Writing academic papers will require a referencing style; Michael has touched on the use of Chicago, MLA and APA in the past but in this post I’m going to explain and outline the APA referencing system.

APA stands for the American Psychological Association and their referencing style is very common.  I’ll cover off UK and US referencing styles in future posts so don’t think I’m singling APA out for special attention.

The APA system is broken into two main parts:

• In-text citations

• A reference list

In-Text Citations 

In-text citations as the name suggests are included within the text; for direct quotations they state the name of the writer, the publication and page number with the date published of the source you are using.  Where you paraphrase the source you only need the name of the writer and the date published but the wording must be your own.

An example is:

Understanding astronomical variances in stellar drift is difficult, as has been observed (ERH, 2008, The Moon is My Oyster) “Stellar drift has significant implications for worm hole transportation.”

This would be the correct use of an APA style citation for the initial use of the source, but you only need to state the writer’s name in subsequent citations IF within the same paragraph, so:

As has also been noted (ERH), “Stargate SG-1 has a great deal of good science to offer and not simply entertainment.”

If you are quoting at length (more than 40 words) you should cite the quote WITHOUT quotation marks by inserting the quote in a separate paragraph that is indented between 5 and 7 spaces, preferably using single spacing and still add the name of the author, publication date and page number in brackets at the beginning or end of the text.

An example would be:

Blah blah blah blah blah:

Lots of Stargate blah,lots and lots of blah, Teal’c looks silly with hair on, O’Neill should grow up and Samantha Carter really ought to let her hair down far more often.  In fact, Doctor Jackson is the only decent character and that is because he is Canadian. (ERH, 2008 p7)

…and more blah.

The Reference List

APA follows a referencing format that is determined by the publication media you are writing for; the split is between writing for a book (or producing a report) or for a journal.

The referencing list is placed at the bottom of the page within which you are citing the source.

For Books and Reports

Author, (date), Title, Place of Publication, Publisher

e.g. Smith K,(2008), Using APA Referencing in Practice, London UK, Supaproofread

For a Journal

Author, (Date), Title, Journal Name, Volume (Issue), Page

e.g. Smith K, 2008, Stargate Science, SG-1 Fan Magazine, 12(3), 22-33

 There are other rules regarding citing multiple authors, using et al, citing an author who has in turn cited another and so on and you can gain a greater understanding of the referencing style by visiting this helpful site - ACU

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Lynn is a recent acquaintance of mine and a refugee from the cold, wintery English weather so she has chosen to live in cold, wintery Austria instead.

Lynn and I met after she read some of my personal writings and was kind enough to comment and since then we have been keeping tabs on how each other has been getting on.

Lynn is far more “arty” than I am while multi tasking is second nature as Lynn combines motherhood with heavy metal loving sprogs, performing as a musician and actress together with translation work while playing the organ in unheated Austrian churches on Sundays.  Lynn also writes with whatever spare time she can muster.

So without permission (my own sole responsibility) with full attribution (Lynn Ford, 2008 The New Curiosity Shop) here is one of Lynn’s poems:

Over the Water.

At the moment of your death
The sea stood transfixed
As the pattern of your life
Fled brightly over the water.

But time’s great heart
Shuddered into motion
And the cold bell of grief
Began to toll.

Lynn:

This is my present to you and thank you for your kind comments on my own work.

 Writing brought Lynn and I together, and like so many other friends I have accumulated, my writing has attracted them to me as much as their own efforts at expression has attracted me to them.  A commercial, artistically challenged beast I may be but I know what I like.

ERH

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It has struck me that having to interview a subject as part of an assignment is something that is not as straight forward as I thought.  Interviewing someone for a job is not the same as interviewing a subject that you are then going to use to write up a piece, and in either case, interviewing is something that takes practice to get what you want out of the meeting.

Here are my thoughts on how to approach and conduct an interview with a subject.  Note that these are born out of minimal experience interviewing a subject as part of my writing career so pitch in with your criticism and suggestions.

What is the Purpose of the Interview?

Establish what the objective of the interview is to be.  Are you interviewing the subject because you are writing about them or will be featuring them in your commission?  Are you looking to use the subject’s knowledge and experience to support or counter the position you are taking with your commission? 

