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Interviewing is a skill that becomes easier with practice. In the meantime, always be sure to know which questions to ask…
Do you ever need to do interviews for your writing?
- Maybe you’re a freelance writer who needs quotes from a vice-president or a business owner.
- Perhaps you’re a grad student working on a dissertation and you want to speak with an expert in your subject area.
- Possibly, you’re a novelist who needs to collect information relating to the idea, scene or setting you’ll be exploring in your book.
When writers consult me about interviewing, they often ask if they should bring a prepared list of questions to their interviews.
Of course, my answer is always yes, but I have one important caveat: Make sure you prepare a list of thoughtful questions.
The real purpose of interviews
Many writers mistakenly believe their job as an interviewer is to collect facts. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Your much more important job is to collect thoughts, feelings and opinions, along with a story or two. This type of material is far more interesting and useful than mere facts, and it will help make the writing you do later significantly easier.
13 questions for any interview
Here are 13 versatile questions you can ask during any interview to elicit insightful responses:
- What inspired you to get started with [the subject in question]?
- What’s something about this subject that most people misunderstand or don’t appreciate?
- Can you walk me through your decision-making process when you were confronting [mention a problem or barrier]?
- What was an unexpected challenge or surprise you’ve encountered during [the issue in question]?
- If you could go back and give yourself advice before starting this project, what would you say?
- What’s a moment when you felt especially proud relating to [project] or you felt things finally clicked?
- Can you share a specific example or story about this project? OR Can you walk me through what happened on a particular day?
- Who else is doing interesting work in this field that I should pay attention to?
- What’s something you learned in doing this project?
- What do you wish people were talking about more regarding this project/subject?
- If you could go back and do something differently, what would it be?
- How do you respond to critics of this project?
- Is there anything I haven’t asked that you’d like to talk about?
Why these questions work
These questions work across various interview contexts because they prompt reflection rather than rehearsed responses, they ask for specific examples and stories, they encourage nuanced thinking rather than simplified positions and they create opportunities for unexpected insights.
Avoid superlatives
Notice that I don’t suggest asking questions using superlatives — what’s the best, the worst, the easiest, the hardest etc. They put too much pressure on an interview subject. Instead, simply ask for examples. Not, “What’s the hardest decision you’ve had to make?” but “What’s one of the hard decisions you’ve had to make?” This small change will make your interview subject feel much more at ease and will dramatically improve the quality of your interviews.
Customizing your approach
Choose among the questions I’ve offered here based on your specific needs. But always be sure to include #13 as your wrap-up question. Not only is it courteous, but it often yields unexpected material that may totally change your approach to the story.
The conversational strategy
I have one last essential piece of advice: After you’ve asked your first question, don’t LOOK at your list of questions until the end of the interview.
Instead, let the interview become a conversation. Here’s the formula:
➡You ask a question.
➡They answer it.
➡You ask your next question based on their answer.
You’ll get the very best results if you conduct your interview this way. Then, as you’re concluding the interview, ask your subject for a couple of minutes to review your list of questions. If any strike you as important or relevant, ask them now.
Then wrap up with question #13.
The payoff
The difference between a mediocre interview and an exceptional one often comes down to your ability to respond authentically to what your subject is sharing. By preparing thoughtful questions but remaining flexible enough to follow interesting threads, you’ll have interviews that give you rich, quotable material.
When you follow these guidelines, you’ll not only gather better information — you’ll likely enjoy the process more too. And your interview subjects will appreciate the opportunity to engage in a meaningful conversation rather than an unpleasant cross-examination.
If you liked this post, you’ll also like How to become a better interviewer.
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Do you have a list of questions to ask for all your interviews? We can all learn from each other, so please, share your thoughts with my readers and me in the comments section, below. If you comment on today’s post (or any others) by May 31/25, I’ll put you in a draw for a digital copy of my first book, 8 1/2 Steps to Writing Faster, Better. To enter, please scroll down to the comments, directly underneath the related posts links, below. You don’t have to join Disqus to post! Read my tutorial to learn how to post as a guest. (It’s easy!)
