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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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 looking to have answers to rather than conducting an interview ad hoc - it's easy to 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 they 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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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.

I am naturally a sarcastic, play the Phillistine type of individual - I always look for the twisted meaning in a conversation but there is no malice - I just like the play with words, and most of all, the humour in a conversation. I'm also in my prime - mid forties, solvent, travelled and experienced in life - sounds like an ad in a dating site profile, but this is correct and is reflected in my writing. Cavalier, sometimes off-hand and slightly jaded but with a glint in my eye and as has been noted already, I don't really care what other people think about me (or my writing).

Your writer's voice will depend a lot on your own character, but how you are in a crowd is not necessarily the real you. I know people who are very deeply intelligent, deeply sensitive to the extent that they will cry listening to Beethoven but to the world at large, they are hard as nails. On the other hand, I also know people who look like they would not say boo to a goose but in fact are deeply adventurous and without fear.

When you are writing, no-one need know what your public persona is - you are free to be who and what you really are. How your true personality comes through in your writing gives you your writer's voice - serious, droll, witty, boring, technical, exciting and the adjectives can just go on and on.

Why is having a writer's voice important?

Ask yourself this question - what makes John Grisham different from the legions of wannabe legal fiction writers? What makes Iain Banks different from the hordes of sci-fi wannabe's?

Sure their ideas and plots are great, but no-one has a monopoly on ideas; it is how they tell their story, word for word, that holds the reader and makes them popular and commercially successful. In short, it is their voice - develop yours and let the real you come through. In this respect, we can look at a writer's voice as being the relationship with their readers, probably to such an extent that without ever hearing your real voice, a reader will be able to look at your writing and say "That's so and so!"

Your writer's voice is what will make you different from the crowd and eminently readable.

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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.

You will find here press and media outlets by the bucket load, home and foreign, with some fantastic resources to gain perspective and help from around the globe. The information is not restricted to simply media with links to political and government organisations as well as others.

Try out the light relief section too for some journalist in-jokes:

"I just wake up in the morning and tell myself, "There's been a military coup". An then it all makes sense."

Unnamed US Department of State official

Of particular note for those wanting a grin, check out the Daily Mail headline generator

Does teenage sex tax your house?

Will Ken Livingstone affect your house price with AIDS?

Could Tony Blair strip the middle class of all dignity?

I could just keep going but I'd better stop and behave myself.

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In the UK and European Union, copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the writer, or if the work is published after death of the writer, for 70 years after publication.

A general rule is not to surrender copyright unless you have negotiated suitable compensation. Retaining copyright gives you the right to be rewarded for your work and if successful, may continue to benefit your family for decades after your death. Look at the estate of JRR Tolkien, the author of "Lord of the Rings" and consider the royalties paid the owners of the copyright from the movies that have been made.

You don't have to actually assert copyright on your work but adopting a "belt and braces" approach does no harm and will help to deter those who may seek to infringe your rights. I tend to follow this myself whenever copyright is not passed on with my work, and the usual form is (c) My Name 200X which is the year it is published or created if not published.

There are exceptions to what is subject to copyright. For instance, there is no copyright in a title so you are free to use someone else's title for your own work. You need to take care as you may fall foul of what is known as "the tort of passing off"; in other words, you can be sued if you are attempting to benefit from naming your own work after someone else's popular title in an attempt to make money by trading off the title.

There is also no copyright in ideas unless you have documented in fine detail what that idea is and the idea is 100% genuinely original.

If you use photographs in your work, then copyright will vest in whoever took them, even if you have commissioned them yourself. If you want copyright to vest in you, you must ensurethat the commissioning agreement stipulates this.

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Libel is a publisher's nightmare as it can lead to bankruptcy and the end of a career for you as a writer. Caution is the watchword when handling contentious issues which may put you at loggerheads if you have something you passionately believe in.

The main defence to libel is in writing the truth. What constitutes the "truth" may be a very difficult thing to prove once you are in a court of law and you are required to back up your claims. From bitter personal experience of courts in the UK and the US, though fortunately not for libel, I have learned to appreciate that there is a huge difference between what I know and what I can prove.

Libel is something that can affect both the non-fiction and fiction writer. Writing a denigrating piece that places a product in a bad light can be considered libellous, so product or service comparisons must be made with care. Using a fictional name for a character in a novel that you are basing upon a real life individual will not protect you from a libel suit if that person is identifiable from your writing.

It is necessary to demonstrate that you have been malicious or reckless when demonstrating libel. This is why you see disclaimers along the lines of "All characters are fictional and any relation to persons living or dead is unintentional." but you still must take reasonable steps to ensure that you are not using someone's name who actually exists. If you were to write about a politician or business person who is corrupt, you should Google that name and ensure no politician exists out there that has the name of your fictional character.