Think before you start as all else follows.

Research the Subject and Topic Area Beforehand

You may be looking to elicit information from your subject and build up your own knowledge on the topic but that does not preclude you from equipping yourself with some knowledge in anticipation.  Imagine you were interviewing Bill Gates or Richard Branson and your first question was “So, what is the name of your company?”; I doubt the interview would last 30 more seconds.

If you want your subject to open up with you, show you have some knowledge of both them and the topic which in turn will help them engage with you.  You also will be able to identify information that is important if you have some knowledge to start with otherwise you may overlook something important.

Prepare a List of Questions Beforehand

One interview I conducted had to have prepared questions submitted in advance to the subject.  Even so, you should already cover off the questions you are lookng to have answers to rather than conducting an interview ad hoc - it’s easy t forget things and preparing questions beforehand will help you structure the interview and tactfully, keep control of it.

Mix Open with Closed Questions

If you are simply asking closed questions, e.g. “Are you a woman?” to which the answer can only be yes or no, you will have a very stilted interview, very formal, and you will miss out on a mine of information that the subject has but which you will not have opened up.  Closed questions need to be used when you are looking to nail a factual matter down as open questions will provide fuzzy answers.

Asking open questions, e.g. “How often do you review your work and why?”, to which the subject cannot answer yes or no and must provide a discursive answer, will help you to get the subject responding to you with answers based upon their experiences, opinions and actual practice. 

A good interview will mix the two sets of questions which will help the interview proceed and also produce information and facts that you need.

You Have Two Ears and One Mouth - Use them in that Ratio

The subject is not giving you their time so you can dominate the conversation - you actually want them to do most of the talking.  Your job as the interviewer is to come away with the information you are looking for, and hopefully important information that you did not expect to find.

Let your subject do most of the talking and listen.  This does not mean it is a one way conversation as your job is to recognise when a question needs to be asked or a the subject is to be prompted.  Ask your subject to expand on statements thaey have made and feedback responses they have already made to reinforce the points they make and demonstrate you are actually listening and interested, e.g. “You mentioned your time in Paris in the nineties; tell me more about your experiences their and what challenges you faced.”

Leave the Door Open at the End

You can never be certain that you have got everything you need from an interview.  You may forget something or research down the line may mean you need to go back to your subject and ask for clarification or more information.

Before you quit the interview, take the time to thank your subject and ask them if they are happy for you to come to them with more questions at a later date.  It doesn’t have to be face-to-face, email or telephone can suffice but make sure you ask them and get them to say “yes”; by this time unless you have really upset them, they are unlikely to say “no”.

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This post is not so much about writing per se as it is about taking control of your own life and work habits.  I’ve been working for myself for so many years that many things I do in my working day are simply taken for granted.  Work discipline is only a part of the traits that lead to financial stability in the work that you do to earn your way.  Financial stability is something we all need, irrespective of creative drive and urges, and working in a more certain environment is a prerequisite for success, financial and otherwise.

When working for yourself, there are no excuses.  There is only yourself and you are entirely self-reliant on how well you perform; clients may come and go, bills may be paid or not and you may deserve a well earned break at the end of the day or not - it is all up to you.

Writing is a pleasure for me, it also started out as an expedient way to make some money, any money, in a set of not very nice circumstances.  Today, writing is both my pleasure and my main source of income and I am not going hungry except because of my diet plans (I’ve lost a stone and half in the last month).

Here are some of the things I now take for granted but they are essential to gaining control over your working life as a writer or self-employed individual of any description.

Results matter not what goes into producing them

My first marriage ended in divorce because I was a workaholic - I would think nothing of putting in sixteen hours a day, six or seven days a week.  My income reflected the effort and my business grew rapidly until I sold it five years later.  My productivity was abysmal - once I had achieved a degree of stability in my income, I eased off the hours I was spending, mostly because my girlfriend post-separation would not let me get away with that nonsense and she was more successful financially than I was.  As much as I have a distaste for those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing, she showed me how by disciplining my working effort and time, I could achieve far greater productivity than simply hewing away at the coal face.  A year later my profits tripled and I was working a basic forty to fifty hour week - working longer simply resulted in diminishing return.

