WHO IS THIS

PERSON?
Dr. Maricon C. Viduya
K to 12 Training June 1-3, 2017
WHAT IS “A PROFILE”?
 A profile is not a biography or autobiography.
 500 to 2000 words
 Published in magazines and newspapers
 It is a biography sketch, providing details of the person’s
character, an overview of the person’s life story, and
highlights of the person’s achievements and
accomplishments.
 The profile answers the question “Who is this person?”
WHAT IS “A PROFILE”?
A profile is not a book-length biography, which is an
in-depth description of the life and times of another
person.
The profile is not a book-length autobiography,
which involves writing about one’s own life.
The profile is usually only a few pages and
published in magazines or newspapers as an essay.
WHO CAN BE PROFILED?
The writer can profile a stranger or someone he/she
knows well.
The writer can also profile someone ordinary, such
as a teacher, or priest, or police officer, or someone
extraordinary
WHO CAN BE PROFILED?
 Sometimes the profile is about the good guy.
 The writer profiles a person who wants to achieve or accomplish
something worthy.
 Perhaps the amateur athlete dreams about winning a gold medal at
the Olympics, or the starving artist desires to achieve fame and
fortune.
 The writer aspires to write the next bestseller.
WHO CAN BE PROFILED?
 Some profiles are about “the villain.”
 In the September 24th, 2012 edition of the New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell writes a profile
about child molesters called “In Plain View: How Childe Molesters Get Away with It”
 In the essay, Gladwell narrates two stories about pedophiles, to illustrate how the sexual
predator uses “trust” to create the opportunity to abuse a child.
 The writer will include details about the person’s private life, psyche, and public world.

 The inner world deals with the person’s thoughts, feelings, opinions, views of other
people.
 In writing about the outer world, the writer identifies some of the important setbacks
and obstacles, as well as the significant accomplishments and achievements.
ON PROFILING
 If the writer knows the person, the writer will rely on
memory and observation and personal experience to write
the profile.
 If the writer doesn’t know the person, the writer will
conduct research, interview the person and his/her friends,
family, and work-associates, visit various places where the
person works, lives, socializes, observe the person in their
daily life (at work and at play), reading books, articles, and
other material on the person.
ON PROFILING
 Unfortunately, people perform many roles, such as
husband, breadwinner, parent, and so the writer will not be
able to write a complete profile.
 No matter how much research the writer completes, the
writer will never know the person completely, because
people have darks sides they don’t share and personalities
traits that aren’t always revealed.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD
PROFILE?
A good profile includes telling details, dialogue, and
storytelling.
 The writer will also use scene, summary, and personal
reflection.
 A good profile is also interesting, profiles someone new,
encourages the reader to think more about the person.
A good profile informs, educates, and entertains readers.
Some profiles have a serious tone, and other have a humorous
tone.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD
PROFILE?
 The good profile of a public person answer several questions, including:
1. Why is the writer profiling the person?
2. What is unique about the person?
3. What is significant about the person?
4. What are the person’s achievements or accomplishments?
5. What obstacles or setbacks did the person have to overcome?
6. Why is the person in the news or public consciousness?
7. Does the writer likes the person? Dislike the person? Why?
TYPES OF PROFILES (JACQUI BANASZYNSKI)

1. Cradle-to-Current Profile
It is a profile about the person’s entire life, up to the
present. The writer invests a great deal of time in
researching, writing, and fact checking.
TYPES OF PROFILES (JACQUI BANASZYNSKI)

2. Niche Profile
 Itis a profile that is 1,000 words or less, and can be written in a short
period of time.
The writer composes a profile about someone in the news. This type of
profile includes relevant background information.
For instance, if the writer is crafting a profile about a person who won a
Pulitzer for Literature, the writer would include education and previously
published works.
But biography details about place of birth and early education would not be
relevant.
Instead the writer focuses on “telling details.”
TYPES OF PROFILES (JACQUI BANASZYNSKI)

