There he was! Standing outside his rig! I saw the dog poking his big shaggy head out the window! For over a year, a man and his dog had lived in a newer, mid-size SUV that was always parked under a towering, century-old cedar across the street from a city park distinguished by the confluence of two salmon-bearing streams. I frequently visited the park and sat on a picnic table near a stream to retain my sanity.
Good. That's the way to do it. Talk to people. I remember in a previous life when I was in what they then called J School, each student had to contact & set up an interview -- and actually interview -- a mayor, the governor, or at the very least a member of a board of trustees. No prob for me, but other students were hesitant. "I can't do that," one said. "Well," the prof replied, "maybe you shouldn't be in journalism, then." (Today one couldn't get away with such a response, but he was right.) Anyway, the same goes for talking to folks on the street. Some writers (different from journalists) got it, others don't. You got it. Go for it. Think Studs Terkel.
Good. That's the way to do it. Talk to people. I remember in a previous life when I was in what they then called J School, each student had to contact & set up an interview -- and actually interview -- a mayor, the governor, or at the very least a member of a board of trustees. No prob for me, but other students were hesitant. "I can't do that," one said. "Well," the prof replied, "maybe you shouldn't be in journalism, then." (Today one couldn't get away with such a response, but he was right.) Anyway, the same goes for talking to folks on the street. Some writers (different from journalists) got it, others don't. You got it. Go for it. Think Studs Terkel.