FAQs about Writing a Profile

Do I have to use EVERYTHING from the interview in the essay?

No. Treat the interview like any other source and only use relevant information.

If you are writing a research paper and you find an article you want to use, you wouldn't use every last word from the article in your paper. You would be very selective and use a few quotes or ideas. It's the same with your profile. The interview is just a source that you can draw from as needed. Don't try to cram everything into the profile.

Can I use information from places other than the interview?

Yes. Feel free to interview others, look at the person’s social media, and draw from your own knowledge and experiences with them. You don't need to include a works-cited or references page, but it should be clear where the information is coming from. You could do this with footnotes, or you could include language that makes it clear. For example, "John's Facebook profile reveals that he loves spear fishing and has won several awards."

Can I summarize or paraphrase what they said in the interview?

Yes. A good profile will have a blend of direct quotes and you putting things into your own words. Remember that you are telling your readers about the person. So you should be doing a lot of paraphrasing and summarizing. And then you can add in a few direct quotes as needed to really make it pop.

Can I edit a direct quote so the person doesn’t sound dumb?

Please do. You'll find that people don't talk in crisp, grammatically correct sentences. We speak in run-ons and fragments and incomplete sentences. Use your discretion to clean things so the person doesn't sound ridiculous. Just be sure not to put words into their mouth or change the meaning of what they said. Small edits go a long way.

You can eliminate filler words if it doesn’t change the meaning:

Original: “Um, well, yeah, I mean, I guess I kind of like Metallica.”

Edited: “I kind of like Metallica.”

You can substitute words if you know what they really meant:

Original: “Utah Tech is the greatest university in Nevada.”

Edited: “Utah Tech is the greatest university in Utah.”

Edited: “Utah Tech is the greatest university in [Utah].”

Note: The brackets are optional. If it is obvious what the person meant to say, you can forego including brackets. But if there is any doubt or you want to be completely transparent in your editorial decisions, then use the brackets.

Or you can just acknowledge the error with brackets or with “[sic]”:

Original: “My feet was always hurting.”

Edited: “My feet was [sic] always hurting.”

Edited: “My Feet [were] always hurting.”

I know everything there is to know about this person, do I really need to interview them?

Yes. Just don’t ask questions that you already know the answer to.

One of the objectives of this assignment is for you to interview someone and then use that interview transcript as a primary source. I acknowledge that there are a lot of great profiles out there where the author never interviewed the person. You could write a dynamite profile right now about Michael Jackson using articles, videos, and interviews from the internet. But that's not the point of this assignment.

Also, don't pretend like you interviewed them and then create a fake transcript. You'll end up expending more time and energy doing that than if you just conduct the interview. It doesn't have to be long and formal. It could be a casual conversation with a few questions.

If I tell stories that didn’t come up in the interview, do I need their permission?

No, but proceed with caution.

If there's nothing embarrassing or personal about the story, you're probably okay. But if you're not sure, then it's best to check with them first.

Does the profile have to be just about the person I interviewed?

No. They should be the main focus of the profile, but you can highlight other people too. If you are writing a profile about your grandmother, then it would make sense to also talk about your grandfather and possibly other family members. But grandma would still be at the center of the essay.

Can I use a fake name for my person?

Yes. If you want to protect their identity, give them a fake name.

If you are writing about a minor (i.e. someone under 18), I recommend using a fake name.

You should also obscure any identifying information. If you are writing about your brother, Ron, then it does no good to say, "my brother, Paul, whose name I've changed to protect his identity." It's pretty easy to read between those lines. So you might say something like, "Paul, a teenage boy from the American southwest..." and never mention he's your brother.

It's up to you if you want to disclose to the reader that you are using a fake name.

How much of myself should I Include in the essay?

It's completely up to you. Some students write in 3rd person and stay completely out of it so they can focus on the person they're writing about. And some students write in 1st person and include themselves in the essay (what we call "authorial presence").

One way isn't better than the other. But you might find yourself writing a profile in a class where the instructor doesn't want you to mention yourself or use first-person point of view. Since they are grading the profile, I would do what they say. In my classes, however, I leave it up to each student. I have read fantastic essays that have lots of authorial presence, and equally fantastic essays that have zero authorial presence. It's up to you.

I know this person will read my profile—how “honest” should I be when I describe them?

You can be kind while still being honest.

There’s no need to burn your relationship for the sake of brutal honesty.

How much of their life should I include in the profile?

Remember, this isn’t a biography. You don’t need to include everything!

Try to keep it focused on one main aspect, such as something they're good at, or their career, or a defining moment in their life, or a struggle they went through.

If you try to include everything from their birth until the present, you're either going to end up with hundreds of pages, or you're going to gloss over everything and not provide interesting stories or specific details. This is not a biography, nor a life sketch, nor an obituary. It's a profile.

Do I have to let them read the profile?

It’s up to you. I usually offer to let people read the profile, but I never give them editing rights. A few years ago, I wrote an article that profiled several people. One participant was reluctant to let me interview her, so I told her I would let her read the article before I published it and that she could change anything she didn't like. When the time came, she wanted me to change every quote. She said things like, "I would never say that!" and "That doesn't even sound like me!" I played back the recording of our interview to show her that the quotes were exact and accurate, but she refused to acquiesce. I ended up ditching the entire project and never published the article.

Now, I tell people that I likely won't be able to let them read it before it goes to print, but I promise that I will be fair and accurate and honest and paint them in a positive light. That's usually enough to put them at ease. Put I never promise anyone they can have editing rights.