Interviewing (Part 7)

Decide whether your article is going to be written in the first person or the third person. All Guideposts articles are first person, but a number of magazines prefer third person. Study your markets before writing the actual article.

First person has more depth. You can step into the individual’s mind, heart, and eyes and tell it from the individual’s viewpoint. If you write personal experience stories from the first person viewpoint, then you have a decision to make. How important is it for your name to be on the byline? If your name does not appear, you are considered a ghostwriter.

Personally, I prefer to have my name on everything I write. I choose not to ghostwrite. I feel it is misleading to the reader if the true author’s name doesn’t appear somewhere on the work.

In articles, the name of the person interviewed is placed first, then “as told to” and the writer’s name. For example: “The Providential Escape” by Henry Fahman as told to Susan Titus Osborn. On leader’s guides and other pay-for-hire work, the words “prepared by” often precede the author’s name. On these kinds of projects, the author’s name usually goes inside the book or booklet, rather than on the cover. For example, Leader’s Guide for You Gotta Keep Dancin’ by Tim Hansel prepared by Susan Titus Osborn. On books, the actual author’s name is placed second after the person whose story is being told. The names are separated by “with.” For example, You Start with One, by Deo Miller with Susan Titus Osborn.