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?

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Read a paragraph from one of your favourite novel writer – then do the same with another.

Can you tell the difference between the two?

I like science fiction and Iain Banks is a favourite. I also like John Grisham novels when I’m on a transatlantic flight. the two writing styles are very different irrespective of the US/UK spellings.

The difference is their voice.

It may seem strange to ask if you have a voice as a writer – after all you are not speaking.
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Why I have never used their site I do not know – I stumbled upon it quite by accident and spent several hours tracing through the links and resources they have.

You can find the site here.

The link is to the media resources for the London freelancers part of the site, but this itself is only a small taste of what is on offer.

As a research resource it is brilliant and I particularly liked the help it gave on how to handle using translation engines. I frequently use Babelfish (Babel from the biblical tower where different languages were spoken and Babel Fish from the Douglas Adams invention in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy). I speak rusty French and Jurassic Russian, and use the site when I’m writing or reading material in either language as a check on my own understanding. The advice the NUJ site gives is to use more than one translation engine so you are able to comprehend better the “shadow of meaning” that the words convey. I like that phrase “shadow of meaning” and the advice is sound.
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Periodically I research for myself on the subject of “writing”; that is a bit of a shocker as it is my chosen means of earning a crust.

I came across a site which you can find here – www.grammarbook.com – an American site again but informative and helpful if you just watch for those Americanized spellings.

One recommendation I found useful is avoiding the overuse of “there is”, “there are” and “it was”; something I am perennially guilty of.

Remember one of the Supaproofread writing tips – if you can dispose of a word in your piece then remove it as long as your message is not affected. This is simply good practice to impart your ideas with economy so the message is not lost in an overgrown bramble of words.
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I worked as a salesman for many years and I was good at it – good enough to build my own company and flog it for enough beer tokens to keep me happy for the rest of my days. I know what I’m talking about when it comes to selling.

Writing good copy is something I have never mastered and I have a constant battle within myself when it comes to expressing the emotional nature of intellectual facts and features. I am by nature an analytical individual, I like facts and figures when it comes to making a buying decision and rarely does the emotional aspect of a purchase strike my consciousness. That flies against the general doctrine of advertisers and copywriters who believe that facts and figures only help to justify a purchase and the real decision is based upon emotions and feelings.

You can see this dichotomy all over the place – how many times have you come across web copy such as this for Sean Nalewanyj and his bodybuilding course. Very emotionally based, playing to the desire to be ripped and muscled, referring to “getting the girl” and a reader’s feelings of self-esteem and perception.
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