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Gathering requirements before you start writing

Before you start working on any writing project - whether it's an article, a blog post, an eDetailer or an entire eBook - you’ll need to spend time defining the requirements as well as the scope of work.

First Published November 3, 2015 | Last Updated December 22, 2020 | 7 Shares | By Michelle Guillemard

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Before you start working on any writing project – whether it’s an article, a blog post, an eDetailer or an entire eBook – you’ll need to spend time on requirements gathering as well as defining the scope of work.

The requirements gathering stage or process of a writing project is almost more important than the writing itself!

In this stage, you’re not only finding out what, if any, medical research, journals or references you need to refer to. You’ll also be defining the tone of voice, target audience, objective, format, word length, terminology, language, writing style and more.

Requirements gathering is a process which should define every crucial detail concerning the project you’re about to undertake.

You might have a dedicated briefing document to help you do this – or you could simply refer to a checklist of questions.

Whichever way you choose to gather your requirements, this process as a whole should be placed permanently in your health writing toolkit.

How requirements gathering works

Imagine your client or employer asks you to write an article about fish oil. What would YOU need to know in order to write this?

What you need to know might be slightly different to what I’d need to know if I was writing the same piece.

We all work differently, in other words. If someone asks you to write or edit a piece of content, you’ll have your own ways of getting this done.

And, there’s no “right” way to gather requirements. You can take writing courses that give you advice about the most efficient ways to work, but ultimately it’s your choice in terms of the how you get the writing completed.

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Requirements gathering is about ensuring you have all of the information you need to get started – and you can save a lot of time and work efficiently if you collect this information before you start writing.

You don’t want to be halfway through a project and think of something you should have asked before you started.

You don’t want to have to rewrite your work because a key detail was missed during the planning stage.

Also, requirements gathering can be a risk management process for you. I’ve worked with clients and employers who have come back to me, after I’ve sent the first draft, with changes that contradict the answers they gave in my briefing document. So, in these situations, being able to refer to documented requirements is crucial.

What questions do you need to ask?

You’ll need to tailor your requirements gathering process to suit every individual project. I have a generic briefing document that I adapt, depending on what I want to know about the specific project.

It doesn’t matter if I’m writing articles, social media posts, blogs, scripts, or marketing materials. I always get this brief completed. The only reason I don’t is if the project owner has a brief of their own which covers my questions.

Below, I’ve included an example of the types of questions I asked when I was briefing a client about writing some cancer articles recently. I already knew the titles and subject matter of the articles from our phone discussions, but I wanted to ensure I captured every key piece of information in a document.

General requirements gathering questions 

I start by documenting the general details of the project:

  • Client name
  • Date of brief
  • Project owner
  • Task required
  • No. of articles required
  • Titles
  • Approximate word count per article
  • Approximate deadline

Audience and actions requirements

  • Target audience – are the readers lay people, health professionals, educated public, academics, children, industry professionals? Try and get as specific an answer as possible, and based on the answer you might want to ask more questions about the emotional state of your audience (whether they’re a ‘scared patient‘, for example)
  • Desired actions (what is the purpose of the project?) – the overall objective – whether it’s to drive sales, promote awareness or, in the case of my recent project is to suit the ultimate end goal of securing donations – definitely affects how you approach the content writing
  • Format notes (should the articles be written in a specific format?) – the client told me over the phone that they didn’t want bullet lists of symptoms, for example, and I wanted this to be confirmed in the brief

Voice and tone requirements

  • Describe the brand’s tone of voice – should it be authoritative, friendly, serious, relaxed, fun, professional, medical, academic?
  • List 5 adjectives that best describe the brand values – this question can help you to understand how the company wishes to be perceived in the marketplace
  • What are 2 brands in your industry (or related industries) that you like and why? – I like this question because it gives you a benchmark and helps to articulate what the project owner is looking for
  • Attach the company style guide – a lot of businesses and brands already have style guides that you will need to adhere to

Referencing and requirements gathering

  • Does the company have a desired referencing style? – there may be specific sources that you can and can’t use (for example, a no-website rule, peer-reviewed content only)
  • List any company-specific referencing guidelines – should you use footnotes, in-text references or a reference list at the end of the piece?

