Michael Lewis in The New New Journalism: “Characters are always so much more interesting when they are moving through space than they are when they are at rest (especially when they are behind a desk in their office). Once I’ve developed a relationship with a subject, the first question I ask is whether they have plans to go anywhere, and whether I can come with them. Even when what they’re doing is irrelevant to what I’m writing about, I just want to participate in something with them.
“Billy Beane let me go with him to scout a few minor league baseball teams. Those trips resulted in the deepest, most intimate conversations we had – all of them in his car, driving back and forth between Oakland and Modesto, where the A’s have a team.
“I learned this technique in college, during the best job interview I ever had. I was applying for a job to lead a bunch of high school girls on a tour of Europe. When I arrived for the interview, the guy who was supposed to see me was flustered, and apologized. He said he was in the middle of moving his furniture from one office to another, and asked if I could help. So we spent the nest hour moving his furniture together. It was brilliant on his part. The way he interviewed people was to make them DO SOMETHING with him. He believed he saw character more clearly that way. I agree.”
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