off the record).
Not only ... but also
A cliché, though one of my favourites.Nouns
Words that describe ‘things’, that would include people and ideas as well as material objects. Vivid writing contains many of them: bricks, pencils, daffodils, elephants, neurons, aunts, chopsticks, ouija boards ... the list is long and fascinating.Noun salads
The practice of stringing together a dangerous number of nouns. This can be asking for trouble, as in: ‘Hospital patient attendance officer returns audit.’Novel
As in ‘a novel treatment’. Somebody with a Latin education has written somewhere that this is the appropriate word to use for the advance described in scientific papers. Now it has become a cliché: everything is novel where I suspect ‘new’ would be perfectly acceptable – and more in line with current usage. Distinguish from ‘the novel’ – see literature and proceed with caution.Obituaries
Obituaries are difficult to do well. You have a few hundred words to summarize a lifetime of achievements. You have to do this in a way that interests readers, most of whom until this moment will have lived in ignorance of the deceased. You will have to avoid giving offence to grieving relatives on the one hand, while avoiding conferring an instant sainthood on the other.• Make sure that you are fully briefed. How many words and by when? If the publication provides written advice, make sure that you read it carefully. Look at other obituaries in that publication, noting particularly first and final sentences, paragraphs, and
style. If you are unfamiliar with the publication, make sure that
you know who the target audience will be.
• Gather the facts. Be inspired by what others have written in other publications (such as the daily newspapers), but don’t rely on their accuracy. With the best will in the world (see cliché), mistakes get through, and the greatest insult is to carry them from obituary to obituary without checking. Speak to one or two colleagues or friends. Try to find an entry in a publication such as Who’s Who; even better, see if there is a recent CV. Finally, speak to a close relative: don’t worry that they might find it upsetting to talk. In my experience of writing obituaries for local newspapers, surviving relatives generally find it helpful to talk about their late loved one.
• Work out the broad shape of the obituary. Your research of the publi- cation will have given you an idea of the number of paragraphs or sentences you will require. Write down three or four main areas you wish your obituary to cover: for instance, what were the form- ative influences? What were the main elements of the deceased’s career? What were his or her other interests? And what will he or she be remembered for? Write in one go, without breaking off to look at the information you have collected and thinking of your target readers (not the family of the bereaved). Revise carefully what you have written, checking the facts you have cited, and making sure that you have not left out essential details (see
process of writing).
• Make sure you are using facts and anecdotes, not generalizations and
bare qualifications. Take out from your prose any unsupported
value-laden words, like: ‘gentle giant’, ‘well respected’, ‘much admired’, etc. Make sure that you have put down facts and are telling stories. Use nouns and verbs to add colour: ‘He was at Edinburgh for seven years where he became a familiar figure lounging around the Edwardian lecture halls in his pink waistcoat and green top hat.’
• Check the facts with someone who will know. In some ways the best person to do this will be a close relative. Here you must make it clear that you are asking them for opinion on matters of fact only. While you owe it to the family not to cause unnecessary distress, you also owe it to your readers to paint an honest picture.
• Where appropriate, find a photograph. The most likely source will be the family, though places of work could also help. Look for photo- graphs taken by professionals, at an award-giving ceremony, perhaps, or even better at a less formal occasion and published in a local newspaper. Take care with your choice: it will be an enduring image. Make sure that the photograph is properly labelled: ‘Joan Smith-Brown, pictured in the surf at a break during the Cornwall GP Trainers conference in 1983.’
One or two journals have experimented with the idea of self-written obituaries. These are generally accurate and unlikely to give much offence, but they tend towards extremes of undue flattery or unnec- essary self-effacement. They have not become popular.
Off the record
An agreement between a journalist and a source that the information given cannot be published, ever. This poses all kinds of ethical dilemmas to a conscientious journalist:what happens if he hears it from another person, for instance? If you want to give information, but not be linked to it (for valid reasons. not just cowardice), then speak on a non-attributable basis.
Be warned: there is a presumption among journalists that, as long as they have made it clear to you that they are a journalist, they will be free to report anything you tell them. It won’t work to tell them a juicy story then add, ‘By the way, that was all off the record.’
Ombudspeople
There is a fashion among publications to set up one of these. The danger in scientific publications is that they become yet another means of enabling disaffected (i.e. rejected) authors to take up inordinate amounts of an editor’s time at the expense of the readers.Omission, sins of
Many people find it extremely difficult to start writing because they fear that they are going to leave out some- thing terribly important. Yet the things we agonize about leaving out are generally matters of detail, sometimes quite trivial. Concentrate on defining the message you want to put across – and then support that message in a plausible and readable manner. The material you then need to put in should select itself (see process of writing).Openings
See introductions; intros.Ordering information
Writing has a beginning and an end, so at some point in the writing process you must order the points you want to make in a linear form, by making a (preferably written) plan, noting down what you intend each paragraph to do. Before you get to this stage, however, I recommend a less rigid approach to organizing the material (see branching).OPERA
Only Planning Ensures Real Achievement. One of those awful acronyms that comes from across the Atlantic. It is particularly galling, then, that the advice is rather good, and is partic- ularly appropriate to writing (see process of writing).Padding If you are putting in extra words just for the sake of it, think again. Few people complain because they have too little to read (see yellow marker test).
Pain
Don’t expect to write well without it (see process ofwriting).
Panic attacks
It is common to have these during the process of writing; after all we shall be judged on what we are about to write. There are two solutions: (1) walk away from the writing and do something completely different, or (2) get out paper and pen, or go to your word processor, and start writing anyway (see writer’s block).Paper
A medium whose time is up, possibly (see electronicpublishing).
Paragraphs
The basic building blocks for most kinds of writing. A paragraph is a unit of thought and generally each should start with a key sentence, explaining why you are moving the argument forward (see inverted triangle; yellow marker test). If each point follows on logically from the previous point, then the para- graphs will also follow each other logically, and you should not find it necessary to insert artificial linking sentences at the end of each.When planning a piece of writing, think in terms of paragraphs rather than words. Look at the market you are writing for, and get an idea of how many paragraphs the audience will be comfortable with. When drafting your plan, allow one piece of argument per paragraph. If you are writing for a newspaper or magazine then your para- graphs will almost certainly be split up. This is done for visual reasons: long paragraphs and narrow columns are particularly reader-unfriendly. There is no point in complaining.
Passive
The passive voice pervades science writing, despite the pleas of many journal editors to avoid it (see voice).Patient consent
Journals nowadays require formal written consent from patients who are being written about. Magazines and newspapers do not: their contributors are not normally bound by doctor–patient confidentiality. However, this does not mean that you should flout the rules of your profession. If in doubt, ask advice from a medical legal expert.Patient information
If you visit any out-patient clinic you will see a vast amount of written patient information. In time some will be taken away and looked at; but some will remain gathering dust on the racks for months.Yet, although some research seems to suggest that written informa- tion has limited value, the potential must be there. For those putting out the information, it gives the chance to consider what they really need to put across. For those of us receiving it, having it in written form gives us the chance to extract information at our own pace, without the tensions of a quick face-to-face interview.
Part of the problem seems to be that so much of patient informa- tion is produced by amateur communicators, breaking many of the guidelines long since accepted by professionals. If you wish to avoid falling into these traps, the following principles will help.
• Work out exactly what you want to achieve. Why are you producing your information? To make you feel better, or to produce some kind of tangible gain, such as patients feeling more in control of their condition? How can you measure whether you are achieving your goal? With fewer phone calls from worried patients, for instance, or evidence that they are taking their pills at the recom- mended rate (see brief setting)?
• Check to see whether there is any existing information. I constantly see people working hard on producing information that already exists in a better form already. This wastes time and money.
• Suit the message to the audience. This is not an examination, in which success depends on you putting out what you know. Nor is it a review article in a journal, giving an authoritative view of the latest research developments. Write for the patients and not for your colleagues (see false feedback loop).
• Keep the language simple. Avoid a posh overcoat and use the language of every-day life (see pub test). Avoid being patronizing, though that does not mean that you must avoid simple language. • Use illustrations. Printing pictures, drawing diagrams and using
information and read it. It will also help them to remember the information you put in it (see layout).
• Control your costs. The cost of printed information can vary enor- mously, and the key variable is knowledge of the techniques. Put another way, you can spend an awful lot of money and produce something that is unreadable, and spend next to nothing and produce something that does precisely what you intended. • Make use of your patients. Even writers, designers and printers
become ill. Don’t be afraid to enlist their help. Usually they will be happy to advise out of goodwill; they may even find it therapeutic. • Test your information on the right people. Ignore the views of your colleagues – their comments will almost certainly be criticisms of the content rather than judgements over whether you are getting the right messages across. Test any information on the target audi- ences – ask your patients to read it and then ask for their comments. You could gently probe them to see whether they have taken home the messages that you intended them to take home (see payoff).
Remember, this is not a test of your knowledge, but an attempt to put across some useful bits of information to people who are often frightened and confused, and delighted when they receive clear advice.