You've hired a writer and you're eager to get started on your big project. Right now, you don't know it but the writer sees that you are standing at the edge of a cliff. Whether you take a step and tumble to disaster depends a lot–not on the writer–but on you. So here are the top 10 things you can do to unhinge your writing talent and the best 10 things you can do to give your project the kind of superstar treatment it deserves.

Writers, like other specialists in any field, have a certain way of working. Although your writer may be eccentric (some of us are), the work style to which I'm referring is universal. Writers approach their work a certain way, just like carpenters or accountants. So here, in no particular order, are the top 10 things you can do to make your writer go nuts–and while this may seem amusing to you, as the client, you won't get the best work from your writer.

1. Tell the writer exactly what you want written. Specify exactly what has to be in paragraph one, paragraph two, and then go down the list in excruciating detail and at times insist on certain precise wording. Figure that unless you dictate the text to the writer, he or she won't have a clue how to produce it.
2. Hover around the writer and, if possible, put your big greasy index finger directly on the computer screen as you read the words aloud. Insist that no word be written unless you can be in the room as the writer types.
3. Explain to the writer how a press release is written or how to write a clinical article or how to do an ad. This works particularly well if you have never done one but the writer has.
4. Assume that the first draft is perfect and that if you want any changes at all, the writer must be a moron who should be screamed it. If possible, throw the document on the ground and stomp on it. This works very well if you swear while you're doing it, ideally with spit coming out of the corners of your mouth.
5. Ignore all emails and phone calls from the writer with a project in progress. Assume that if a writer has any questions or needs more input, he or she must not be a very good writer.
6. Send your writer to gather input or get information from people who you know either don't know about the project or don't agree with it. Assume the writer can sort things out.
7. Don't even look at what the writer does, just pass it along but be sure that you hold the writer 100% responsible for what you commissioned (even though you did not discuss it, answer questions, or even read it when it was done).
8. Provide contradictory input as frequently as possible, such as asking the writer to make sure the manuscript is under 5,000 words but also over 10,000 words. When contradictions come up, just check out mentally and figure the writer can deal with it.
9. Insist that the writer be your typist and not a writer and then criticize the writer when your manuscript gets rejected.
10. Refuse to acknowledge any input that the writer provides, such as things like "Scholarly journals do not use little icons in the text as illustrations" and "Press releases shouldn't be 18 pages with footnotes" because obviously the writer does not know nearly as much about getting published as you do (even though the writer has been published and you can't write an email without getting yourself in hot water).

By the way, these illustrations are real.

Writers can deal with this junk–everybody's job has people who hamper progress–but you won't get your best work. Not only that, you may find you pay far more than the average person because all of this aggravation burns up unnecessary hours (unnecessary is not the same as un-billable) and some writers are known to charge their top-of-the-line rates to clients who aggravate them.

But there are ways to get great work from a writer. Here's how it's done.

1. Give the writer access to everything relevant.
2. Leave the writer alone to write. Describe what you want but assume that a top writer with lots of publishing credits knows how to do the job.
3. Make changes! Believe it or not, your input can make your final project ten times better, providing that your input is sensible and thoughtful. I don't mean courteous, I mean that you really think about what you're trying to say. If you don't like something but don't know how to fix it, just tell the writer something like, "I think this is too strong" or "Can we make this sound a little less scholarly and more conversational?" The writer will do the rest.
4. Answer phone calls or emails promptly.
5. Check in with the writer periodically but don't pester. In other words, there is no harm in asking for a progress report or emailing a short message to say hello. Most writers I know finish "hot" projects faster than cold ones and a hot project is anything that a real person wants.
6. If something comes up that looks appropriate to the project, like a news clip or a journal article or some information from your company, share it with the writer. Don't just send a mysterious link. Actually communicate what it is and why it might be useful.
7. Allow the writer real time to get the work done. This is a touchy subject, but when you give a writer a deadline in hours ("Can you write this? I need it by 3:00 today") you probably aren't going to get the best work and you are surely going to pay top dollar.
8. Be a participant in the project. Take the time to read the manuscript and be sure that you can support it.
9. Encourage proofing and outside readers. Many writers do this already but you can do it on the job, too. Just get people to read the final (or near final) manuscript cold and see what they think.
10. Think of the writer after you're published. If you get published or if the ad or brochure wins an award, do come back and let the writer know. This isn't all about ego–it's allowing the writer to know what worked and allowing the writer to include something cool in his or her portfolio.

More than once, I have "stumbled" on an article or printed piece that I helped prepare (in fact, some of them were mostly my idea) that was never forwarded to me after the fact. It's always helpful to know what works.

A good writer can do a lot to articulate your vision and give you great media releases, reports, presentations, speeches, and scripts. You should take advantage of these skill sets and use them wisely–more than one top executive I know has credited some of his or her success to the fact that there was a writer working in the background for him!

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