This Writing Life--Mark Terry

June 7, 2005
Well, it happened again today. I've got an assignment to write about various aspects of microfluidics (say what?), and so I called several people to set up interviews on the subject. One of the guys said, "Oh, you want to talk now?" Normally I say, "No." And set up an interview time later so I can prepare. However, this article has a tight deadline due to an editor changeover at the publication, further complicated by my going out of town next week for a business trip and the fact that my vacation coincides with the week prior to the deadline. In other words, big article, big money, a total of 4 weeks to do the article, and one of those weeks is going to be a mess. So I said, "Okay."

This is not a good idea. I've done it before, and it's probably good practice. Learn to listen, be up front that you might have to ask for more background than if you had a chance to research it, and for god sakes, write down questions on a pad in front of you as they occur to you. Sometimes it's a disaster. Today wasn't bad. I told the guy I would have preferred to research it a bit first, but he told me he would be glad to fill in any gaps. And he did, more than I probably needed.

It also gets me a leg up on the article, which I needed even more. Microfluidics? Microfluidics is to biochemistry, genomics and proteomics, what microchips are to electronics and computers. Miniaturized ways of moving fluids. In this case I was interviewing about integrated fluid circuits, though I intend to look at non-viral gene delivery and field amplified sample stacking. Clears things right up, doesn't it? Well, I don't know much more than you, but I will by the time I'm ready to write the article. I call it Plumbing the Depth of my Ignorance, and when I write high-tech, it's a big part of what I do. I don't says, "I don't know anything about that; I can't write about it." I say, "I guess I'd better learn. I'm a reasonably smart guy. I should be able to get them to explain it to me." Too bad I didn't use that technique in college when professors talked over my head. If I had, my grades would have been better.

Oh, my agent received the advance check from the publishers, so really ... REALLY, the check's in the mail.

Best,
Mark Terry

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2005-06-07 1:40 PM Off the cuff interviewing Previous Entry :: Next Entry Mood: Content Read/Post Comments (2) Share on Facebook	June 7, 2005 Well, it happened again today. I've got an assignment to write about various aspects of microfluidics (say what?), and so I called several people to set up interviews on the subject. One of the guys said, "Oh, you want to talk now?" Normally I say, "No." And set up an interview time later so I can prepare. However, this article has a tight deadline due to an editor changeover at the publication, further complicated by my going out of town next week for a business trip and the fact that my vacation coincides with the week prior to the deadline. In other words, big article, big money, a total of 4 weeks to do the article, and one of those weeks is going to be a mess. So I said, "Okay." This is not a good idea. I've done it before, and it's probably good practice. Learn to listen, be up front that you might have to ask for more background than if you had a chance to research it, and for god sakes, write down questions on a pad in front of you as they occur to you. Sometimes it's a disaster. Today wasn't bad. I told the guy I would have preferred to research it a bit first, but he told me he would be glad to fill in any gaps. And he did, more than I probably needed. It also gets me a leg up on the article, which I needed even more. Microfluidics? Microfluidics is to biochemistry, genomics and proteomics, what microchips are to electronics and computers. Miniaturized ways of moving fluids. In this case I was interviewing about integrated fluid circuits, though I intend to look at non-viral gene delivery and field amplified sample stacking. Clears things right up, doesn't it? Well, I don't know much more than you, but I will by the time I'm ready to write the article. I call it Plumbing the Depth of my Ignorance, and when I write high-tech, it's a big part of what I do. I don't says, "I don't know anything about that; I can't write about it." I say, "I guess I'd better learn. I'm a reasonably smart guy. I should be able to get them to explain it to me." Too bad I didn't use that technique in college when professors talked over my head. If I had, my grades would have been better. Oh, my agent received the advance check from the publishers, so really ... REALLY, the check's in the mail. Best, Mark Terry Read/Post Comments (2) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top
:: HOME :: GET EMAIL UPDATES :: Mark's official website :: JA Konrath's Blog :: Eric Mayer's Blog :: Lee Goldberg's Blog :: Freelance Success :: Tobias Buckell's blog :: Paul Levine & other authors' blog :: Pete Terry & Electro-Metamorphosis :: Robert Gregory Browne's blog :: Cabbages & Kings--PJ Parrish's blog :: Murderati--buncha authors blogs :: Keith Snyder's blog :: Rick Riordan's blog :: EMAIL ::