I was also quite interested to learn behind-the-scenes information about The View, including the true stories behind the departures of Star Jones and Rosie O’Donnell, though the book was published in 2008 (with an update in 2009) and lots has happened with the cohosts even since then.
My favourite parts of the book are when Barbara shares tidbits from her many interviews. As someone who is intrigued by conversations with celebrities, and has had
the opportunity to do a few myself, I soaked up her tips for future reference. (Okay, sure, her subjects are a little higher-profile than mine, and perhaps having your interviews televised for millions is a bit different than having them in print on a little ol’ blog, but humour me!)
What I learned from Barbara’s example:
- do your homework: scour clips, watch movies, try to surprise them with something they wouldn’t expect you to know (I do that, though I also worry that it might freak them out if I know too much!)
- write every question you can think of, and whittle them down after
- read your questions over so many times that you really don’t need notes/cards
- the biggest mistake is to be tied to the questions, especially ones you haven’t written yourself (not a problem for me, but once I hire an assistant I’ll have to remember this!)
- try not to interrupt
opportunity to ask all the questions you would never have the nerve to ask in
real life.” My problem is I still think of it as real life, and sometimes feel timid about asking the hard
questions. It’s much easier when, in my head, I can blame an imaginary editor who really wants the story – hard to do when I’m my own blog editor, and really don’t have to answer to anyone!
Case in point: my recent interview with designer Jillian Harris (already one of my most popular posts ever). I knew she wanted to promote her (amazing) new vintage business, but I also knew that my readers would be expecting me to ask at least a couple of Bachelor/Bachelorette questions, so I did…but apologized in advance! I know she has worked very hard to make a name for herself as someone who is talented in her field (she’s also now the resident designer on the Love It Or List It spinoff, Love It Or List It Vancouver), and I imagine that she’s sick and tired of answering questions about the reality shows she appeared on once upon a time.
I read this a couple of years ago and was quite excited to get into it. Some of the chapters I flew through but others were slow and dry and *yawn*. I usually read a book a week ~ this one to me was disappointing so I was interested to hear someone else's point of view.