How to use an interview recording when you write

Writers lose interviews twice: in the room, then in the rewrite. A workflow will not make you a better questioner. It will stop you from publishing a line the tape does not have.

Before you hit record

Get consent the way your outlet requires. Put the recorder where both voices are clear. Do not hide a phone. If they ask you to go off the record, stop the file or mark the time in a notebook so you do not quote that stretch later.

Name the file the same day: date, surname, topic. Future-you will not remember “audio-3.”

Transcript before the draft

Upload the file. Wait. Do not start the article from memory while you “get to the tape later.” Memory writes the better sentence. The tape writes the true one.

When you know the topic, Quote hunter finds the line and the time. When you had a question list, Question coverage map shows what you never asked. If you will write in a different language than the one spoken, Cross-language keeps the original next to the translation.

In the draft

Every quote in your notes should have a time. If you tidy grammar, mark it as tidied. Do not upgrade a shrug into a claim. If two takes of the same story exist, pick the one you can play, not the one that sounds more like your lede.

Poor audio still wastes a day. A hostile room still produces a thin file. The workflow only keeps you honest about what you have.