Profiling a person's life is a brave task for anyone to do. Just think, if someone were writing a profile on you, wouldn't you want the profile to make your life sound exciting and almost envious? But with little time to really get to know someone, how does a journalist get enough information to make a truly unique and eye-catching profile?

I assume the answer lies in the questions asked. To be honest, I have only ever written one profile before...and it wasn't good. I just needed a grade! But part of the reason why I did not write a good profile was because I did not ask the right questions. I did not prepare ahead of time. I did not have a goal in mind when I began the interview. Having a purpose in mind before going into an interview can help shape and guide your questions.

Why is it so important to have questions and a goal? Because a person's life is invaluable. Everyone has a story to tell that inadvertently affect us. It almost seems that profiles in themselves actually tell a lot about life. Journalists don’t often have much time to interview and write the profiles. A lot has to be learned in a short amount of time, or else it may be lost to the journalist. There’s a lot to be learned from the stories of people, but not a lot of time to learn them. And most people love to share their stories, so why not honor them by writing a well-written profile.