Interviewingandsourcing

Tricks, tips, techniques

In memoir, the main “source” for information is usually the writer

In some cases, such as with David Carr and David Maclean—and for longer narratives—the unreliable narrator may talk to others

But in reported essays and literary journalism, the sources may stretch farther than those close to the original source (the writer)

Interviewing sources, and research, can enhance and deepen our topics

Interviews and research provide credibility Moving outside our own brains and experiences

broadens our expertise, knowledge and ideas for all writing

This is why so many nonfiction and fiction writers work in both genres—because there is so much cross-over in the techniques of gathering information for a story and for the techniques of writing fiction and creative nonfiction

And also because non-fiction provides more opportunities to publish and get paid to write

Believe it or not, many people who interview for a living are actually shy in real life

The more you do it, the easier it becomes

The interview subject is probably more nervous than you are

Interviews are useful in numerous ways: they garner information, they strengthen your ability to write and her dialogue, they create connection

“Journalism is kind of like dating. You have to be yourself but less. When I interview someone, I become smaller than him. I slouch down, and sometimes I get a bad neck. I look at him and I listen. Intension is important too, because your intentions come through.

—Mike Sager, Esquire contributing writer

Or at least some version of your self

Avoid email interviews

Online research is helpful, but interviewing as many people as possible for a story will garner info/ideas unavailable online.

Phone versus in-person?

Particularly for sensitive interviews

Trust that you will be honest, accurate

“Act like a human being.”

Zoe last week undertook a challenging interview.

Read up on the subject or person

Ask the person you’ll be interviewing to send you any info ahead of time he or she wants you to know.

Have questions ready to go

Familiarize yourself with other articles on your topic/person

Send an email that explains why you want the story and shows the subject you’re interested.

Dear Councilor X,

I am writing a story on the City Council’s decision to ban nude bicyclists. You spoke against this decision based on your history as a nude bicyclist. I’d love to hear more about this. Is there a convenient time this week for an interview?

A phone interview deprives you of “color”—describe the person, what they look like, what they wear, the environment of their home or office. Or, if you’re in public, maybe the environment interacts with the subject.

Beneath a big tent hastily erected on a roof behind the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, a collection of modern gladiators gathers behind a portable stage, twenty-two broken noses and sets of cauliflower ears standing in a reverent semicircle around a familiar pug — the former bar bouncer, hotel bellhop, and personal fitness trainer who has, over the past decade, helped to turn the Ultimate Fighting Championship into a $1 billion business with fans across the globe.

—Meet Dana White, the King of Mixed Martial Arts, Esquire Magazine, by Mike Sager

“An assistant greets me and asks me to wait in the living room, which is suspended seemingly right over the crashing waves of the Pacific…after a few minutes, the assistant leads me up to the star’s bedroom. According otLawrence-Bullard, the bed originally belonged to Natacha Rambova, who was the wife of Rudolph Valentino. —Cher profile by Krista Smith, Vanity Fair, December 2010

The best way to have a spontaneous conversation is to have your questions prepared.

Crowd-source!

Open-ended questions are:

Flexible

Exploratory

Can reveal more than the source realizes

Closed-Ended questions are:

Designed to pull specific information

Can be yes or no

May often be information you really need!

How old are you?

Do you plan to vote in November?

How do you feel about turning 18 in today’s economy?

What considerations are you weighing in the November election?

Confusing questions can create confusing answers.

Make sure you understand what the person is saying. Ask them to repeat if you don’t.

Type up your notes right away while they are fresh in your mind. Look for great quotes, a possible lead, info you need to follow up on.

Always take notes even if you’re recording—don’t rely solely on a recording

Have multiple writing utensils

Look up when you’re writing

Learn to write in a short-hand you can decipher

Don’t be afraid to ask people to slow down

Make them spell everything!

If you are listening when you interview, you may hear things you need clarified. Ask those questions. Make the source explain.

Ask for additional sources to talk to, additional information. This will lead to stronger stories and additional stories.

Again, if you have what you need, ask if the subject has anything to add. Say, “thank you for your time.”

Don’t let the source talk at you

Have a conversation: listen and ask questions based on what you want to know.

Use memorable quotes for “direct quotation.”

Don’t quote factual/expository information. “I am 18,” is not an interesting quote. As with fiction, dialogue should convey emotion, should mean more than it says.

Put punctuation within the quote marks.

Correct grammar? Case by case.

As you’ll see in “Devil’s Bait” and “The Fourth State of Matter,” both stories make use of other forms of sourcing beyond people sourcing:

Newspaper articles

Historical documents

Public records

The internet!

Immersion reporting

Sourcing for information should be accessible, but not intrusive

When you are writing to be read, you don’t want footnotes and academic citation

But you also don’t want information that appears out of nowhere and doesn’t seem credible

“For Paul, it started with a fishing trip. For Lenny, it was an addict whose knuckles were covered in sores. Dawn found pimples clustered around her swimming goggles. Kendra noticed ingrown hairs. Patricia was attacked by sand flies on a Gulf Coast beach. Sometimes the sickness starts as blisters, or lesions, or itching, or simply a terrible fog settling over the mind, over the world.”

(The Devil’s Bait, Leslie Jamison)

First, you decide what you want to write about

Then, you see if there are obvious people to talk with connected to that topic

Research what’s been written already

You will be surprised and amazed how many people will make themselves available to you for information and for an interview

Both of these pieces are a cross between literary journalism & personal reportage

They have reporting in them—journalism—but the authors are also in the stories, have a connection to the story

As with fiction, you can choose the POV for your reported piece; perhaps it’s “I,” perhaps it’s third person

As with fiction, that decision should be made not for convenience, but based on how close you think the narrator should be to the narrative for the piece’s effectiveness.