One of unwritten rules of writing a book, an article, or any sort of material that requires writer to interview experts or people "in know" is to tape record conversation. Whether recording occurs via phone or in person is irrelevant. This rule is a good one.

This leads to following questions: * Do you transcribe every tape? * Who owns transcription?

The answer to these questions does have an "it depends" so let me explain. It depends on your state’s or countries laws on tape recording issue. It depends on how much you're getting paid for project. It depends on whether you can use interview notes more than once. It depends whether you are using interviewing as an escape -- a procrastination technique because you enjoy that interview process more than writing.

Okay, we got "it depends" listed and out of way. Let me present a few of my secrets -- things I have learned as a writer and teacher over last many years.

Secret 1: Just because you tape recorded conversation doesn't mean you have to transcribe tape. The tape is a great safety net for reviews.

Secret 2: You don't need to transcribe whole tape. Many times all you need are important parts.

Secret 3: Tapes are cheap, buy plenty instead of reusing, and keep them for a few years.

Secret 4: Create a tape master finding system. Microsoft Excel is a great way to track with a numbering system. Include year somewhere in numbering. Color coding adds visual effectiveness. Large colored dots are available at most office supply stores.

Secret 5: The storage container and where you store tapes is important as to how long they last. Heat and moisture destroys quality. Find small, thin, plastic containers with a tight seal with a one-layer depth.

Secret 6: Don't place a magnet anywhere near them. So keep paperclip magnet and phone (many have magnets in them) away from tapes. Palm Pilots too.

Yet, writing simply is often difficult for most of us.

Why? The answer lies in our school education. We learnt that if we used big words and complex sentences, we were more likely to get an ‘A’ by our English teacher or University lecturer. The education system taught us that people who use a broad range of vocabulary are more intelligent that rest of us.

There is nothing wrong with writing beautifully pieces of prose that feature a stunning range of vocabulary knowledge. However, such writing is unsuitable for a business market.

No business manager has time to wade through material that meanders and weaves before a point is made. They are even less likely to have time to grab a dictionary to work out what writer is trying to say.

When I used to work as a market research consultant, I had impossible task of trying to write market research reports that seemed interesting. My immediate response was to write a report that would make my University lecturer’s proud. Sadly, my colleagues all felt same way.

It wasn’t until we had a business writing consultant come in to train us about how to write at level of a Year 8 student that we realised folly of our ways.

Using my newly found skills of writing a report using simple English, I proudly produced my ‘easy on brain’ report to my manager (who missed writing class). He told me ‘You write like you talk’. To this day, I still don’t know if he was criticising my talking or writing ability, but I gathered either way he wasn’t happy.