November 2009
_David Farley is the author of An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church’s Strangest Relic in Italy’s Oddest Town and co-editor of Travelers’ Tales Prague and the Czech Republic: True Stories. His writing appears in the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, and Slate.com, among others. He teaches travel writing at New York University. www.dfarley.com

How do you start a new piece?
If it’s for a magazine or newspaper, I do it chronologically starting with the intro and moving to the nut graph and the rest. But the nut graph is central to the entire piece.

What is more frightening: a blank page or a manuscript in need of a complete rewrite?
Definitely a blank page.

How does teaching influence your work as a writer?
So far, it’s been the other way around.

What’s your favorite in-class writing prompt?
I’m not sure I have a favorite. I usually don’t have to do much to get my students to write.

Are there any aspects of writing that you feel can’t be taught?
Determination and drive.

What have you read recently that you couldn’t put down?
The Lost City of Z by David Grann.

How much of yourself—your personal interests, your approach to writing—do you share in a classroom?
I can be quite personal, if it’s relevant. I’m also very honest about the field of travel writing, which certainly can’t be very inspiring to students at the time, but if I don’t tell them, they’ll find out the hard way.

When you are teaching, what pet peeves do you come across frequently?
Tiny grammar things I’ve gone over and over like putting commas and periods outside of quotation marks.