Posted by: David Maxon on November 3, 2007 02:32 AM | Comments (1)

First, Ira Glass asked me to include in the blog the fact that everyone he saw in the doctoring sessions was not putting himself or herself in the piece enough. So, luckily if you are at the conference and want to know more about including yourself in your pieces you can go see "The Wonders of Narcissism" with Sean Cole.

Next, It would be accurate to describe my audio doctor session with Ira Glass as humbling. But what could I expect? It was a most unbalanced affair. A man with 30 years of public radio experience giving tips to someone who just started trying to make audio documentary a few months ago.

I literally brought in the first and third short pieces I have ever attempted (the second was featured at this year’s conference). It was maybe 6 minutes total. I was not really confident with the pieces myself, so I was not surprised that Ira had some criticism.

Basically, we put the pieces on the CD player and Mr. Glass made notes. When it finished (or before) he would launch into the critique. I found the advice he gave to be totally helpful and the points totally unexpected. And unexpected is, of course, what you want. Mr. Glass has definitely built up clear a set of criteria over his career and can recognize those things (or the lack thereof) very quickly.

Mr. Glass good-humoredly chastised me for not recording our doctor session, saying that that was where the story was. I said that he had been kind enough to do an interview earlier and that I didn’t want to ask too much of him and that I might not want to be the guy who gets publicly shredded by Ira Glass. He insisted that that would have been a good story. And who can argue with Ira Glass about what makes a good story?

By the end of it Mr. Glass actually thought he had hurt my feelings and apologized for being too harsh. But honestly, it was great to get feedback and I would not have wanted him to pull punches. If anything I felt bad having missed an opportunity to record the session. So, don’t worry Ira Glass, I’ll be okay. (Who am I kidding? He won’t read this).

All in all a valuable half hour spent with really a generous and honest guy.

More from Third Coast Festival 2007 :
« Ira Glass Interview | Session: Pitching »

Posted by: ellen on November 3, 2007 07:15 AM