Set 'em Up. Knock 'em Down.
I'm swamped this week. I've been working on a multi-part series. It's a fascinating tale with lots of twists and turns. And even though I've been told I have no set time limit, I know I won't be able to fit everything in. (Let's face it, there's a limit to even the most generous listener's patience.)

And so, I've been thinking a lot about bowling.

No, really.
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So the more highbrow version of this concept comes from Anton Chekhov, who once wrote, "Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there."

I'm not a huge fan of guns, so I've substituted bowling pins.

Set 'em up. Knock 'em down.

Chekhov warned of rifles being hung on the wall without ever being set off. In bowling terms, he was worried about writers setting the pins without ever trying to throw a strike.

But here's the thing. In my many years of writing and editing audio pieces, I've noticed that most writers don't go through the trouble of setting the pins only to forget to knock them down. The far more common problem is that writers try to knock down a set of bowling pins that they never set up in the first place. Talk about a gutter ball!

So my bowling-inspired words of wisdom might be:

You can't throw a strike if you haven't set the pins.

Or…
Every story needs a payoff. And every payoff needs a story.
Look, we've all had this happen. There's that moment when your editor points to your favorite moment in a piece and says, "This just isn't working for me. I think you should cut it."

I have been that writer, watching my favorite moment hit the cutting room floor. And, just as sadly, I have been that editor, dashing the dreams of some poor, unsuspecting writer.

Over time, I learned to say, "This just isn't working for me. What am I missing?"

Because most likely, the moment your editor has pegged as "boring" isn't actually boring. You have better taste than that!

It might just be that you didn't set the pins before trying to knock them down.

Case in point: I was working with a reporter on a story about a hiker named Heather Anderson, who held the world records for the fastest unsupported finishes of the 2653-mile Pacific Crest Trail and the 2180-mile Appalachian Trail.

When my colleagues and I listened to the first draft of the piece, we were totally confused. Heather was taking all sorts of crazy risks, but we didn't understand why. What motivated her?

But there was this great quote near the end of the piece where Heather explained that after setting these records, her insecurities were gone. She no longer struggled with self-esteem.

Insecurities? Self-esteem? We sent the reporter back for more.

This is what she found:
Conquering Insecurity, World Records On The Hiking Trails, Only A Game, Jan. 27, 2017

Reporter: Heather went to school with the same 40 kids from kindergarten through the end of high school. She says she started to believe what her classmates told her.

Heather Anderson: That, you know, that I was, you know, whatever: unattractive and overweight and socially awkward and all these things. There was something wrong with me.

Reporter: Heather says she wasn't just insecure, she was extremely anxious. She was scared of the wild animals that might be in the woods behind her parents' house. She was scared to go to the bathroom alone at night.

Heather Anderson: I just remember one night just being, like, "This is not the way it's going to be from now on. This just isn't going to happen anymore." And so then I just started from that point onward consciously seeking out things I was afraid of and doing them.
I use this example in my workshops and often get an audible "ahhh..." when we get to the part about "consciously seeking out things I was afraid of and doing them." Suddenly, taking all those risks makes sense.

I mean, I still wouldn't take those risks myself. But I understand why Heather took them. And when we get to the end of the piece and Heather talks about how her insecurities and self-esteem issues were gone, I want to stand up and cheer for her. The moment hits!

Waiting for the Pins to Set

I need to mention one more lesson from the bowling alley. You know how, sometimes, it just seems like the automatic pinsetter is taking FOREVER to set the pins? You're standing there at the end of the land, bowling ball in hand, and you just have to wait?!?

That moment sucks when you're bowling. But you actually want to use it in your story.

Quite often, an interview subject will move from problem to solution in the blink of an eye, robbing the listener of a potentially delicious moment of tension.

For the piece I'm working on this week, one of my interview subjects started telling me about the impact of the Rooney Rule, an NFL mandate meant to increase diversity in leadership positions. And then he interrupted his thought to tell a story.

The raw interview transcript reads like this:
When 2003 rolled around and we're advocating for the Rooney Rule, 2002-2003, there was huge backlash against what we were trying to do. You know, there's vitriol, there's people making criticisms.

I just went on the airwaves to try to win over the hearts and minds of the public and saying, this isn't about giving anybody anything. We're not even saying who to hire. We're not saying what numbers of people should be hired. We're just saying, give people a chance to compete. Our proposal is fair competition.

I'm very proud of the fact that a couple of years ago, ESPN undefeated did a poll of NFL fans. And NFL fans are the mirror and bellwether of the country, right. On every issue of race, complete division among NFL fans, except for one. 70%, seven-zero percent of NFL fans support or strongly support the Rooney rule, which means to me that we won over the hearts and minds. This is about fairness.
I see this a lot in interviews. It's human nature. Someone will describe a challenge they faced. But because nobody likes to dwell on the negative, they'll immediately skip to the moment when the challenge was resolved, without spending time or emotional energy sitting in that moment of tension.

But those moments of tension are actually what keeps your listener engaged. So you don't want to let them resolve right away. You want your listener to sit in the uncertainty of that moment for a little while.

In this case, I had already collected the details of what had happened in those 15 intervening years to change the minds of NFL fans.

So all I had to do is place this bit early in my piece.
When 2003 rolled around and we're advocating for the Rooney Rule, 2002-2003, there was huge backlash against what we were trying to do. You know, there's vitriol, there's people making criticisms.

I just went on the airwaves to try to win over the hearts and minds of the public and saying, this isn't about giving anybody anything. We're not even saying who to hire. We're not saying what numbers of people should be hired. We're just saying, give people a chance to compete. Our proposal is fair competition.
And I held this part until the end.
I'm very proud of the fact that a couple of years ago, ESPN undefeated did a poll of NFL fans. And NFL fans are the mirror and bellwether of the country, right. On every issue of race, complete division among NFL fans, except for one. 70%, seven-zero percent of NFL fans support or strongly support the Rooney rule, which means to me that we won over the hearts and minds. This is about fairness.
Set 'em up. Knock 'em down. Easy peasy.

So my friends, go out there and BOWL! Throw some strikes! Knock down that 7-10 split! You can do it!

Karen
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I've been reading all of the survey responses. (If you skipped the survey and want to get in on the fun, you can find it here.)

It seems a lot of you are struggling with getting started. You're fighting feelings of insecurity. One person even went as far as to call it "imposter syndrome."

I want you to know, I hear you. Even now, with awards and accolades and decades of experience, I sometimes feel like my stuff just isn't good enough.

So, I'm going to suggest you listen to this episode of People Movers, a podcast highlighting the importance of escalators on everyday life.

The Last One, People Movers Podcast, May 29, 2020

I don't remember who recommended this episode. (Was it you, Eric Nuzum?) Whoever it was, I remember thinking that person was crazy.

And when I started listening, I thought I had the wrong episode. Because this isn't actually an episode about the importance of escalators on everyday life. It's a conversation with the person who had the crazy idea of making a podcast about escalators in the first place.

But I kept listening. And then I understood.

If you've ever felt insecure about the work you do (and don't we all?) I suggest giving it a listen.

Photo of cool bowling shoes (who doesn't love bowling shoes?!?) by Benjamin Faust on Unsplash.