Gary Craig On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer

An Interview With Kristin Marquet

Time management. I live in a world of deadlines, whether for my newspaper, my nonfiction book work, or assistance with the documentary and discussions of future documentaries. It’s important to know my most productive times of the day — I’m a morning person and am sometimes working before 6 a.m. — and I must keep order among my many various projects.

Some writers and authors have a knack for using language that can really move people. Some writers and authors have been able to influence millions with their words alone. What does it take to become an effective and successful author or writer?

In this interview series, called “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer” we are talking to successful authors and writers who can share lessons from their experience.

As part of this series I had the pleasure of interviewing Gary Craig.

Gary Craig is an investigative reporter at the Democrat and Chronicle who has authored one book and co-authored another. The first, “Seven Million: A Cop, A Priest, A Soldier for the IRA and the Still Unsolved Rochester Brink’s Heist,” is the partial foundation of the new discovery+ documentary, “Holy Heist.” Craig has won more than two dozen state, regional, and national awards for writing and investigative reporting, including for reporting on wrongful convictions.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I always loved to write, even as early as 8 years old, and saw myself doing that throughout my life. Once out of college, I quickly realized I wasn’t going to write the great American novel and turned to newspaper for a regular paycheck, albeit a paltry one. I quickly found how much I loved reporting, especially investigative reporting, and continued to do it for 40 years — and still am now as I approach 63 years old. My arena has expanded in recent years. Into nonfiction books and documentary work.

Can you share the most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career?

I wrote a series of stories that were central to the exoneration of Betty Tyson, a woman who’d been jailed for 25 years for a murder she did not commit. The New York Times and other national publications wrote of my journalistic work then. However, while that coverage received far more attention than much of my other work, my favorite story — and most grueling with deep dives into records — was one at a smaller daily newspaper that showed officials with the U.S. Army were trying to cover up the hazards to overhead aircraft of electromagnetic pulse testing. The testing was halted; the base was immediately in a flight corridor for what was then Washington D.C. National Airport.

Also, I’ll add another, since it is now in the public eye with a documentary partly based on my first book — my coverage of a $7.4 million armored car company. There were suspicions that it was orchestrated by the Irish Republican Army and featured an IRA rebel, a retired cop, and a priest. “Holy Heist,” the discovery+ documentary that begins streaming March 15, tells the story of this cast of characters that would be unbelievable in fiction.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey to becoming a writer? How did you overcome it? Can you share a story about that that other aspiring writers can learn from?

My biggest challenge is more as a journalist, and it is both a blessing and a curse. To me, curiosity is the most necessary trait for a reporter and nonfiction author. Everything you see, you want to know more about, and every day can be almost like a return to the classroom. That is the blessing, but the curse is that there are too few hours in the day to quench that curiosity and get your work done, and then redone with fine-tuned rewrites and editing. Still, it is a trait I’d never part with, and I think that curiosity helps push you out of your comfort zone with your work.

When New York introduced the death penalty in 1995 — it never moved forward after stalling in courts — I wanted to put real faces and voices on the issue and traveled to Missouri for an execution. I interviewed the condemned before his death, and spoke with his family, and the victims’ families and law enforcement. I still ache from seeing a man put to death — especially with questions about his guilt — but my willingness to meet those individuals and witness what I did made for a far stronger piece of work than had I tried to do so in another distant fashion.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Returning to the story about electromagnetic pulse testing, I found a whistleblower who became central to my work. I had long heard urban myths that the testing was killing wildlife at the site. I should have done a little more research to find out this was not true. However, this was one of the first questions I asked the whistleblower, and he found it amusing — and a clear sign I had much to learn. However, he was willing to work with me. This could be two lessons: One, don’t be afraid of stupid questions, and, two, try to do your homework to avoid stupid questions. I prefer the latter lesson now.

In your opinion, were you a “natural born writer” or did you develop that aptitude later on? Can you explain what you mean?

To a degree, I did have a flair for it as a youth, and even in college I had an essay professor who admitted she graded me tougher because she thought my writing was a step above everyone else’s. But I typically consider myself an above-average — not stellar — writer who can always find ways to improve. I’ve learned that the simpler I write, the more effective is my writing. This can be tough when younger, if you’re one who overestimates your wordsmithing abilities. As an author and journalist — one who has now had the experience of seeing a book transformed into a film — it’s best not to get in the way of a good story.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I may be continuing some film work, with other stories I’ve covered serving as the basis for forthcoming documentaries. There has been interest from filmmakers in my work in the past, and “Holy Heist” — again, based on my book “Seven Million” — may be a steppingstone.

I also have many other prospective projects, as my agent and I discuss possible books, ranging from other true-crime tales to the history of Jell-O (yes, it’s oddly fascinating). And my second book, “The Prison Guard’s Daughter: My Journey Through the Ashes of Attica,” is the memoir of a remarkably strong woman, Deanne Quinn Miller, whose father was a corrections officer killed in the 1971 Attica uprising. That riot, the deadliest in the country’s history, has received more attention of late with the 50th anniversary in 2021 and an Oscar-nominated documentary this year, one in which Ms. Miller is featured. We are still promoting that book and discussing it with crowds and organizations regularly.

Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience, what are the “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer”? Please share a story or example for each.

• As earlier said, I think curiosity is central for a nonfiction author and reporter. One of my most intriguing stories in recent years was a magazine piece about Aesha Ash, a Black woman who is an incredibly gifted ballerina but who faced racism throughout her career. (She is now helping diversity the School of American Ballet, where she is the first Black female faculty member.) I know nothing of ballet, but read as much as I could on the topic to try to successfully tell her story of grit and achievement.
• Persistence. As a reporter and nonfiction author, you will constantly confront barriers — people who don’t want to tell you what you need to know, people who lie to you, documents and histories that are deeply buried in town offices and need to be unearthed. As my book “Seven Million” tells, I spent 15 years searching for a missing man involved with the Brink’s robbery at the core of the book and the subsequent “Holy Heist” documentary. It was an exhausting exercise, but ultimately I learned of his fate — he’d been murdered — and was at the exhumation when his remains were found.
• Tolerance. One must be willing to accept and listen to the motivations and difficulties of people who sometimes live at the fringes. These can be marginalized people, whose voices are too often missed, and, as in my case, people who have done horrific things. I have interviewed mobsters and a serial killer, and, while I am not morally aligned with their actions, I must discuss them honestly and openly to write of them knowingly. With “Seven Million,” I maintained communications for years with an imprisoned murderer who claimed he’d buried the body of the missing man I was trying to find.
• Honesty about your skills. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t think myself among the ranks of virtuoso writers. But I read those authors religiously, both to learn from their writing (though I don’t try to copy) and from the reportorial and research skills of the great nonfiction authors. (Every page of a Robert Caro history is a class unto itself.) I recognize where I can improve, and even after four decades there are so many ways to keep trying to hone my craft. That honesty also extends to the always-present need to edit and re-edit and rewrite. Recognize that your work can always be improved.
• Time management. I live in a world of deadlines, whether for my newspaper, my nonfiction book work, or assistance with the documentary and discussions of future documentaries. It’s important to know my most productive times of the day — I’m a morning person and am sometimes working before 6 a.m. — and I must keep order among my many various projects.

Right now, for instance, I am writing or planning news stories on topics ranging from “excited delirium” (a controversial diagnosis that often rears its head when individuals die while being constrained by law enforcement) to the lineup for the marvelous annual Jazz Festival in Rochester NY, which draws sublime musicians from around the world. I am arranging interviews for another possible documentary from a crime case I covered over a decade ago. I am researching possible topics for my next book (yes, including Jell-O), while promoting “The Prison Guard’s Daughter” and readying for the television premier of “Holy Heist,” which also will be shown at a local independent theater where I and the film’s director, Sebastian Mlynarski, will field questions after the initial showing.

What is the one habit you believe contributed the most to you becoming a great writer? (i.e. perseverance, discipline, play, craft study). Can you share a story or example?

Again, I don’t consider myself a great writer, but a better-than-average one. I think discipline is key, and a recognition of when the spirit, so to speak, is truly moving you. That may lead to a continued writing session of hours, because there are times when the story you’re telling seems to want to leap from you. When I wrote the story of the execution, I spent six straight hours in what then was an attic office, and did nothing but write of those I’d interviewed and what I’d witnessed. The experience had embedded itself so deep in my marrow that writing of it was freeing and cathartic. Conversely, there are times when the writing and story-telling can be as excruciating as a root canal. That’s when you take breaks, find other things to do (walks are cleansing), perhaps even switch to another project or a hobby you have, then return later more revived and fresh.

Which literature do you draw inspiration from? Why?

I read a decent amount of narrative nonfiction, both to learn of the research techniques of the authors and how they then take those dozens or hundreds of hours and weave them into a compelling narrative. There are so many great ones to read — Caro, of course; Katherine Boo; David Grann; Erik Larson; Susan Orlean; and Patrick Radden Keefe among my favorites. I often read with two book markers: One keeps my place in the book and the other keeps track of the footnotes at the back of the book, as I constantly am curious about how and where the authors found particularly compelling nuggets with their research.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

My influence is limited, but I acknowledge that my writing and reporting can affect what people think and believe. In any era, critical thinking and media literacy are vital, and we seem to be moving away from a willingness to research and study and ponder before we establish calcified opinions. Schools need to do more to encourage critical thinking, and that, I believe, is a road toward acceptance and tolerance. We are sadly becoming an intolerant culture, regardless of ideologies. My job has long required that I hear and consider many voices, whatever my deep-held beliefs, and that has allowed me to sometimes see the world through the eyes of others. I wish more people could do so.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

There have been multiple news stories about both of my books, which can be found online, as well as coverage of “Holy Heist.” I also have the website — garycraigwriter.com — where I discuss my projects, past and future. And my journalism work can be found at democratandchronicle.com.

Thank you so much for this. This was very inspiring!