How Do You Arrive At The Perfect Story?
It takes a great deal of planning.
"The case of Barbara Cotton is listed on the Attorney General’s Cold Cases webpage on the state website for North Dakota," says James Wolner, host and producer of the Dakota Spotlight Podcast. "What stood out to me about Barbara’s listing was the lack of details. It says:
During the evening of April 11, 1981, 15 year old Barbara Louise Cotton disappeared in Williston, North Dakota.
I found that interesting, it was almost like it said: don't even think you're ever going to figure this out," says James.
Tip 1# - Arriving at a story
"I reached out to a retired detective who had worked on this case after I found his name in one of the very few newspaper articles about Barbara's disappearance," says James. The detective declined to speak and so did the chief of police.
"Fast-forward a few more years and I decided to go to Williston to just do a one episode thing on Barbara. I kind of assumed that all the leads would be exhausted and that all the leads would have been followed up on. I also assumed that the family and friends of Barbara would be tired of talking about this," says James. He found the opposite to be true.
"In fact Barbara’s siblings had no recollection of ever being spoken to by the police when their sister went missing. Barbara’s brother Kent told me he could not even remember the police coming to the house at all," he says. So for season 5 of his investigative podcast he began to see the potential of a new story.
"Another part of the equation, when picking stories, is just a feeling. I have gone against my gut feeling once and it sure enough didn’t turn out to be the best story. Some kind of empathy for someone who can no longer speak for themselves and who has suffered an injustice, then I feel like I’m on to something."
"When I am on a good story, I think about my mortality and I find myself being a bit more careful crossing the street, saying to myself: 'You’ll die someday, but for God’s sake don’t die until you finish this story.'"
On imbuing a podcast with universal appeal: "Several listeners have told me that most US podcasts ‘ignore’ the rest of the world. So when I’m producing my podcast I’m often imagining an international listener."
On the future of the medium: "There doesn’t seem to be any end in sight for this genre and format. Critical thinking and investigative projects can challenge society now in a way it never could before, and people don’t even have to be able to read to consume it. The power of the medium is huge and has great potential."
LISTEN NOW: Dakota Spotlight Podcast: season 5. Barbara Louise Cotton was 15 years old when she was last seen in Williston, North Dakota. For decades, Barbara’s story haunted family, friends, neighbours and law enforcement. With the help of a private investigator this podcast finds persons of interests and new leads. Also, never before interviewed key individuals reveal new info.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Tip 2# - Structure and storytelling
"I spend a lot of time at my kitchen counter with index cards of different colours. Before I start writing a story I might write down all the scenes I want to talk about, and I’ll write them on coloured index cards," says James. "Then I have a stack of index cards in another colour for ‘characters’ or people in the story. I let those sit out in plain site on a table or counter for a few days (or weeks) as I start to get a feeling for how to structure the story."
He says one of the biggest challenges is getting the balance right between action and backstory. "I still have not perfected it, not even close," he says. "Backstory is the enemy of action. The idea is to reveal it in a way or place that will not disrupt the listener’s perception of forward movement. You don't want to annoy them. I have read fascinating novels where I am totally engaged in the story and I simply cannot wait to see what happens next in this action-packed plot. Then I turn the page to a new chapter and it begins with a backstory from maybe a century earlier. Sometimes that completely ruins a story for me. The momentum comes to a screeching halt. Sometimes just letting your listener know why the story is stalling helps them to have patience."
When it comes to technology: "I do all my audio editing myself. I listen to my episodes with headphones, on speakers and in my car before I release them. The more you can listen to your episodes and the more time you can put it on the shelf (to get a fresh listen maybe a week or two later) the better," he says. "I can’t remember what author it was that said something like, 'I usually don’t write down the parts that people will skip over,' and I think it's the same with podcasts."
All the best,
Paul
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LISTEN NOW: Dakota Spotlight Podcast: season 5. Barbara Louise Cotton was 15 years old when she was last seen in Williston, North Dakota. For decades, Barbara’s story haunted family, friends, neighbours and law enforcement. With the help of a private investigator this podcast finds persons of interests and new leads. Also, never before interviewed key individuals reveal new info.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify