Writing An Article From Start to Finish

⌛  By Kaylin R. Staten ⌛

During the month of July, our blog posts will be going back to the basics. Throughout the month, I will write about interviewing and writing articles, event planning, presentation tips, media kits, and other public relations fundamentals. 

Much of the work we do #behindthehourglass includes writing both internally for the company and externally for clients and other target audiences. One of my main fortes is writing articles for various formats. I’ve written for local, regional, and national publications both in print and online.

Originally, I wanted to be a print journalist. I started my college career as a print journalist major, after serving as my high school newspaper’s editor-in-chief my senior year. I interviewed and wrote articles, designed pages on Adobe Pagemaker (RIP), and led the general direction of the student newspaper’s goals and objectives. It was rare to see me not focused on my career aspirations, as I was an overzealous, ambitious, young journalist with dreams for miles. As one of only two West Virginia students chosen, I attended the Free Spirit Conference in Washington, D.C. when I was 17, which featured illustrious names in the industry (Tim Russert, Helen Thomas, and more). I still use what I learned there in 2006 in my professional life.

Needless to say, I was hooked on storytelling at a young age. When I entered college, though, I realized I wanted to pivot. I love telling stories, but I wanted more variety than the standard fare of constantly interviewing and writing articles. Plus, I began to see the writing on the wall of the print journalism industry and wanted a more flexible, marketable position after I graduated. So, I changed my major to public relations (with a minor in criminal justice). 

While I don’t interview and write articles EVERY day, it’s still an integral part of Hourglass Media. I still enjoy sitting down and talking with people. This week, actually, I am writing an inspirational COVID-19 story for a local magazine, so I am already in the groove of this process.

Here are five tips to employ, from the research to the completion phases:

Gather all necessary information.

As a naturally inquisitive person, this is one of my favorite parts of the writing and PR processes. I love to learn, and I use this thirst for knowledge to aid me in my research endeavors. Don’t skip this part! While you may think you know about a particular subject, gather all of the information to add to your story and craft your questions in an intelligent way. In many cases, you have one shot (especially if this is a more controversial story) to interview someone, so you want to use research to make it count. Research includes primary and secondary sources, from surveys to Googling a subject or person to get the gist of which questions to ask.

Write interview questions.

Use research and your other knowledge parameters to write your questions. Include questions that establish a scene, history, and the overall personality of who you are interviewing. And remember: there are no stupid questions, even if you feel like that could be the case. Use a blend of qualitative- and quantitative-based questions to get the facts and also the more opinionated, emotional responses from your interviews. I use this master list of questions as a baseline for my interviewees, but it’s not the be-all-end-all.

Do an in-person or virtual/phone interview.

When you have your questions, completed research, and contact information for sources, it’s time to schedule the interviews. I usually outreach via email or phone call, but there have been times I have had to resort to social media to ask for sources, schedule interviews, or provide questions. Go to your source’s natural habitat. I will say, I am old school when it comes to interviews. I prefer in-person or virtual/phone interviews because you can capture more of a sense of the person you’re talking with. When you just send over questions, and a person emails back a response, you miss that personal touch that makes writing magical.

While you want to be prepared, DO NOT be afraid to go off script during the interview. The person you interview could led you down an interesting path, and don’t be constrained by getting through the questions. I often skip around or don’t ask a particular question at all in the moment. And don’t be repetitive, unless you need to clarify something that was said. 

Transcribe the interview.

This is my least favorite part, but it’s 100+ percent necessary in order to write a good story. I take notes during the interview, but I try to focus most of my attention on what the person is saying. I write keywords, timestamps of the best soundbites, and other pertinent information during the interview. Afterward, I listen to the interview as I write the story and plug in the pieces I want to include. When I was in college, I had my own recorder, but these days, it’s much simpler. I record all interviews on my voice notes app on my iPhone or iPad or create a new audio file in Adobe Audition. You never know when you can repurpose these interviews for another marketing purpose or when you will have to go back to them if someone says he/she didn’t say something in a particular manner. 

Pro tip: Even if you live or work in a state that doesn’t require both parties to know about a recording, it’s always best to ask if you can record the interview. Most people will not object! There have been cases in which individuals have asked me to keep parts of what they’ve said off the record, which I am usually happy to oblige. Unless it’s part of the story, of course. (But, honestly, I am not a hard-hitting journalist. I leave that to the pros!)

Write and release the article.

You may want to transcribe before writing, but I do like to transcribe and write at the same time. In many cases, I like to try to write the story as close to the interview as possible, depending on the deadline and what else I have going on. Write the article while everything is fresh in your memory and you can bring the interviews to life. If you want to do an outline, do what works best for you as you plan out your article. I try to establish a scene at the beginning, especially if it’s more of a feature story. You have more leeway to be creative with how you lay out the story, not necessarily using the inverted pyramid or another writing style. Of course, use active and not passive voice, proper punctuation, and really get to the heart of the story at hand. Once you  write the article, you can submit it to your assigned publication or release it on your own if it’s for a client or your company at large. This is when you can market it to your target audiences and ensure that the message is heard strategically on multiple platforms.

Kaylin R. Staten, APR, is an award-winning, accredited public relations practitioner and writer based in Huntington, WV with 18 years of professional communications experience. As CEO and founder of Hourglass Media, she uses her compassionate spirit and expertise to delve into the heart of clients’ stories. She is a recovering perfectionist, mental health advocate, wife, Luke’s mom, cat mom, and Leia Organa aficionado. Connect with Kaylin on LinkedIn.