I don't have any trouble calling people for an article. People like to be interviewed. No one else in their life will ever listen to them the way you will. I basically have two personalities: Ginger the Intrepid Reporter, who can call anyone, and Everyday Ginger, who hates to talk to strangers.

Ginger is me, though I still get phone fear at first. Basically, I cringe and grimace and procrastinate ... and then dial the number and am fine.

Writing out what I want to ask helps. The other thing that helps is that I know that you get much more information from a phone call than an email. Maybe one person in ten writes as well as s/he talks; also, a question that comes out too bald and cold to ask in an email will be natural in a call.

(And speaking of reporting -- Ginger, please tell me I'm not wrecking my journalistic cred, such as it is, by doing association commuinications work for a while. I have this pesky habit of eating, you see...)

Maybe one person in ten writes as well as s/he talks

Trust me. I'm that person. I'm pretty sure I write better than I talk. I get tongue-tied. I stumble. I start sentences and abandon them to start over again. I'm not a good speaker at all.

Except, oddly enough, in classroom-type discussions or, of all things, pitch sessions in writers conferences. There I kick serious ass. But somehow that's a different version of me than shows up for ordinary speech.

I'm pretty sure I write better than I talk. I get tongue-tied. I stumble. I start sentences and abandon them to start over again. I'm not a good speaker at all

The thing is, Susan, that really doesn't matter. As Ginger said, people are flattered just to be asked; they aren't judging you if you stumble over words or stutter, because they're doing it too.

What is important is that it's likely that the person you're talking to will be able to explain him/herself better in speech than they could in writing -- not least because you'll be able to interject and say "I'm not sure I explained my question well" or "I'm sorry, could you just give me an example of that," and get the best quotes possible.

I'd rather be shot at dawn that conduct an interview by e-mail. People who know they're going to be quoted write these incrediably stiff and boring replies.

And speaking of reporting -- Ginger, please tell me I'm not wrecking my journalistic cred, such as it is, by doing association commuinications work for a while. I have this pesky habit of eating, you see...)

Not at all. The pay scale in journalism is such that most journalists end up going back and forth between journalism and pr and corporate work. I remember when I first decided to apply for a corporate communications job -- I had this revelation that all my friends who had graduated with me owned color televisions and microwaves. I think having to write for a specific purpose such as putting across an association's agenda or to encourage employees is really good writing discipline, as long as you don't accidentally stay somewhere for 20 years.

Farmington, NM library

Ha! Haha! This is my library! And it is a gorgeous, wonderful orgasm of a library. It's huge (in relative terms, this is Farmington, NM, mind you) and lovely and is designed like a medicine wheel. Its windows are such that the center floor is a giant sundial and they have the solstices marked in the concrete. And the staff are great, if apparently slightly crazy with slightly crazier managers. And it's responsible for the SO meeting his new friend, Joe the Agnostic. They talk about strawbale houses and jazz.

Oh, yeah, and it has some books.

(Also, btw, Susan, I did finally get our brochure printed that you did for us, and it's fantastic. I'll snail you some for your portfolio. How many do you want?)

edited because an unclosed parenthesis could send the universe sprawling into chaos.

Maybe a dozen? Thanks, Liese!

You got it.

LDO used to be Long Distance Operator. Think...Ernestine, but not that much fun.

Wow, Liese. I'd really like to go to that library.

My local library is very pretty, architecturally interesting, sited in a lovely wooded setting. But it has no books. Well, maybe a couple hundred, total. They have computer bays down both sides of the length of the building, with shelving between each bay. But...there's nothing there. You have to look up the city-county inventory on the computer, and if you can't find what you want there, look up more on interloan. I loved the days when you walked in the door and the smell of books and glue and ink hit you. When you could wander in the stacks and find old, oilcloth bound books and brand new clothbound books on the same subject filed side by side, tall books, thick books, books with bindings of all colors, linked only by subject and the white inked code on their spines.

I'm an anachronism. I admit it.

People who know they're going to be quoted write these incrediably stiff and boring replies.

That too. They end up sending it to their PR people, and their boss, and their boss's boss, and a week later they come back with, "We are very excited about the new whosiwhatsit program. We feel it will enable us to continue to better serve our guests." I've done email interviews a few times, but it's not the way to go if you want interesting quotes.

as long as you don't accidentally stay somewhere for 20 years.

Heh. At this point, I'd be happy with two or three years in one place.