Effective writing
(1) Your writing is a tool, not a test of worth
At school you were taught to write for one
reason only - to convince your teachers that
you were ready to proceed to the next level.
You still have to do this kind of writing at
medical school, but you must learn how to
use it to achieve broader aims. For everything
you write you should be absolutely clear
about the aim, and your measure of success
should no longer be whether the prose can
be faulted (it usually can), but whether it
achieves that aim. If it's an exam, have you
passed? If it's an article, has it been accepted? If it's a leaflet for patients, have they
understood it and changed their behaviour?
(2) Getting the content right is only half the battle
Presenting your writing in such a way that
your target audience reads and understands
it is harder than just getting the facts right.
Make sure before you start that you are clear
which audience you are writing for. Then
spend time researching what kind of writing
has worked for that audience in the past.
(3) Time management is as important as knowledge
The difference between a writer and everybody else is that the writer has finished. The
secret here is good planning: work out in
advance what you want to say and to whom
and how you will judge your success. Divide
your writing into several stages (thinking,
planning, writing, rewriting), and set out a
timetable for doing each part of the process.
Set out a deadline so you won't be able to
wait until it is perfect: it never will be.
(4) Expect a hard time as soon as you finish the first draft
It is the custom in medical circles to come
up with as many criticisms of a draft as
possible, preferably in red ink. These are
not necessarily corrections but changes.
Cultivate a thick skin, and assess proposed
changes according to this question: "Are
they more likely to get my message across
to my target audience - or not?"
(5) Don't assume that what you see in medical journals is good style
All those who write about writing, including the distinguished editors of many
medical journals, advise those who wish to
cultivate a good style to use short sentences, short and familiar words, and the
active rather than the passive ("We found
higher levels" rather than "Elevated measures were discovered"). Yet many doctors
still believe that this is vulgar and insist that
the only proper style is the overblown and
pompous prose seen in medical journals.
The solution is to write pompously when
Necessary - that is, writing for examinations
or medical journals - but otherwise keep it
as simple as possible.
(6) You don't have to be good at spelling
Even doctors don't have to be good at
everything. So if you are one of those many
people who think spelling is a "nitemare",
or whose idea of grammar is not to start a
sentence with "and" or "but" (though actually all the experts say you can), get others
to help. Computers have come a long
way - and you should always use the
spelling and grammar check. Ask literate
others to take a look as well - they should
spot what computers will not, such as when
you have become "a prat of the first order"
rather than "a part of the first order."
(7) Keep your writing in perspective
You have chosen to be a doctor, not a writer.
So don't get big headed if praised or feel a
failed human being when criticised. The
skills involved in writing will have little bearing on your future capabilities as a doctor.
Tim Albert, writer and trainer, Tim Alberts latest book, A-Z of Medical Writing, is published by BMJ Books.
studentBMJ 2000;08:303-346 September ISSN 0966-6494
