Compared to other forms of writing, interview-based articles are a little more complicated. This is because of the numerous answers they have to handle and the effort it takes to make these answers coherent enough. The goal of every interview article is to engage readers with insights from the subject’s personality.
Nothing sustains your readers like a well-presented interview article. So, here are a few tips for writing interview-based articles:
i. Have an organised list of questions: Since every interview article starts with an actual interview, you must first draft a list of well-curated questions. You can do this by researching on your subject, the topic of the interview, and the type of questions to be asked. You can also watch previous interviews that your interviewee has had to find out what questions were asked and others that weren’t. From your research, you can come up with specific questions that will provoke unique answers and make your subject eager to speak.
ii. The ace interview session: Once your questions are ready, you can confidently run the interview. Remember that your subject needs to be comfortable and so do you. During the interview, stay in control in order not to overshoot your time range. While you may need to take notes, it is more important to record the interview. This helps to ensure that no information is lost. Don’t be overly optimistic.
Also, try to make the interview session lively. It doesn’t have to be too serious or too friendly; you just need to keep the environment free of tension. This will make the interview interesting and engaging.
iii. Choose a format: Every article has a format and a style. You can choose to write your article in the form of questions and answers, or a narration, or merge both formats. The choice is yours, just ensure you give your readers a great and meaty experience.
iv. Clean and polish your article: Once you have decided on a format, write your article following the best practices for the format you have chosen. Your article doesn’t have to be perfect; you just have to put something down first and polish it later. Make sure you take out stall words (like, umm, ermm, you know, and so on) and make your thoughts coherent enough without changing the subject’s message.
Your questions can be written in no particular order. Just start the article with questions that will trigger engaging answers to hold your readers’ attention.
v. Proofread your article: Like every other article, proofreading is the final stage of writing. You’d want to read through your article thoroughly to ensure it is free of errors. You also want to make sure that your article doesn’t say more than your subject. Remove assumptions and ensure you spell names correctly.
These tips for writing interview-based articles will certainly help you become a better writer.
Are there other tips you employ when writing interview-based articles? Kindly share them with us in the comment section.