freelancing in my sophomore year at the University of Toronto. I started writing for the weekly newspaper there and made sure to produce several long, well-written features I could use as clips to get in to see national magazine and newspaper editors, as Toronto is the publishing capital of Canada. There was a lively magazine industry then, that paid well, and I began getting assignments from some of the biggest players long before I graduated. I had a weekly shopping column in The Globe and Mail when I was still in college.
What was your ?writer dream??your goal? when you began to write? Has it changed over the years?
My goal was to get a staff job at The Globe, then considered (and still today for some) the country?s best newspaper. I was hired there at 26, with no staff newspaper experience. But after 2.5 years, the internal politics were wearying and the wait to get an overseas bureau ? my real goal ? was probably a decade away. I left to go to the Montreal Gazette, to downshift and be able to work in French. Then my goal was to come to New York and work as a journalist, which I did; I got a green card thanks to my American-born mother. Even in my 20s, I wanted to write non-fiction books.
I had always dreamed of becoming a foreign correspondent, but speaking to women who do it showed me what a difficult and lonely life it can be as well as exciting. I love being married and seeing my friends, so I knew that would have been a tough choice. By the time I finally acquired enough experience to compete for those jobs, most foreign bureaus had been shut down anyway.
What is your ?writer dream? now?
My dream now is to keep writing books and doing more paid speaking engagements. I might like to branch out into working on documentary films as well.
What does the act of writing bring into your life? Why do you want to write?
Journalism is an open door to the most extraordinary experiences and people so ? ideally ? I dream up an adventure I want to have, or a story I want to explore and someone will pay me to do that. I want to write to tell amazing stories that haven?t yet been told, or told by a woman or told well or told in depth. I want readers to say: ?I had no idea!? I want readers to feel moved emotionally and think differently about an idea after they?ve read what I?ve written.
What was your favorite childhood book? Is there one that, now as an adult, you read again?
The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. I did try to re-read it recently, but it felt thin. I love all the Winnie the Pooh books, and do enjoy re-reading them; the illustrations are so great.
What type of books do you prefer: non-fiction, fiction, essays, poetry?
Non-fiction. I never read poetry, (which I should), and find much fiction disappointing. I sometimes read essays.
Where do you do most of your reading?
Living room and bedroom. I?ll read a lot more on vacation when I have uninterrupted time.
What book are you reading now?
Voyageur, a book by a British man who decided to replicate a 19th-century journey across Canada in a birch bark voyageur?s canoe. The writing is wonderfully British ?understated.
What book?or author?do you find yourself reading again?
None. There are so many books and I have so little time and attention for them. I want to read so much more than I already have. If I find an author I enjoy, I?ll try their other work, but have often been very disappointed ? like Zadie Smith and Alexandra Fuller. I loved White Teeth and loathed On Beauty; I found Scribbling the Cat (Fuller?s second book) much less interesting.
Who are three of your favorite authors and why?
- Gerald Durrell. He was a British nature writer who ran his own zoo for many years, the younger brother of Lawrence Durrell. His writing about nature was so delicious and descriptive ? and his books about his family so funny. It made me long to write as well as he did.
- Alexandra Fuller. Also British. Her memoir of growing up in Africa, Don?t Lets Go To the Dogs Tonight was a best seller, and searingly honest ? her mother called it ?that awful book.?
- Tom Rachmann. A fellow Canadian and fellow University of Toronto grad. His novel, The Imperfectionists, was simply lovely, in tone, style, content ? also a best seller.
Which three authors would you love to have a ?One on One? with?
Balzac, Thomas Hardy and Ray Bradbury. (Tie with John Cheever.) Sadly, all of these are dead.
Courtesy of James Lipton, host of ?Inside the Actor?s Studio?: what profession other than that of a writer would you like to attempt?
Interior design and/or running my own small housewares shop. I have studied antiques and design and worked in retail. I love making a home pretty and comfortable and am addicted to all things related to interior design ? art, textiles, color, antiques.
~~~~~~~~~~
This ends part one of my interview with Caitlin Kelly. Be sure to come back on February 15 for the second segment, where she shares her experiences writing her two books, Blown Away: American Women and Guns and Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail, as well as her thoughts on writing and success!
Source: http://www.nancychristie.com/oneonone/2013/02/one-on-one-with-writerauthor-caitlin-kelly-part-one/
kindle fire Jenny Johnson olivier martinez ny lottery Ohio Lottery Colorado Lottery Pa Lottery
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন