Friday 23 December 2011

Memoir Writing 101: How to Interview Family Members

Embarking on the journey of memoir writing is thrilling and healing. But occasionally you might obtain your memory has a few holes in it here and thee. That is the time to break out the paper and pencil and hit up the relatives for an interview. Adhere to these steps and youll easily fill in those memory gaps.

Make a list of household members who may be able to fill in your memory gaps. Contain household members who may be able to add a bit of their own stories also. Their memories will add depth to your memoirs.

Whatever you do dont show up for the interview with nothing but a smile! Develop a list of concerns ahead of time. Be prepared!

Laugh, smile and above all, LISTEN. You are not there to do the talking you are there to ask leading concerns and listen. Make your household member comfy.

Maintain the interview under an hour. Many people often go off on a tangent when talking about themselves. Maintain reeling them back in by checking your prepared question list.

Tapes get garbled quite often. Power failures happen and you wont be able to interview your household member. Take notes even if you are employing a tape recorder. Jot down fundamental specifics and sketch drawings (of places, homes, and so on.) even though the household speaker is talking. But be careful even though jotting down notes that you are not LISTENING.

Ask open-ended concerns. Open-ended concerns that call for full sentence answers from the interviewee.

Transcribe the interview tapes and/or notes as soon as achievable. You want to get the transcription part of the interview completed even though the interview is nevertheless fresh in your thoughts and in your heart. I guarantee that if you wait to transcribe the tapes, you wont look at them for another ten years!

A few general cautions:

? Dont ask concerns that have yes or not answers. These will not further the discussion and you want the interviewee to keep talking.

? Never tape everyone without to begin with asking permission to do so.

? Never share the interview results with everyone unless the interviewee has given you permission to do so. Respect your household members privacy.

Be confident to check out for significantly more fabulous helpful hints on journaling and memoir writing.


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