I was previously notorious for interviews that lasted an hour and a half or longer. Then add the time for a tour (if applicable) on top of that. After I was satisfied I would find someone who my interviewee mentioned and interview them as well. I covered a lot of ground and it allowed me to write a lot.
Similarly, when I wrote articles that I used online sources for, my article typically contained a plethora of sources, quotes, and information related to the topic. My efforts were to try to pull information from as many sources as possible then connect all the dots.
Both of these methods have led to some of my worst work. In fact, a recorded hour and a half interview I did, I lost when my phone crashed. Thinking back on the interview, I had what I needed within 10 minutes of the interview. Not that the other one hundred and twenty minutes were not valuable, they simply were not necessary for the article I was writing.
“News stories work best when they are narrow and deep, not wide and thin.” – Al Tompkins
It’s still a battle to cut and not cram every detail into an article. I no longer do interviews over an hour. (Multiple interviews are acceptable.) If there is a tour, I schedule it for 30 min on another day. As for all the online sources, a HT to editors.
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