Most people struggle with writing for a variety of reasons, including the inescapable fact that writing is simultaneously difficult and boring.
However, most good medical marketing types need to know how to write passably well, so here is how. I cannot promise that I can make you an adept and agile writer, but I can probably fix a few things you are doing wrong.
So here are my top 10 tips to fix your writing without having to read a book, go back to school, or sign up for a home-study course.
1. WRITE LIKE YOU TALK. That sounds counter-intuitive but remember, if your English teacher knew how to teach you to write you wouldn’t be in this fix right now. Most of us are able to communicate our ideas passably well when we speak. So when in doubt, just write down what you want to say. (Some of us sit down “to write” and that sounds ponderous and scary. Instead, sit down and write down what you want to say when you actually do get around to “writing.” Nine times out of ten that draft is going to be close to good-enough.)
2. USE THE RIGHT WORDS. There is a laundry commercial on right now in which the company promotes a vehicle it uses to go into disaster areas and wash clothes for people living in the area. A woman beams at this service and says something to the effect that people have no idea how basic the essentials are until you don’t have them. Wonderful sentiment, wrong words. She probably meant to say that people have no idea how essential the basics are. Edit everything you write and ask yourself: “What am I actually saying here? What do these words really mean?”
3. HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY. Most people who write poorly really do not have anything to say. Make sure before you start that you have something worth sharing.
4. FORGET THE RULES. Some people say that you should write in the active voice only and avoid the passive. That isn’t true if you are writing scientific texts, academic texts, or how-to manuals. In those cases, the passive is much more useful (and better understood). Some people say you should use a lot of action verbs. That is great if you’re writing a novel but it won’t necessarily help a how-to text or a contract. Some writing-counselors suggest you use lots of adjectives. That is going to make your brochure seem overdone. The point is: forget the rules. Write like you talk and say what you mean.
5. THINK 1-2-3. A lot of bad writing occurs because the author is trying to describe a sequence of events or steps and omits one or puts them in the wrong order. I once read a manual that said things like, “Attach the barrel to the syringe, after having filled the barrel with sterile solution prepared according to directions in the refill manual.” This is a disaster. A person reading this has to backup too far … You’re telling him to attach the barrel to the syringe but then he has to go back and fill it with the sterile solution … and then back up from there to prepare the solution … and to do that he has to find another manual. Always go in order.
6. MAKE LIFE EASY ON YOUR READER. Here is another one of my favorite disaster manuals. This was a software manual. The company produced four different versions of a software product which were all quite similar to each other. Each software version had its own manual. Now assuming the software was named Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum, the Gold Manual stated simply, “This product has all of the features of the Platinum Software Product with the exception of A, B, and C.” What the manual did not do was write about those features or provide the Platinum Manual. It assumed that if you had the Gold version of the software, you could get the Platinum manual (which you could not) and then you would read it and mark out the things that did not apply (which you could only figure out if you had the Gold manual). This was possibly the worst written thing I ever read although it was grammatically correct and contained no typos. It made it almost impossible for the reader to know what the reader needed to know.
7. HAVE A PERSONALITY. Most medical companies are busy beating personality out of their brands, but isn’t personality what makes Nike and McDonald’s and Apple so special? I agree that a medical brochure about oncology drugs should not be a joke book, but emotions such as enthusiasm, passion, wit, and intelligence are very acceptable. Do not be afraid to let your personality (and your enthusiasm) shine through in your writing. Remember, at the end of the day, marketing is about one guy talking to another guy. Personality helps.
8. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Medical companies often try to keep writers isolated and away from patients, sales reps, customers, and medical procedures. The best writing is done by people who know what they’re talking about. Don’t write about what an operation is like until you’ve seen one (or two or ten). Don’t explain how to program an infusion pump until you know how to do it yourself. The more you know, the better you’ll write.
9. HIRE HELP. Many people hesitate to hire writers and editors, but they are very useful and I say this even if you more or less write most of the article or brochure or content yourself. These folks can smooth out rough edges, give you great feedback, and check to be sure that your grammar is kosher and the footnotes are in the right format. Most professional writers work with editors; do you think you need less support?
10. READ WHAT YOU WROTE, ideally a day or two later, and try to put yourself in your readers’ shoes. Does the text make sense? Does it do what you want it to do (inform, persuade, convince, instruct)?
