I often record interviews with people when I’m researching a book, and I’ve noticed that very few people speak without using “fillers” in their sentences. (things like “um,” “uh,” “like,” “you know,” and repeated words). They often appear in speech as a way for speakers to slow their speech long enough to come up with the appropriate word. As listeners, when we hear someone use those hesitations as they speak we tend to filter them out, ignore them because they typically aren’t important.
If our discussion is about a subject which is covered in one of my novels, their exact words aren’t vital because I’m not going to be quoting them. I’m asking them about the topic so I will better understand it when I start writing about that subject in the novel. What about non-fiction, though? Is it vital to use every word they spoke, exactly the way they said it? In my opinion, yes and no.
Let’s look at part of an unedited transcript from an investigator’s interview, followed by my revised version of it. This is from some of the initial research for my book, Aggravated. The interviewer is Tom Swearingen, an investigator for the defense. In this excerpt, he’s interviewing my brother’s son, Beau, and has just asked him how often my brother’s accuser was around them.
BEAU: …and she’d sit out there and …you know …it’s just like …she’d follow us around.
TOM: Mmh, hm. Did she follow your dad very much when you weren’t around, do you know?
BEAU: I …I …I think …I think she, you know …a little …a little more than …than …you know. She …she followed him around, you know, but it …it was …at the time, you know …I just thought it was because …you know, he was …you know, just …because …like a …father figure or something, you know …like …like …I’ve got friends’ …parents …that are cool, that I talk to, and stuff like that.
TOM: Mmh, hm.
BEAU: I just thought it was nothing more than that.
TOM: Do you think it had anything …anything to do with not having a father figure?
BEAU: I think …I think that could’ve had a lot to do with it, because, you know, dad …he …he’s nice to …everybody, you know. He’s…
TOM: Mmh, hm.
BEAU: …and ….and I just think it’s because, you know, she didn’t have anybody like a …like a father in the house to talk to, so she’d talk to him, you know. She like hanging out here, and she’d talk to him. She’d talk to me …because, you know, she never really had an older brother, and stuff like that.
—————-
And here’s what it was like after I revised the transcription.
BEAU: …and she’d sit out there and she’d follow us around.
TOM: Mmh, hm. Did she follow your dad very much when you weren’t around, do you know?
BEAU: I think she followed him around, but at the time I just thought it was because he was like a father figure or something. I’ve got friends’ parents that are cool, that I talk to.
TOM: Mmh, hm.
BEAU: I just thought it was nothing more than that.
TOM: Do you think it had anything to do with not having a father figure?
BEAU: I think that could’ve had a lot to do with it, because dad …he’s nice to everybody.
TOM: Mmh, hm.
BEAU: I just think it’s because she didn’t have anybody like a father in the house to talk to, so she’d talk to him. She liked hanging out here, and she’d talk to him. She’d talk to me because she never really had an older brother.
The revised version is far easier to understand, but does it lose any of the feeling or attitude Beau might have had while he was being interviewed? I don’t know. The trick is to not lose any of the meaning, but still make sure it’s understandable to the reader.
Note: In Aggravated, I used large parts of Beau’s interview with Tom, and his interviews with others, including one with my brother’s accuser. The excerpt above wasn’t one of them.
What are your thoughts on whether or not published work that relies on oral transcripts should accurately reflect what was spoken word for word (including filler words and stumbles)?
Michael
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