3. Paragraph Profile
This type of profile is brief, providing essential details about
accomplishments or achievements, and the person’s significance to
the story.
It is a paragraph or two, and part of a larger story.
GATHERING MATERIAL FOR
THE PROFILE
 Begin by searching the Internet to find out what else has
been written about the person.
 Start by completing a Google search.
 By reading what other writers have written, you can obtain
a general sense of the person, such as their level of
education, work accomplishments, interests, tastes, reason
for being in the news.
GATHERING MATERIAL FOR
THE PROFILE
 Interview the person you are profiling and other people
who know the person, such as friends and family.
 As well, interview subject matter experts.
 For instance, to get related information about being a stunt
pilot, writer Annie Dillard collected quotes from a pilot
who as a crop duster
GATHERING MATERIAL FOR
THE PROFILE
Some suggested questions to be asked during an interview with the subject
 What are the events or moments that shaped your life?
 What are your biggest accomplishments and achievements?
 What are you afraid of?
 What is your biggest regret?
 What setbacks or obstacles have you faced?
 What motivates you?
 What are your fears and worries?
 What do you value?
GATHERING MATERIAL FOR
THE PROFILE
 Observe the person at work or in their natural habitat
 For instance, before Anne Dillard wrote, “Stunt Pilot,” a profile
about a stunt pilot. She watched the, Dave Rahm, the pilot fly his
plane.
 She writes:”Rahm did everything his plane could do: tailspins,
four-point rolls, flat spins, figure eights, snap rolls, and
hammerheads.” (You can read this profile in Creative Nonfiction: A
Guide to Form, Content, and Style with Readings by Eileen
Pollack)
GATHERING MATERIAL FOR
THE PROFILE
If the person is deceased, you can
sometimes uncover their inner world of the
person by reading their diaries, journals,
letters, Facebook profiles and other social
media.
GATHERING MATERIAL FOR
THE PROFILE
 Immerse yourself in the experience. Before writing the sketch
about Dave Rahm, the stunt pilot, Dillard immersed herself in the
experience of flying by taking a seat in the plane and flying as
Rahm’s passenger.
 She writes: “Later I flew with Dave Rahm; he took me up…We
flew from a bumpy grass airstrip near the house…We were over the
clouds at five hundred feet and inside them too…”
GATHERING MATERIAL FOR
THE PROFILE
If the person is a well-known public figure, you
can read a biography about the person. If the
person has written their own autobiography, make
sure you read it.
GATHERING MATERIAL FOR
THE PROFILE
How do you know when to stop researching? You
must continue to research until you have sufficient
“telling details” to write a profile that’s compelling.
Your goal is to create a revealing, interesting, and
entertaining profile.
WRITING THE PROFILES
 Many of the best profiles are written as narratives
 The writer crafts true story involving a central character.
 For instance, Charles Simic, In “Dinner at Uncle Boris,”
profiles his uncle, writing a story about a dinner
conversation.
 Annie Dillard, in “The Stunt Pilot,” profiles a pilot flying a
stunt plane.
WRITING THE PROFILE
Structure
 Structure the profile using the narrative arc. It includes:
Inciting incident
Conflict, such as setbacks or obstacles
Turning point and climax
Resolution or end of the story
WRITING THE PROFILE
Developing Character
 To reveal character, use the fictional methods of characterization. These include:

Dialogue. Use interviews or immersion to capture interesting quotes of the person you are
profiling. Use these quotes in your profile.
Description of Appearance. Observe the person you are writing about. Make note of their
physical appearance, including hair style, clothing, gestures, hygiene, and so forth. Use
concrete, particular, significant details to describe the person.
Dramatic action. Show what the person does, their actions and reactions, in the narrative.
WRITING THE PROFILE
 Point of View
Use both the first person POV(“I”) and third person (“he/she”).
For instance, in the profile “The Stunt Pilot,” Dillard uses third-person POV
to write the narrative of the pilot flying in the sky, performing his daredevil
stunts, and to provide narrative summary.
She begins: “Dave Rahm lived in Bellingham, Washington, north of
Seattle…Dave Rahm was a stunt pilot.”
She shifts to first person POV (“I”) to share personal reflections about the
stunt pilot.
WRITING THE PROFILE
 Vivid Descriptions
To reconstruct setting and events and people, use sensory
details, writing descriptions of what you see, hear, smell,
taste, touch.
Don’t include every detail. Instead use “telling details.”
These are concrete, significant, particular details, which
reveal deeper meaning than their descriptions.
WRITING THE PROFILE
 Facts not Fiction
Don’t fabricate dialogue or events. This is writing fiction. As well, complete
fact-checking.
 Writing Style
Follow the advice of experts found in style or writing guide books
 Revision
The first draft is never your best work. Always revise the draft, completing a
macro-edit (structure, tone, elements of fiction, POV) and micro-edit (grammar,
spelling, punctuation, word choice, sentence patterns).
TIPS FOR WRITING A PROFILE
 Select a person to profile, and then begin with an interesting question you
want to answer. If you are going to profile someone you know, mine your
memory, observe the person in real life, and write about some significant
event.
(In Dillard’s profile, she answers “what it is like to be a stunt pilot?”)
If the person is unknown, collect your material by researching the person.
 Before interviewing, have a list of open-ended questions you want to
ask. These require the person being interviewed to respond with more than just
“yes” or “no.”
TIPS FOR WRITING A PROFILE
 After doing the research, decide on an approach. How are you going to
begin? With a scene? With a quotation? With a question? Before writing,
outline your story. making a list of all the important points you want to write
about.
 Always focus on what is significant or compelling. What is surprising? What
is important? Any secrets? Oddities? Peculiarities? Contributions to society?
What is their legacy?
 Show and tell your reader. You tell the reader by explaining and
summarizing. You show the reader by writing in scenes. For any significant
event, write a scene.
TIPS FOR WRITING A PROFILE
 Include dialogue. A good profile includes dialogue, revealing some personality trait.
 Include telling details. A good profile includes vivid description, revealing some personality
trait.
 Don’t create one-dimensional portraits or profiles. Every person has a dark side. Every
person has attributes you don’t admire. Share these telling details with the reader.
 Your subject is living an epic. In other words, the profile fits into a larger story about life.
Consider the larger story as you write.
 Every story has a theme, a universal truth, shared meaning. For instance, Steve Jobs was
one of the great inventors and innovators. He was a visionary who reshaped communication,
use of leisure time, and everyday life with digital technologies.
 Source:
 Dave Hood
 https://davehood59.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/writing-creative-nonfiction-the-
profilebiography-sketch/