Competitors

  • Who are the key competitors, if relevant? – this question gives you an accurate picture of the marketplace as well as an idea of what’s already out there and how you can create more unique content
  • Are there specific examples of copywriting on competitor websites that you admire or dislike? – similar to the question about brands the company likes, this question helps to give you an idea of the desired standard and expectation

Business and communication objectives

  • What are the key business and communications objective of this project? – the big-picture question of WHY are you writing this content
  • What makes your company unique, and why should readers choose you? – this question works well if you need to incorporate a unique selling point into your content, and it’s probably more relevant for marketers
  • How is your company perceived in the marketplace? – if you don’t know much about the company you’re writing for, this is a good question to ask
  • How do you want your company to be perceived? – if the answer is different to the above question, you can use the answer to inform the tone and brand voice of your content

Key messages

  • List or attach the key messages to be included in the copy – this is relevant for copywriting and marketing projects but it can also be helpful if you’re writing to promote general brand awareness or encourage signups to a new program – you could also ask if there are any take-home messages or health tips that the project owner wants to include
  • Provide or attach any relevant background information or specific details to be included in the content writing – it’s always helpful to ask this in case there’s anything that hasn’t been captured in your questions

Getting answers

It can be overwhelming for businesses to answer all of these requirements gathering questions. In my experience, some clients love it while others can hardly complete it.

If you aren’t able to get the answers you need, it can help to talk these questions through over the phone. You could then send the completed document to your client or project owner and ask them to sign it off before you start – so both parties are clear on what needs to be done.

This level of detail can seem like overkill if you’re only tasked with writing a 400-word article. But I assure you it’s not. By spending time finding out exactly what you need to do and why, you’re more likely to produce high-quality content that your readers – as well as your clients and employers – will love and adhere to.

Do you have your own requirements gathering process? What questions do you ask before you start writing?

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Filed Under: A career as a health writer, Finding work and getting published

Michelle Guillemard

About Michelle Guillemard

Michelle Guillemard is the founder of Health Writer Hub, the Past President of the Australasian Medical Writers Association and a freelance medical writer. Blogging about health & medical writing since 2012, Michelle teaches health writing courses and communication workshops to students and corporations around the world. Michelle is passionate about creating better health outcomes and changing lives through effective health communication. Connect with her on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarGeorge Buckland says

    November 4, 2015 at 5:13 pm

    Michelle :
    An excellent guide.
    Getting the brief right from the get go is essential – it saves time in that all parties know what the end goal is. It is important to spend time doing this stage and not launch straight in to the project.
    My requirements gathering includes :
    UK or US English?
    If editing should track changes be used or is a “clean” edit paper preferred?
    If the project owner is not the author how is author queries to be handled?
    What format for the finished pieces – Word Doc or PowerPoint?
    Does the project owner want you to sign a non-disclosure agreement?
    Have the timelines set out very clearly so that there is no confusion.
    I do think that at requirements gathering it is sensible to gather invoicing details and payment details – who do you invoice?
    is a purchase order number needed?
    what are the payment terms?
    if an overseas project owner what currency?
    are you biling per hour, per day, per word?
    does the client have a maximum budget?
    All best.
    George.

    Reply
    • AvatarMichelle Guillemard says

      November 5, 2015 at 12:17 am

      Hi George, thank you so much for reading and commenting. Those are really useful points – I agree that we can often get ourselves into trouble with invoicing and even the type of English to use if this information isn’t clarified before the writing starts. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  2. AvatarColleen says

    November 4, 2015 at 3:56 pm

    Michelle, thanks for offering this wisdom and structure. I often fly by the seat of my pants when I start projects, and as a result, I find the beginning to be so intimidating! I’m excited to try your more organized approach on my next project.

    Reply
    • AvatarMichelle Guillemard says

      November 5, 2015 at 12:18 am

      Hi Colleen, thank you for commenting. I have to admit that I wasn’t always this organised – I used to dive in without prior planning, but that just resulted in lots of back and forth emails with the client. I hope this approach works well for you – let us know how you go!

      Reply
      • AvatarTracy Brighten says

        May 10, 2019 at 6:03 am

        I agree Michelle that it’s worth the time investment up front to avoid time-consuming back and forth communication further down the line! I also find that to provide a fairly accurate quote for the work and to decide if I’m a good fit for the project, it’s essential to have more than the basic information. I’ve found that clients who are happy to provide more information on their business and requirements up front are easier to work with and to get the best outcome for.

        Reply

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