Web Writing Help, Anyone?

Laura at LDcopy.com has come up with a great request:

“I’m realizing I could use a refresher on web writing (everything from email blasts to web sites to whatever comes next) and I’d like to know if anyone has come across a conference or symposium somewhere on the subject…I’m of course searching the web but if anyone has any thoughts, post them!”

If you’ve ever attended a web-writing conference or symposium, or if you know someone who has, please post the details here. That information can be helpful to many of us.

Thanks, Laura, for your request, and thanks also to anyone who can provide help to Laura (and to the rest of us).

© 2008 by Laverne Daley

TAGS:
writing,
web writing,
writing for the web

Planning and Executing An Interview

A writer friend who has had several sales under his belt is getting a little nervous about an upcoming interview, his first big interview for a piece aimed at a national magazine. An email he sent me revealed that he is concerned “that I am going to forget something or screw it up.” He asked for suggestions for planning and executing the perfect interview.

I don’t know that I’ve ever planned and executed a perfect interview. I’ve had my share of disasters, including once when my digital recorder failed to capture even one word of the interview (which is why I now use my old reliable tape recorder only. I also take lots of notes on yellow legal pads during interviews).

I’ve learned these things about interviewing:

*Take along extra tapes and batteries.

*Do your homework ahead of time (birth places, dates, education, published items) so you won’t waste time with answers you can learn on your own.

*Prepare at least 30 questions for a 45-minute interview. Make them pertinent to the kind of article you intend to write. You may think of others questions to ask during the course of the interview.

*Start with general conversation to set the stage for the interview (the weather, mutual acquaintances, a picture on the wall, an award or other object on display).

*Don’t ask questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no.”

*Don’t be afraid to let the person being interviewed wander off the subject (some great quotes come up that way).

*If things get too far afield, don’t hesitate to bring the interview back to the subject you want discussed. If you lose track of a long tale he’s relating, ask him to put it in chronological order.

*Zero in on answers that could produce colorful details. Ask for specifics whenever possible — if he talks about his first car, find out the make, model and color and why he remembers it so well. If she has a pet, is it a Persian cat or a Jack Russell terrier and what is its name? Is his favorite food prime rib or down-home cooking? Who inspired her to take flying lessons as a teenager? If she hates camping, find out why. Details can make your interviewee come alive for the reader.

*Keep yourself out of the interview. The article you intend to write will be about the person you are interviewing, so there is no need to offer your personal observations. Stay focused on the other person.

*Near the end of the interview, I always ask, “Is there anything else I should have asked?” Sometimes the person being interviewed will volunteer information that I may not have thought of asking about.

*Don’t turn off the recorder when you stand up to leave. I’ve found that I get some of my best quotes after the interview seems to be over.

*Later, send a thank you note or email to the person who granted you the interview. Tell them the publication date (if you know it), and make sure they get a copy of the article when it’s published. Your editor can arrange for this but sometimes you have to remind them.

*Most of all, just be yourself during the interview. Remember, an interview is a conversation between two people. When you’re relaxed and enjoying the interview, you’ll get the best information and the best quotes. And that will translate into an article that readers will enjoy.

Please leave a comment.

© 2008 by Laverne Daley

TAGS:
interviewing,
writing,
published,
editor

Writing with Precision: Watch Out for These Twelve Words

“If writing must be a precise form of communication, it should be treated like a precision instrument. It should be sharpened, and it should not be used carelessly.” Theodore M. Bernstein

In pursuit of precision, we offer here are a dozen word usages that sometimes trip us up. We often use them without realizing their precise meaning.

Demolish, destroy. You can’t partially destroy or demolish something. Demolish and destroy do away with completely. So there is no need to say something is totally destroyed.

Fliers, flyers. People who fly airplanes are fliers. Handbills are flyers.

Annual. It’s never the first annual anything. If something is happening for the first time, it can’t be annual yet. You can say you expect it to become an annual event. Use annual only for second and succeeding times.

Funeral service. The word service is redundant. A funeral is a service. (I know I was taught this in newswriting classes but I still have trouble remembering it, in writing and in speaking).

Imply, infer. A speaker implies. A hearer infers.

Over, more than. Over refers to spatial relationships (the plane flew over the city). Use more than with figures. More than 50,000 fans attended the game.

Reluctant, reticent. If we don’t want to do something, we’re reluctant to do it. If we don’t want to speak about it, we’re reticent to talk about it.

Temperatures. Temperatures may get higher or lower but they don’t get warmer or cooler. Temperatures may rise, but they don’t warm up. The day becomes warmer or the air becomes warmer as the temperature rises.

And while talking about temperatures, if you think you’re coming down with a cold and you feel warm, don’t say you’re running a temperature. You are not. You may be running a fever. Our bodies always have a temperature, usually around 98.6 degrees. If it’s above that number, you probably have a fever.

Unique. Unique means something is the only one of its kind. It can’t be very unique or more unique or most unique (all of which imply comparison with other objects). It’s either unique (one of a kind) or it’s not.

Drown. Don’t say someone was drowned unless another person held the victim’s head under water to accomplish the deed. Otherwise, just say someone drowned.

Please leave a comment.

© 2008 by Laverne Daley

TAGS:
writing with precision,
writing,
communication,
word usage