Remember, it is only the result that matters in commercial terms not what you have to put in to achieve it - your customers will not give a hoot about anything else and neither should you.

Separate Private from Working Life

The two do not mix no matter what the justification.  I have a separate place to work within my home, a separate telephone line for clients, and a set time when I am going to be working unless it is for me and my pleasure.  Nothing imposes upon that unless it is absolutely necessary such as the sprog has been taken to hospital or a scheduled dental appointment appointment. 

Sort your schedule out and stick to it.  You don’t have to work nine to five, but you do need to work - writing is work; respect it as such and stick to your hours.

If you can’t or won’t do it yourself - pay someone else to do it

The thing that springs immediately to mind is the book-keeping.  I worked as an accountant many years ago and I hated it.  I dabbled with running Quickbooks to handle things but I would rather have my privates treated like a slab of cheddar with a cheese grater!

Outsource that which you cannot do yourself or will not do.  In either event, you need to ensure things run smoothly with your profit making activities.  The only thing that should stop you from making profit is your private, personal life when you are having “down time” - anything else is a waste.

Let people know what you do

If you are not going to tell people what you do, no-one else is going to unless you are paying them.  Even when you pay them, you are unlikely to recover your investment.  The best person to handle marketing is you so learn to market yourself and learn it well.  There are hungry writers and stuffed ones - in both cases, good and bad writers populate that classification.  The hungry, good writers are just no good at marketing themselves and are heading for a job at Sainsbury’s and repossession.

Learn from your mistakes but trust your own instincts

I once gave a speech on being an entrepreneur.  I said that every day I had to make decisions, some I took a lot of time over such as when deciding company strategy that committed my money to the cause.  Some I made instantly such as when chewing my rogue senior salesman out for not paying his parking fee that I got stuck with. 

How many decisions do you think I got right?

Most of them?

All of them?

None of them?

A few of them?

How many decisions I got right is immaterial - what matters is I actually took decisions and moved forward irrespective of the consequences.

Bad decisions do not exist.  You always can learn from screwing up.

The worst thing you can do is to make no decision but then you already know that or you wouldn’t be reading this.

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The three “R’s” of environmental conservation are “Reduce, Re-use and Recycle” but the application of this trio can just as easily be applied to getting your commercial portfolio built up without having to have a commission from a FTSE 100 bluechip to make you look good.

Reduce the number of writing samples you have in your portfolio that deal with your contributions to the local church magazine or poetry competition.  Commercial companies are not going to hire you on the basis of how many words you wrote nor any editorial credit you obtained for this type of publication.  When you are looking for paid work, concentrate on targetting the market that your existing portfolio reflects and reduce wasted marketing effort on completely strange and disassociated sectors.

Re-use existing work that you have.  I have been working and studying for over twenty years and have a wealth of stored documents that I have authored or had a hand in, and this includes compiling annual reports for publication with company financial accounts, tax guides summarising the Budget, a guide to contract law written by my law lecturer, numerous technical reports on personal and corporate financial matters not to mention my own meanderings.  It does not matter how old these samples are, they can be re-used and you can always polish your samples up by having them printed out on a glossy sheet of paper and some graphical work using a pop art program off the PC.  It’s all yours, use it and work related, commercially orientated writing will hold more sway with a hard bitten capitalist looking to commission some copy than a summary of the marrow competition at the village fete.

Recycle your contacts and existing clients.  I actively canvass my clients for permission to use them as referees and to use the work produced in my own marketing efforts.  Look at this as developing a closer relationship with your existing clients and you will be surprised at how many will actively look to help you get promoted.  This is in essence, good business for all concerned and the three golden rules of selling are simply - see the people, see the people and see the people.  Most of my work comes from existing clients so keep in touch with them.  I also keep every piece of work I produce as it saves on research.  I took a quickie assignment on today regarding cosmetic dentists in London and using a US commission as the basis, I made $18 for 10 minutes to produce 500 words.  Never throw anything away on your computer as you can always resell it with some slight tweaking.

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