Many years ago, I volunteered at a community radio station in Glasgow. As well as turning up for my shift, however, I made a point of showing up at their other events.
At one of these, I was introduced to someone who was supposed to be some big deal in radio, even if the details of his background are now hazy. I can’t even remember whether he was actually a professional or just an enthusiastic amateur. In any case, I was starting out with presenting and he knew more than I did, so I asked him whether he had any advice.
This turned out to be a mistake. Rather than first asking a few establishing questions, he talked at me non-stop for about ten minutes. I’m trying to remember even one of the points he made, but all I can recall is the wide-eyed enthusiasm in his face.
I subsequently learnt there can be something of a ‘wannabe culture’ in community radio, and it’s likely he was part of that. Many volunteers are genuinely there to make a difference to the listeners, but a few believe they could have been on Absolute 90s if only their luck had turned out differently.
I was reminded of this incident recently when I was asked by two different people for general writing advice. I could easily have launched into my own ten-minute speech. I could have reeled off all the times I’ve been published, that I took over National Novel Writing Month for Dundee & Angus, how I used to run an open-mic, what is the best time of week to post a blog, and a hundred other topics.
But what use would it have been? Writing advice is only effective in response to a specific problem.
So instead of channelling that wannabe, I find it more useful to ask some establishing questions, starting broad and narrowing it down. These questions could include, but are not limited to:
- What’s your current project?
- Which part are you stuck on?
- What solutions have you tried so far?
That way, everyone saves time and the person asking gains a much more useful insight than hearing the other person trying to prove their vast knowledge.
Whether the other person takes that advice, however, is another matter.
Gavin Cameron 
I think you were presenting your show back when we first “met” online so to speak. Meaningful questions are good but no harm in one unleashing their inner wannabe, too though at times 😉
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There is indeed a time to let one’s wannabe out, but that wasn’t the right time.
I was still volunteering when I ‘met’ you virtually. In fact, it was almost a continuous chain of presenting from about 2004 to 2013 at three different stations.
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