from brief to publication -...

The professional writing process Karen Morath May 2, 2013 Lecture Seven

FROM BRIEF TO PUBLICATION

Lecture 7 (of 13)

•  From brief to publication •  Writing for the boss/client v The real

audience •  Sources of information •  Drafting •  Approvals and other protocols •  Writing by committee •  Publishable standards

Brief to publication

•  Take a brief •  Research/interviews/synthesise existing

info •  Write draft •  Get amendments/corrections/approvals •  Revise and seek approvals again •  Publish or distribute •  Easy!

Taking a brief

•  Your job to find out what the client wants •  Even if the client doesn’t know •  Ask scoping questions •  Establish objectives and how they will be

met •  Determine budget and timeframe and

approvals process

Research/sources of information •  A lot of writing for strategic communication

is synthesising existing information •  Desktop research plus brochures and

annual reports that already exist •  Interviews with people involved – consider

all points of view (critical) •  Internet enables competitor analysis to be

easy

Write draft

•  Label every document ‘DRAFT at (date)’, ‘REVISED DRAFT at (date)’, ‘APPROVED COPY’, etc

•  Label it ‘copy for annual report’ or ‘media release’, etc

Get approved

•  Approval protocols can be complex and involve many people and take a long time

•  Adding to label ‘APPROVED BY…’ can help

•  Sometimes one person just has to say ‘yep’ so not always difficult

•  Approval process should include house style, publishable standard, consistency of message, accuracy, etc

Publish or distribute

•  Some approved copy is for distribution to media, customers or staff and can happen immediately

•  Some is for publication so that process commences with approved copy

•  These pathways need to be factored into timeframes and budgets

The real audience – the boss?

•  Writing for strategic communication is in part balancing audiences and objectives

•  The style and tone needs to match the intended audience and often will clash with the needs and priorities of the people who need to approve it (clients and bosses)

•  It is a consulting role too

Writing by committee

•  Too many cooks… •  This is a challenge. Great writing never

once was produced by a group of people •  The author has to hold their line (difficult in

a power struggle) and explain their decisions

•  Still need to respect corporate style and some industry conventions

Publishable standards

•  Some things are not negotiable – error free

•  Spelling, grammar and punctuation •  Appropriate tone •  Administrative respect (no errors in

personal details – don’t call someone who is a Ms a Mrs)

•  Corporate style where appropriate •  Publishing conventions of publisher

Next week – The writer’s toolbox

•  ‘How-to’s for strategic communicators

•  Interviewing •  Note taking •  Quoting •  Feature articles •  Profile pieces

Example presentation title

Thank You

from brief to publication -...

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