interviewing
Good stories stem from good interviews. After four years of asking people questions and hoping for Humans of New York level insights, I finally feel comfortable as an interviewer.
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My first interview took place during my freshman year in Introduction to journalism. I asked head coach Marc Kruger about one of the girls on his varsity basketball team. I prepared a total of 15 questions, thinking I was ready. Little did I know, I wasn't prepared at all. I wasn't ready for any follow-up questions or for the conversation to stray outside of what I had planned.
As the years flew by, and I have had more sit-down conversations with people, and my way of finding the facts grew as I did.
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For starters, I do not come up with 15 questions, I come up with one, or sometimes two. This question starts me off for a long discussion with my interviewee, this way, they don't feel as pressured to say what I want them to say. It's just a casual and natural conversation. With each thing they add, I ask more questions until we both think we've covered all aspects of what the story will entail. Once the interview is over, I make sure to grab their email in case any facts needed to be confirmed.
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To the left, you can see my jumbled way of taking notes while asking questions. Although it may seem very chaotic to you, it makes perfect sense to me. Along with writing, I keep a voice memo going on my phone so I don't miss anything, and once a solid quote or statistic is said, I mark down the time so later I don't have to go through the seemingly endless interview.
collecting the facts
Interviewing is important, yes, but so is knowing the facts before you go out and ask the questions. Researching online and even asking teachers and students can give you a little more of an insight on what you are going to write and ask about when it comes to the interview. As everyone has learned since elementary school, always use credible sources. Stepping foot onto Wikipedia is never a good idea.
Before writing a story for the Prowler Yearbook last year about how our school received laptops for each student, I made sure to quickly talk to my principal about what one to one was all about. After knowing the logistics, I was able to talk to the main technician who was in charge of it as well as a student that followed alongside him, making for a credible story.
Published in the 2016-2017 Prowler Yearbook
This year, I had the opportunity to talk to my principal about a topic that plagues our school: anxiety and depression. After doing a ton of research from credible sources like the National Sleep Foundation and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, I found a somewhat easy solution for the never-ending problem. A later start time was something kids always craved and authorities ignored, but would it help save the lives of our students' sanity?
Published in issue 2 of the Catalyst
"I wanted everyone from the opposing team to fear me, as if they have to change their entire game plan to stop me."
Vivid quotes are aspects of a story that are very difficult to get, but once you have them, it only makes your story 100 times better. The only way to get these intriguing details are by good interviews. Giving them quality questions helps them come up with answers that are nothing short of amazing.
Published in the 2016-2017 Prowler Yearbook