Interview

Last Monday I interviewed my former history professor, Professor Galgano, for my digital story. It was a hectic day for me and I did not have time for a prolonged session, but I learned an enormous amount of information not only about his writing style and techniques but about myself as well. Prior to the interview I sent him an e-mail with the questions I wanted him to consider so he had an idea of what I would ask. My first question was about his personal writing process. For him it depended on the piece. Scholarly works were more planned, researched, and organized; whereas personal works like creative writing, poems, or even short stories were less formulaic. Following his process I asked follow-up questions like: What time of day was most conducive to his success? Did he prefer pen and paper or technology (smart phone, laptop, other handheld devices, recorder, etc.)? And other questions related to his writing habits. I received a good amount of information for my project, but the most salient point Professor Galgano made was when he referred to his writing overall like a relationship. Like most relationships he said some days he hated writing while other days he loved it. It required work, his writing was not naturally perfect; but that was also the enamoring part about it. After all the research, and editing, and rewriting he had a polished piece of art that he had created. The key to having a successful relationship he said is to, “write everyday” and “aggressively edit.” Whether it is a journal or you revise a piece of writing for another class or anything else, writing daily is the key. On the editing portion of his advice, he told me, “don’t be so enamored with a phrase that you can’t get rid of it.” For me that was the best advice he could have said. I often find myself stuck on a paper because I feel as though one word, line, phrase, etc is so brilliant that is simply must stay and if other parts of my paper do not agree then they must be altered or deleted. FALSE. The way he said to combat this problem is to create a word bank where you keep thoughts and ideas because they may work for other pieces or in different types of writing. Truthfully, that one quote will always stay with me and will hopefully improve my writing if I follow it.

Btw: Anytime when he is not running after his children or preparing dinner or has a moment to himself in his study is when he is most successful, and Professor Galgano prefers pen and paper but will jot down and idea using his computer or phone if that is all he has available.