Interview Article: How to write an Interview Article?

I googled how to write an interview article:

Time Required: 1-3 hours

Here's How:

1. Deal with the actual interview. You'll leave your interview either with a set of notes, a sound recording, or (preferably) both. While the interview and interviewee are still fresh in your mind, you'll want to tidy up your notes and check any special spellings or names.
2. Wait a day or two after the interview was conducted. This should allow you to clear your mind of any preconceived subjects or storylines. You want the interviewees's words, ideas and actions to set the agenda- not your own. If you use a recording device, you may want to consider hiring a transcriptionist to put the recording into writing for you. This acheives the same purpose.
3. With a pen and paper in hand, read the transcript in its entirety. Write down any broad subjects that stick out to you-- are there any items, events or ideas that the person seems to be going back to? Anything mentioned twice, or with great passion? Try to gather at least three to five broad subjects from this first reading.
4. Narrow down these broad items. This is a good time to re-read the assignment from your editor. Did she specifically ask for a slant on the subject's meaty childhood? Is he looking to promote a certain service? Compare your broad subjects to your research on the person (conducted before the interview even took place, right?), to your editor's wishes, and perhaps even to your own interest in the person. Then, pull out and refine these broad subject areas, and place them (temporarily) in your transcript as your subheads. If you like, you can rename them to catch subhead titles now, or, see where the article goes.
5. Using Word's cut and paste function, pull the interviewees quotes about each subhead into that subhead area. You are now pulling the subjects words out of the chronological order that they occurred in during the interview, and placing them, instead, under subject heads/subtitles/main idea areas. It is not necessary to pull whole paragraphs. At this point, you'll have a feeling of the direction your article is going in. Get the best quotes sorted, and leave the rest.
6. This is where you practice your craft. You'll now have three to five subtitles, depending on your target length, and some great quotes about those subjects. It is now your duty to go in and introduce the subject, the history, the research, and why each idea is important. Then, use transitional phrasing such as "Mr. Blank agrees..." or "Mrs. SoAndSo makes this clear when she..." to move into your subjects quotes. Finish out the paragraph, subtitle or idea with more research or exposition, and wrap it up or transition it to the next subtitle.
7. With the middle of your article done, it's time to write the introduction and conclusion. The introduction should reflect on the article in general, and also frame the interviewee in some way. Many writers will avoid giving boring facts in the first paragraph. "Mr. Blank was born in..." likely won't hook a reader as well as an astonishing story, quote or fact from Mr. Blank's life. The conclusion often refers back to the introduction, or to some interesting part of the interview, and sometimes gives a look ahead to the interviewee's future plans.
8. Re-read. Revise. Re-write. Repeat.

Tips:

1. Conduct research on your subject prior to interviewing.
2. Follow your editor's specifications and listen to their take on the interviewee's interest points.
3. Allow yourself a day or two after the rough draft before editing, if possible.

What You Need

• Assignment
• Interviewee
• Notepad or MP3 recorder
• Transcriptionist
• Word processing software