Monkeys, Monkeys Everywhere

So when one of your all-time favorite writers calls you up and says you should give this newbie named Maggie a shot at freelancing, you give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Frank was right. Maggie is amazing, and not just because she works for practically nothing. (I’m seriously going to take her up on her offer to barter with booze if this economy doesn’t let up.) She’s a natural, gifted writer. She is also willing to collaborate, which is harder to do (and to elicit as an editor) than you’d think. So when Neil and I decided the magazine needed to publish a story on primate research, Maggie was our go-to girl. A serious story needed a seriously good writer. Here’s my fancy interview with my friend and freelancer, Maggie Ginsberg-Schutz.

What were you thinking when we were sitting in Neil's office and we pitched you the story a couple months ago? I honestly knew next to nothing about the subject matter, but I was so excited by the assignment. It's every writer's dream to get a "real" story, one with teeth and guts and room to spread out. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never really did. Well, if you don't count the near emotional breakdown I had writing the damn thing.... (laughs)

You knew going in that the debate between animal rights activists and researchers was vitriolic. What surprised you most? Going in, I thought I could follow the formula, you know, interview persons A,B,C, and D on the animal rights side, and then balance them with persons A,B,C, and D on the researchers side -- easy. The problem was, I had a list a mile long of animal rights people begging to talk, and NOBODY wanted to talk to me from the researchers side. I had countless unreturned phone calls and emails, and it bothered me. It was very easy to draw my own conclusions about why they wouldn't talk, to swallow whole what the animal rights side was telling me about them. Once I realized it was a little more complicated than that, their reasons for clamming up became an integral part of the story itself.

How did you approach the story as a reporter? I went to the bookstore, of course! Any excuse to buy a stack of books.... I didn't have to, though, because the animal rights people deluged me with information. It was stunning how well-researched and organized they are. I had brochures, newsletters, videos, DVDs, magazines, journals, you name it. It was overwhelming, and very impressive.

When you sat down to write, what came out first? The beginning and the ending. In order to avoid the boring "he said she said" I knew I wanted to give the first and last word to the monkeys somehow, so I purposely boxed myself in from the start. It gave me more freedom writing the middle, because I didn't have to worry about one side or another having more airtime or leaving the last impression with the reader. I also knew how rare it was to get inside the labs, so that seemed like a good place to dwell.

How are you different now that you've had this experience?
I see monkeys everywhere. I'm totally not lying. I never knew how many pairs of monkey pajamas my kids owned. I also think harder now, and differently, whenever I hear in the news about medical advancements. It's not really a judgment, it's just more awareness about what they are doing and what it all means. I'm also not afraid of word count anymore. Everything sounds manageable. (laughs)

What's been the feedback so far? Everything that's getting through to me has been very positive. If there's negative stuff, I imagine you're keeping it from me, and me and my thin skin are just fine with that, thank you very much. I've had dozens of people pull me aside and ask me what I REALLY think about research on monkeys, and I like that best of all because my ultimate goal was that the reader wouldn't be able to tell my personal feelings by what I had written.

What sort of writer's remorse are you having about the story (I'm not being presumptuous here... I'm your editor, I KNOW you're wishing you'd done something differently!)? In a way I wish it could have been longer, although that's silly because I don't think people would want to read something that long. There are a lot of people I left out of the story, a lot of subplots I didn't have space to introduce. Even what made it in wasn't given enough attention, and I hate thinking anyone might feel underrepresented or worse, that the shape of the story would have changed with more words. I don't know. Everything I've ever written I would probably write differently now. That's why I don't read any of it.

Shameless Editor Question: Would you ever consider a follow-up? Have I ever said no to one of your assignments yet? I'm no dummy.

Bad Transition Question: You shared the New York Times Magazine piece on blogging, "Exposed," with me last week--how much of you and your experience was present in her experience? Not a whole lot, because she's so young. As I was reading I kept thinking "Damn, I am SO GLAD BLOGS DIDN'T EXIST WHEN I WAS YOUNG AND ANGST-RIDDEN." What made it to my bedroom walls, all that bad poetry and the awful sketches of crying girls, that was bad enough. I really feel for kids today whose every move is forever enshrined in cyberspace.

There were parts, though, that hit home. Blogging is a weird thing. In a way it's a real community builder, an interactive forum, a way to practice your craft and find your voice and learn a lot. In another way, it's a powerful tool that's easily abused -- or misused, really. I've learned what not to talk about on my blog, but I've learned it the hard way.

What motivates you to keep your blog going? Fear. Guilt. Obligation. Perfectionism. (laughs) Some days it feels very sophomoric and egotistical to even have a blog at all. Sometimes I feel a little too exposed. It's strange, the more readers I have the less "me" I become on there. At first, when no one was reading, I felt no pressure at all. Now I feel like every post has to be profound and eloquent, and when nine times out of ten it isn't, I feel like a failure. Then again, when I really feel the need to connect with people, this amazingly supportive group is right there at the push of a button. I've made real-life friends from blogging, and I've become addicted to so many other people's blogs. That makes me want to keep going.

Last Question: Will you still write for me when you're rich and famous? I keep forgetting to get rich and famous, I've got to get on that. It's funny, though, I heard writing might not be the best way to do that.... but I also heard you get to use real silverware in first class so I'm forging ahead.

You want to read the story now, don't you? Well, if you're not my family, my contributing writer, or a subscriber (and why aren't you, may I ask?), hop in your hybrid and go find one at any of these fine magazine purveyors. Ready. Set. Go!

If you want to hear me babble more about the June issue, Maggie and monkeys, check out the C3K Live Show (6/08) in my Video Archive.