Do you sit there and stew? No, what you do is the same thing a police officer would do – you canvas the neighborhood. In this case the members of the neighborhood, especially the nosey ones, are probably already at the scene. Do you start asking lots of questions? No, you listen.

This situation with the fire occurring on deadline happened to me several times and during one of them I noticed several children who were very animated. I listened for a few minutes before asking why they were so happy when there was a fire going on. It struck me as an odd emotion.

They told me that they had recently attended Children’s Village. Children’s Village is a local program all students are required to attend where they are taught about fires and fire safety and, most important, what to do if there was a fire. I learned that these kids had noticed the fire and followed the right steps in making sure the fire department was notified and that others in the building were contacted. 

I knew immediately that I had my hook for the story. When I talked to the fire official later he gave me some boring facts but when I mentioned the kids he became animated about how proud they all were of them. The story made the front page and the kids were instant heroes. I would not have gotten that story if I had not listened.

People going into journalism often think they need to have a script and a set of questions for every story. I did that too once upon a time. But while it is good to have a list of topics or questions you want to make sure you don’t forget to ask what is most important is – all together now – to listen. Something you hear during the interview, or something someone does before the interview, can change everything. You need to be flexible, ready to change at a moment’s notice.

People going into journalism often think they need to have a script and a set of questions for every story. I did that too once upon a time. But while it is good to have a list of topics or questions you want to make sure you don’t forget to ask what is most important is – all together now – to listen. Something you hear during the interview, or something someone does before the interview, can change everything. You need to be flexible, ready to change at a moment’s notice.As a writer you are used to focusing on your fingers for typing but what matters more is your ear, to listen for interviews, for ideas for stories, to remember ideas you hear for future stories.