Interview: Vernor Vinge

For better or worse, this blended structure, which mixes the interviewee's words with the writer's own transitions, is by far the most succinct and efficient way of presenting an interview.

Giving the entire transcript of a typical interview would require three times the length of a blended structure, and involve a lot of repetition; There's an old adage in journalism that the worst thing you can do to somebody is quote them word for word, and that's largely true. The other alternative is to heavily edit, and, even then, connections can be lost.

In making the transitions, I try to reflect what was actually said and done as closely and possible, and not to distort anything. Of course, bias and misperception creeps in at times, but that's true of any writing, and the point is to keep both to the minimum.