Supaproofread Blog

Interviewing a Subject

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?

Do You Have Your Writer’s Voice?

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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National Union of Journalists

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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Copyright and Freelance Writing

Copyright exists in anything you create, as soon as you write something down or record it in some manner, you have copyright. The work must be your own, so plagiarised material is excluded. If you are employed or have a contract which stipulates that copyright passes to whoever has commissioned your work, then copyright vests with your employer.

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.
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Libel and Freelance Writing

Libel is where you write something that is damaging to another person. If your writing is professionally damaging to that person, the scope for redress is even greater.

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.

I or Me?

One trick to use when checking your grammar is to remove part of your sentence and see if it still makes sense.

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.