Deal with the actual interview. You'll leave your interview either with a set of notes, a sound recording, or (preferably) both. While the interview & interviewee are still fresh in your mind, you'll want to tidy up your notes & check any special spellings or names.
Wait a day or two after the interview was conducted. This should allow you to clear your mind of any preconceived subjects or storylines. You want the interviewees's words, ideas & actions to set the agenda- not your own. If you use a recording device, you may want to consider hiring a transcriptionist to put the recording into writing for you. Thischeives the same purpose.
With a pen & paper in h&, read the transcript in its entirety. Write down any broad subjects that stick out to you-- are there any items, events or ideas that the person seems to be going back to? Anything mentioned twice, or with great passion? Try to gather at least three to five broad subjects from this first reading.
Narrow down these broad items. This is good time to re-read the assignment from your editor. Did she specifically ask for a slant on the subject's meaty childhood? Is he looking to promote a certain service? Compare your broad subjects to your research on the person (conducted before the interview even took place, right?), to your editor's wishes, & perhaps even to your own interest in the person. Then, pull out & refine these broad subject areas, & place them (temporarily) in your transcript as your subheads. If you like, you can rename them to catch subhead titles now, or, see where the article goes.
Using Word's cut & paste function, pull the interviewees quotes about each subhead into that subhead area. You are now pulling the subjects words out of the chronological order that they occurred in during the interview, & placing them, instead, under subject heads/subtitles/main idea areas. It is not necessary to pull whole paragraphs. At this point, you'll have a feeling of the direction your article is going in. Get the best quotes sorted, & leave the rest.
This is where you practice your craft. You'll now have three to five subtitles, depending on your target length, & some great quotes about those subjects. It is now your duty to go in & introduce the subject, the history, the research, & why each idea is important. Then, use transitional phrasing such as "Mr. Blank agrees..." or "Mrs. So&So makes this clear when she..." to move into your subjects quotes. Finish out the paragraph, subtitle or idea with more research or exposition, & wrap it up or transition it to the next subtitle.
With the middle of your article done, it's time to write the introduction & conclusion. The introduction should reflect on the article in general, & also frame the interviewee in some way. Many writers will avoid giving boring facts in the first paragraph. "Mr. Blank was born in..." likely won't hook a reader as well as an astonishing story, quote or fact from Mr. Blank's life. The conclusion often refers back to the introduction, or to some interesting part of the interview, & sometimes gives a look ahead to the interviewee's future plans.
Re-read. Revise. Re-write. Repeat.
Tips:
Conduct research on your subject prior to interviewing.
Follow your editor's specifications & listen to their take on the interviewee's interest points.
Allow yourself a day or two after the rough draft before editing, if possible.
What You Need:
Assignment
Interviewee
Notepad or MP3 recorder
Transcriptionist
Word processing software
Wait a day or two after the interview was conducted. This should allow you to clear your mind of any preconceived subjects or storylines. You want the interviewees's words, ideas & actions to set the agenda- not your own. If you use a recording device, you may want to consider hiring a transcriptionist to put the recording into writing for you. Thischeives the same purpose.
With a pen & paper in h&, read the transcript in its entirety. Write down any broad subjects that stick out to you-- are there any items, events or ideas that the person seems to be going back to? Anything mentioned twice, or with great passion? Try to gather at least three to five broad subjects from this first reading.
Narrow down these broad items. This is good time to re-read the assignment from your editor. Did she specifically ask for a slant on the subject's meaty childhood? Is he looking to promote a certain service? Compare your broad subjects to your research on the person (conducted before the interview even took place, right?), to your editor's wishes, & perhaps even to your own interest in the person. Then, pull out & refine these broad subject areas, & place them (temporarily) in your transcript as your subheads. If you like, you can rename them to catch subhead titles now, or, see where the article goes.
Using Word's cut & paste function, pull the interviewees quotes about each subhead into that subhead area. You are now pulling the subjects words out of the chronological order that they occurred in during the interview, & placing them, instead, under subject heads/subtitles/main idea areas. It is not necessary to pull whole paragraphs. At this point, you'll have a feeling of the direction your article is going in. Get the best quotes sorted, & leave the rest.
This is where you practice your craft. You'll now have three to five subtitles, depending on your target length, & some great quotes about those subjects. It is now your duty to go in & introduce the subject, the history, the research, & why each idea is important. Then, use transitional phrasing such as "Mr. Blank agrees..." or "Mrs. So&So makes this clear when she..." to move into your subjects quotes. Finish out the paragraph, subtitle or idea with more research or exposition, & wrap it up or transition it to the next subtitle.
With the middle of your article done, it's time to write the introduction & conclusion. The introduction should reflect on the article in general, & also frame the interviewee in some way. Many writers will avoid giving boring facts in the first paragraph. "Mr. Blank was born in..." likely won't hook a reader as well as an astonishing story, quote or fact from Mr. Blank's life. The conclusion often refers back to the introduction, or to some interesting part of the interview, & sometimes gives a look ahead to the interviewee's future plans.
Re-read. Revise. Re-write. Repeat.
Tips:
Conduct research on your subject prior to interviewing.
Follow your editor's specifications & listen to their take on the interviewee's interest points.
Allow yourself a day or two after the rough draft before editing, if possible.
What You Need:
Assignment
Interviewee
Notepad or MP3 recorder
Transcriptionist
Word processing software
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