Crafting Characters

By Kelly Carr
April 14, 2008 07:04 PM

When Kellogg Co. announced it was moving its snacks division from Illinois to Battle Creek, Mich., it was a big story for my newspaper, The Battle Creek Enquirer.

My assignment: follow the mastermind behind the deal, local businessman Jim Hettinger, as he wrapped up the final steps that would secure another major Kellogg operation in this Midwest city. The problem: I was a general assignment reporter who knew little about the deal or Hettinger.

That next morning, I traveled around the state with Hettinger in his SUV. My reporting tactics stemmed mostly from the terror of coming back to my newsroom with absolutely nothing to write. So I jotted down every detail that unfolded.

Then, out of desperation, I asked my subject about his childhood and what motivates him. Suddenly, Hettinger opened up. Here was a man anyone could relate to, a man who had worked hard to fulfill a dream. And just like that, my story now had multiple layers.

As business reporters, it’s difficult to get intimate details about the people we cover. We often deal with executives, people who are savvy about saying as little as possible and who fight hard not to give us personal information. They are usually shielded by public relations experts instructed to keep us at a safe distance.

But in order to get larger audiences interested in our stories, we must work like mad to uncover details that help develop characters in our pieces. Those characters, fashioned through even the simplest details, will make our work more attractive to a general audience.

No one knows this better than Diane Tennant, a veteran reporter and member of The Virginian Pilot’s narrative team. Early in her career, Tennant admits that she too was intimidated by interviewing business executives. But, eventually, she taught herself to calm down, ask more poignant questions and take a look around.

“You have to see them as a person, not just a business person,” Tennant said. “I want to know what happened in their past to make them the person they are today. I want to find out about life-changing experiences that they had. And I always want to know what’s written on their coffee mug. Their mug says something about what they like and what they relate to. There are clues that can open whole new areas of conversation.”

To add more depth to your stories, Tennant recommends starting the interview not when you get to an executive’s office, but well before. Pay attention to what’s around the place you are meeting them and then once inside the office, take in everything you see --  book titles, family photographs, the type of pen, clean or cluttered desk and the view from the room.

“You can start off with just adding a single detail into your story that makes a point,” Tennant said. “We need to offer readers something they can’t get elsewhere. It’s more interesting to read something that goes beyond facts and figures.”

Veteran writing coach Dick Weiss also believes that business journalists should push themselves to write deeper stories, ones that develop executives into characters and include details that say something about the world we live in.

Weiss said there are some specific questions we should strive to answer during each interview. And after we do, our stories will carry more meaning. Some of those questions include: What is it that you had to give up to get what you wanted? What were the most difficult decisions you’ve ever had to make? If you could have any other job than the one you have now, what would it be?

If you’re ready to make a commitment to telling better stories, accept this challenge. Analyze the stories you’ve written over the last week, month or year. Or concentrate on the story that’s flushed across your screen right now as you scramble toward deadline. Don’t just glance over the story you’ve written, study it.

Do your stories have details that hint to the deeper meaning?  Have you made business people come alive on the page? Do you often go beyond just listing facts and numbers? If not, it’s OK. Now is the time to start. From this moment forward, commit yourself to writing stories that have a heartbeat. You’re readers will thank you.

Examples of stories with character:

Southwest. Way Southwest.  By Jeff Bailey, The New York Times

Locked & Loaded.  By Diane Tennant, The Virginian-Pilot

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Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism