Yearbook Practice Interviews

YEARBOOK PRACTICE INTERVIEWS

You will interview 4 people in our class in order to write a short paragraph on each person. Paragraphs should be at least as long as this first parargraph, 6 – 10 lines. You will type these into one Word document with your name at the top and the four paragraphs below. Think of the kinds of questions you will ask. What do you want to know? What do you want your readers to know? Remember that if you are interviewing your friend that your audience may not know them at all, so you have to make references to events and people that YOU may know, but that the audience may not, clear to the readers. Keep your ears open for interesting tangents, stories, and follow up questions.

Make sure you get the proper spelling of their name and grade, or their title if they are an adult. Include this information in their paragraph somewhere to identify them to your reader.

WRITING THE PARAGRAPHS

The best way to avoid writers block is to just spill everything you have out on to the page. DO NOT EDIT YOURSELF at this phase! Just get all your information, quotes and observations out in writing.

Now try to put the information in a logical order, so that you have a beginning, middle, and end to your short “story”. You can also think of it as having an introduction, body, and conclusion – just like writing a paper for English class!How will you “bridge” the information you collected so it reads nicely and makes sense to the audience? Spelling counts and don’t be a h8r & use texting lingo.

Now think about how you want the story to begin. Will it start with a quote? With a question? With a description of the person, place or event setting? Use some information they have given you? How about a factual statement that compares one thing to another? There are a lot of ways to start a story besides “This is John.” Be creative, have fun, but don’t make fun of the subject in your writing.

Use direct verbatim quotes where ever you can, but the piece should not be all quotes. It should be you interpreting what they said for your readers. Choose quotes carefully.

A conclusion of some sort. A short factual statement or a direct quote is a great way to close. When organizing your notes be on the look out for something that feels like “the last word”.

Once you’ve written it, have a friend read it on your screen. Have them look for typos and to see if it makes sense to them. If they suggest changes, try them and have them read it again. Once you are satisfied that it is as good as you can possibly make it print it.

Take your printed copy to all the people you interviewed and have them read it for accuracy and to verify the quotes. Have them sign the right side of their paragraph to verify to the instructor that you did this step.

Turn it in!