: When quoting a person's informal speech, how much liberty do you have to make changes to what they say? Even during a formal interview for a news article, people speak informally. They say

Even during a formal interview for a news article, people speak informally. They say "uhm", they cut off sentences half-way through, they interject phrases like "you know?", and they make innocent grammatical mistakes.

As somebody who wants to fairly and accurately report the discussion that takes place in an interview, what guidelines should I use in making changes to what a person says?

While the simplest solution is to write exactly what they say and [sic] any errors they make, that can have the effect of unfairly casting a person in a bad light, especially when done editorially.

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: Chopped sentences with too many conjunction, and repeating the subject again and again I have tendency to write chopped sentences with too many conjunctions, repeating the subject again and again.

@Goswami879

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: Are there any contests for teenage writers? Are there writing competitions/awards for novel length works by authors under 18? There are certainly prizes for professional novelists, and amateur

@Goswami879

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: As a former journalism major (who has used almost none of those skills professionally), let me tell you right now that you DO NOT make changes to what a person says EVER. Don't misrepresent

@Goswami879

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: Are my metaphors/similes effective? I'm editing a short story I wrote I while ago. And the first thing I wanted to do was to add similes/metaphors to it (OK, maybe just similes). The story

: When quoting a person's informal speech, how much liberty do you have to make changes to what they say? Even during a formal interview for a news article, people speak informally. They say

More posts by @Goswami879

: Chopped sentences with too many conjunction, and repeating the subject again and again I have tendency to write chopped sentences with too many conjunctions, repeating the subject again and again.

: Are there any contests for teenage writers? Are there writing competitions/awards for novel length works by authors under 18? There are certainly prizes for professional novelists, and amateur

: As a former journalism major (who has used almost none of those skills professionally), let me tell you right now that you DO NOT make changes to what a person says EVER. Don't misrepresent

: Are my metaphors/similes effective? I'm editing a short story I wrote I while ago. And the first thing I wanted to do was to add similes/metaphors to it (OK, maybe just similes). The story

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