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
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 Page 11
Next week – The writer’s toolbox
• ‘How-to’s for strategic communicators
• Interviewing • Note taking • Quoting • Feature articles • Profile pieces
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Example presentation title Page 13
Thank You
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