Whether you're interviewing an expert for a non-fiction book or someone who will help you develop a plot for a novel, authors frequently find that they need to conduct interviews. Conducting an interview can be a daunting task. You not only need to be prepared to ask pertinent questions, you need to be able to capture valuable answers as they are given.
As an author conducting interviews, you will need to prepare. There are things you can do prior to the interview process that will not only help yield the results you desire, but also leave those you interview feeling satisfied as well.
Understanding who you're interviewing is important. You want to be sure that the person you're talking to is in a position to have answers to your questions. Many times you'll prepare a set of general questions that really should have been broken down into smaller, more focused questions. So organize the questions you prepare into primary and secondary lists.
Once you're in the process of actually conducting the interview, you will need to establish the appropriate tone, so that the person you're interviewing will subconsciously mirror your tone in their answers. Always be open to diverging from your script and the questions you prepared, if the direction of the interview veers off in an unanticipated, but promising direction.
Don't worry if your line of questions gets derailed. Just continue to have a normal conversation, as if with someone that you already know you want to learn from. Paradoxically, unfocused ramblings may lead to something even better than you would ever have anticipated or prepared for.
It might be a good idea to get permission to record the interview. When recording, you can be free to converse comfortably, but know that in the end you'll be able to retrieve the whole discussion. Not all those you interview, however, will be willing to let you record the conversation. If you aren’t recording, you need to be able to take good notes. You might even want to develop a shorthand style of your own. Devise a style which you understand, but that doesn’t require verbatim transcription, since that can lead to missing key details along the way.
Once the interview is concluded, be sure to thank your interviewee for his or her time and conversation. If needed, it's perfectly normal to follow up afterwards in order to clarify answers. You can thank the interviewee again, possibly with a card.
Interviewing is a skill that journalists take years to develop. It might take some time for you to find your style but it will be worth it. Occasionally, an interview may even turn up pure gold.