by Julie Lavender @JLavenderWrites
As a freelance stringer for my local newspaper, I’m usually the one asking questions. I’m always impressed with how well my subjects can think on the fly, answering succinctly and with great insight to the subject at hand.
I think the reason I’m usually amazed at their answers, is because I don’t do well answering questions off the cuff. I need time to process the question, organize my thoughts, and put my answer into words that are in some semblance of order and actually make sense.
I get nervous when I have to answer questions on the spot. How about you? When you’re interviewed about a newly published book or your current writing project, can you handle the barrage of questions?
If you’ve ever asked the reporter who conducted the interview if you can look over the article before it goes to print, you were probably given a respectful “no.” Reporters and editors have their reasons, usually related to word count.
But, there are a couple of tricks you can try, to make sure the end product – a published article in which you’re the subject – comes out exactly as you want.
When you’ve completed the interview, ask:
- Do you want to fact-check the article with me when you’re finished writing it? Make sure the reporter has your contact info and be willing to respond quickly when the reporter calls again, as they are often on a tight deadline to meet the print time.
- Could you please call or email me after you’ve completed the story and share the direct quotes you plan to use? Again, you may get told no, but you won’t know unless you ask, and the reporter may be willing to share just that part of the article. I personally like to do that because it’s very easy to misunderstand what the subject means by a particular statement or to mishear what the interviewee says.
- If I think of something else, is it possible to get back with you? When is the deadline for the article? Sometimes, I think of the greatest answer in the whole wide world …. thirty minutes after the interview is over. Be sure to find out if you can text or email or call with other thoughts you had, but be reasonable with that time frame. If your brilliant words don’t surface until several days after the interview, it’s most likely too late to get back to the reporter as he or she has probably already turned the story in to meet a deadline.
Those three questions can sometimes help avoid errors in the reporter’s final manuscript and make you feel more comfortable and satisfied with your responses, too. After all, the bottom line is that we want to give our best to the Lord, and being our best in an interview ultimately gives God the glory and helps us be a good steward of our time and efforts.
TWEETABLE
Though she’ll be nervous, Julie Lavender looks forward to a few interviews when her parenting book, 365 Ways To Love Your Child: Turning Little Moments into Lasting Memories, published by Revell, releases in October. She plans to ask those three questions, to make she her giddy excitement over the book’s release didn’t cause her to stumble over her own words. Julie would love for you to connect with her on a Facebook Group page by the same name, 365 Ways to Love Your Child (go here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/607967430049843/) to join the conversation about showing love to a child and maybe she’ll practice a few interview questions with you there!
Definitely a "keeper" message. Thank you for your sage counsel ma'am. I love how these questions give you an opportunity to further "shape" the story. Usually, interviews are when folks are most nervous. I can't tell you how many times I've walked out of one and thought "Rats! I should have mentioned this, or said that." God's blessings.
ReplyDeleteYou are so kind, J.D.! And, I get so nervous any time I have to answer questions on the fly. Not that I've been the subject of an interview very often, but I have interviewed others often, and I never want to do them a disservice by printing something that they didn't mean to say, or by leaving something out that they hoped they'd said.
DeleteJulie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the wisdom and experience built into this article about working with reporters. As a long-term journalist, I know reporters are reluctant to send the article before it is printed--but the focus on fact-checking and accuracy is another way which many people will never consider unless they read this article.
Terry
author of 10 Publishing Myths, Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed
Thank you so much, Terry, for your kind words. My shorter-term journalism time has taught me that people can get so nervous that they misspeak and/or reporters can be writing so fast that they make mistakes. Always great to fact-check and this opens the door for that opportunity.
DeleteThank you for this great information. I appreciate your wisdom.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Melissa! You are very kind! I've enjoyed my journalism time and learned SO much over the years!
DeleteWhooey, can I relate to not thinking fast on my feet. That's why I'm a writer, and not a speaker. Well, I do speak at places, but I write out my speech ahead of time. Good to know these questions might actually get a positive response, Julie!
ReplyDeleteI do NOT think fast on my feet! And, then, ten seconds later, I can't even remember what I'd just rambled about! And, reporters certainly strive for accuracy, so this gives them a chance to do just that! Thanks for reading and sharing!
DeleteThanks for this great article. It's so helpful. I appreciate what you have put down on paper for us to read and use if the situation comes our way.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Diane! These things are great to have in our thoughts ahead of time so we can be prepared!! I just don't do well thinking fast on my feet, ever!! I like to be prepared!
DeleteGreat advice! Thanks, Julie!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Crystal!
DeleteJulie, I can relate to having trouble thinking on the fly. As for writing newspaper articles, I once wrote a three-part series on the horse-and-buggy Mennonite people who operated businesses in my community. They gladly agreed to be interviewed when I said I would show them the completed article before turning it in to the newspaper editor. They loved it and I made some great friends among those people.
ReplyDelete