You cannot libel the dead so essentially you can write what you want about them. It would lead you open to criticism about making allegations against someone wh is unable to defend themselves or indeed, you may indirectly libel living relatives of the deceased. Best not to get involved in either case.

If you inadvertently libel someone, the best course of action is to consult a lawyer and your publisher. Issuing an apology and a retraction tend to do the trick but libel in the UK is serious and it can be horribly expensive so take care.

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I find this useful when considering if "I" should be used instead of "me".

Think about the sentence I have just written and substitute "Me" for the initial "I" - "Me find this useful..." just does not make any real sense in that context and "I" is correctly used.

Now think about this sentence:

"They gave my father and I drinks at the pub."

That sounds natural and correct to me but it is not correct - remove "my father" and you would have "They gave I drinks at the pub." which sounds wrong and indeed it is - using "me" is better, so:

"My father and me were bought drinks at the pub."

Now look at this example:

"My son and I went to the park."

Removing "My son" leaves us with "I went to the park." and that is correct - in this instance "I" is correctly used rather than me.

I see "myself" used to get around this grammatical conundrum but that just seems clumsy.

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GAF is just one of several sites that provide work, and we have already covered others such as Guru.com which offers in my opinion, better work, better pay but you have to have something to offer if you stand any chance of competing.

Other sites you can take a peek include the following:

Freelance UK

This is a didactic resource filled with help and material to help you get your self organised but light on actually bringing writers and clients together.

Probably the best resource for getting you on the straight and narrow with taxes and accounting as well as providing good information on copywriting rates of pay.

Freelance Writers

This is a site that does bring writers and clients together and registration is required. A fee is payable which varies depending on the level of service you are using, but on the upside there are no commissions deducted from payments to you for completed work.

This follows a standard format of projects being posted and writers bidding on them from which a winner is selected. A unique selling point is that this is not a database driven site and it is more of a directory i.e. when you communicate with the website you are dealing with a person at the other end not an automated set of database instructions. This is supposed to help you position yourself and your work more effectively.

Worldwide Freelance Writer

This site is a cross between those two above. It is packed with information but targetted at international writers and commissions. This site acts more as a listing site where your services are given a window onto the world and if someone is looking at commissioning a piece they will contact you rather than a bidding mechanism.

For $30 or so you get an entry in their writers database for the year which compares well with $12 per month for GAF as a Gold member (which you need to have if you expect to win any real work).

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It's noisy but you don't hear anything as you are concentrating on what you are going to do.

Smell is the sense that is heightened the most when you are scared and can't see anything and your ears won't work. It stinks of piss and puke with a waft of pure freshness coming at you in insufficient quantity to clear your gut from being scared and taking away the metal taste in your mouth.

Now it's your turn with the rear-front shuffle taking you to the black hole while your arms are aching with holding onto the weight and I want to throw up but I didn't eat anything on purpose.

It's pointless looking up because the cloud blanks out the stars you otherwise would expect to not see, a double negative on a good night that tells you it's open.

Now your ears tell you what's happening. Shouts from others that have gone before and are coming after.

Fumbling around with D-rings that pose no challenge to someone who has spent a brief life unhooking a rear fastening bra, one-handed when inebriated with a nice pair waiting for your attention.

A firm tug, gentle oscillation and then the wait for the sound that tells you Mother Earth is claiming you and she is a hard mistress.

"Fear - Relief - Panic" but I prefer "Every landing you can walk away from is good one."

It's taken several hours of being thrown around to get here but less than sixty seconds to get back where God intended - walking on the ground and giving it the "Big I Am" with colleagues.

Then there is the awful dawning realisation that the nearest pub is seven thousand miles away and jumping in the dark is not the scariest thing in your life."

Twenty years ago I would not have been able to write this.

If you read this far, you know how far I have come.

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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.

Here are some examples to chew on:

"There is a car accident reported on the news."

My version

"The news reported a car accident"

Note the use of the active voice in my corrected version - remember with active voice, follow the sequence "Doer - Action - Event" not the reverse.

"There is some more work to be done."

My Version

"Do more work!"

Something we have all heard our boss tell us, still it imparts the message imperatively.

Another sin I commit is using double negatives. As a mathematical scholar in my spare time, I understand a double negative means a positive so; -1 +(-1) = +2; try explaining the logic of that to an 11 year old!

When it comes to writing it is not pretty and very easy to lose your reader with the logical twists and turns. The example given was "He is not unwilling to help." when simply writing "He will help." is clearer and easier to both write and understand.

Finally, parallel construction was a new one on me - here, you use the same grammatical form when providing several ideas within the same sentence or piece. An example is:

"Train with weights, running and swim."

My Version

"Train with weights, running and swimming."

Quite a neat little site, and as I enjoy learning something new each day, I feel it was a productive few minutes.

Related posts:

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