How to Write a Profile Story

One of the first stories any young journalist will learn how to write is a profile detailing the life of an individual. While the idea of writing a profile story might seem daunting at first, follow these steps and you'll see it's just like introducing one friend to another.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Identify your subject. If you're new to profile writing, start with someone in the public eye like a congressman, a well-known business owner or a local athlete. Choose a subject you know has a good story to tell. Often you'll hear this by word of mouth or read about the subject's hardship from another story.

2. Call the subject and arrange a time and place for an interview. Agree to meet somewhere where they'll feel most comfortable and eager to talk. If you're doing a profile on an athlete, interview him or her at the gym or on the playing field. Being someplace familiar will also help the person recall poignant memories.

3. Use a tape recorder or digital recorder to do your interview. Ask the subject questions about their life, their childhood, their family and any other experiences that have shaped the person they have become. Watch the counter on the recorder and mark down the time when the subject says something you think is important. This will make it easier to find the good stuff while transcribing tape.

4. Transcribe your tape and open your story with something your subject said or did that stuck in your mind. This might be an anecdote or the way your subject looked while reflecting on memories. Get the reader into the story by painting a picture and putting them where you were while listening to the interview. It's also best to break your story up in sections to break up the monotony of the writing. Think about the most important phases of your subject's life, and make each of those a different section.

5. When you are finished with the article, have several people read it to check for errors and give suggestions on how to make it better.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't be afraid to ask the tough question. The subject is there to talk, and if he or she doesn't want to answer something, they'll tell you. However, if you think the question will be important to the story, ask several other questions and come back to the question that was turned down. The goal is to get the subject to feel comfortable enough to trust you with anything.

• Don't just fire questions at the subject. Instead, be conversational. Try to relate what they're saying to things in your life to make them feel at ease. If you can't relate, sympathize with what they are saying.

• Always tape interviews, especially when they are of a sensitive nature. You don't want your subject claiming he or she didn't say something and not have the proof to show they did.

Resources

• Find information on journalism and profiles.