Course Details

Okay, so you've gotten past the elusive editor and received your first assignment. Fantastic. Or is it? Most beginner writers are flummoxed by how to start and what to do once they have. How are you supposed to approach sources and what should you ask them once you have? Should you meet them in person or arrange to talk on the phone? Should you tape record or take notes? And where can you find more people to talk to? And sure, you know what "on-the-record" and "off-the-record" means, but if a source agrees to cooperate only if you change his or her name, how does that play into it and how do you figure out how to best describe people like that without infringing on their anonymity?

Finally, the biggest challenge of all: Once you have your interviews done and are swimming in a sea of transcripts, how are you supposed to know which parts of your transcripts you should and shouldn't use and how to best organize your story?

This two-day course will cover the basics of reporting—all the essentials on finding and interviewing sources—as well as explain how to organize and write pieces once all the reporting has been done. Students will begin the in-class writing exercise—taking ten pages of transcripts and using them to craft a 500-1000 word piece—during the first class, but will be expected to spend a substantial amount of time working over the week so that they can present a finished article for the second meeting.

In this seminar, you can expect to learn:

• Ethics concerning how you should introduce yourself and what your sources may ask of you
• How to determine what sources you need and how to contact them
• The most effective ways to get the best interviews you can
• Questions you should be asking
• The nuances of on-the-record vs. off
• How to determine how much reporting you need and how to organize it

Instructor Bio

Anna David's Courses

Anna David is the author of The After Party, which will be published by Regan Books in May 2007. She has been on staff at Premiere and Parenting, was a fulltime freelancer at People, had a contract with Us Weekly, and wrote a sex and relationship column for Razor. As a freelancer, she's done investigative pieces on crystal meth use among film executives and high-class prostitution in Hollywood for Details, prompting Liz Smith to praise her for "carving out a niche uncovering the seedy side of deluxe living." As a freelancer, she's written for Playboy, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Redbook, Self, Details, Stuff, Maxim, TV Guide, Women's Health, Ocean Drive, Vegas, The Saturday Telegraph, Esquire UK, Teen Vogue, Variety, The New York Post, LA Confidential, Hong Kong Tatler, King, Emmy, Calabasas, Distinction, and Fade In:, among others. She appears on various programs on CNN, NBC, E!, Style, Q Network, and VH1, usually either talking about sex, doling out relationship advice, or discussing the personal lives of celebrities she doesn't know.

Testimonials

Anna and all my other classmates are so inspiring. She's a great instructor: so articulate and poised, no nonsense. I've taken enough writing workshops to know the difference between schlock and substance. -- Teresa Burkett Bourgoise, chair of the Arts Program, Hollywood YMCA

"Writing for the Glossies gave me more confidence in my writing and in my ability to sell myself. For a newcomer like me, the world of journalism seemed like a bigblack hole -- daunting, unknown, and completely foreign. This class gave me the feeling that I could find a way to get published." -- Lisa Holcombe, freelance writer

"Anna is a very smart and articulate teacher. She is excellent at critiquing and finding the story. Her vast experience is invaluable here. She is just so knowledgeable and it was great to work with her. Her down-to-earth personality is really refreshing in the media biz." -- Jennifer Kim, freelance writer