Dos & don'ts when working with writers on contract.

You'll get the best copy in the shortest time, remain on speaking terms with copy reviewers, and be a patron saint to writers if you observe all the following guidelines. Of course, you'll also be the first client who ever has. But even if you observe only some of them, you'll be a better manager of contract writers.

Laying the Groundwork

Do plan on establishing a long-term relationship. It's a waste of your time to keep repeating the process of interviewing, getting comfortable with, and educating new writers, so commit to several and invest the time to teach them about your company's technology, products and markets. As writers learn more about your business, they need less direction, and you'll get better copy that requires fewer changes.

Do specify for the writer the audience and objectives for an assignment. And ideally, target just one audience -- try not to ask a writer to produce something that works only for CEOs. VARs and database administrators. If you do, you risk getting copy that sounds like a middle-of-the-road politician whose message is so bland and vague that it doesn't turn anyone off, but doesn't turn anyone on, either.

Don't ask for a proposal quoting a specific fee. Instead, ask the writer to look over the material and get back to you with a quote in the form of a range. Why? Because it's often hard to tell up front how much work a project will require. Some projects entail interviewing a single source and are done after one draft and one revision: others require interviewing multiple sources, reading background on products and technology, and writing several drafts to please reviewers with different agendas. So ask the writer to give you a quote that leaves some discretion on what to charge within a range of twenty-five percent or so, and it's likely both of you will feel you got a fair deal when the project is done.

Do get the writer and designer together in the early stages. For an application story illustrated by a single photo and printed on a single page, you can skip the meeting. But brochures, annual reports, packaging, direct mail and other visually rich materials communicate most effectively when copy and design work together, so make that happen by discussing layout and graphics and agreeing on a concept at an early meeting.

Don't make vague agreements on project scope, fees and deadlines. If your organization has a standard agreement for independent contractors, use it. Spelling out arrangements in writing protects both you and the writer. If there's no standard form, a simple e-mail or memorandum of understanding restating what you've agreed to can avoid hard feelings later.

Supplying the Information

Do assemble relevant background material for the writer. You'll get copy sooner, and it will be more consistent with established corporate messages if you give the writer current backgrounders, news releases, product collateral and presentations. For the writer, carefully worded documents are a much more convenient, reliable source of information than rambling interviewees. You may have to spend some time rounding material up, but it's a big time-saver in the end, because you and your reviewers won't have to rewrite the writer's attempts to describe a product or technology that has already been clearly and succinctly described in other documents.

Do give the writer copies of similar documents written on related subjects. If the writer is working on a software product brochure for an executive audience, give him copies of other brochures in the same family so he can see the style, the length, the level of detail, and how the copy is organized into sections.

Don't give the writer everything ever written on related subjects. Ask the writer to wade through a presentation consisting of 50 overheads, two of which are relevant to your assignment, and you risk confusing him or her about what's important and what's not. Do the triage beforehand, and pass on only what's likely to be useful. Include material that may be useful; just leave out the stuff you know doesn't apply.

Do tell the writer what's good and bad about previous incarnations of this document. If the project is a redo of an earlier piece, tell the writer why you're doing a new version, and what should and shouldn't change from the previous version. For example, when you're updating a corporate brochure, the sections on products and markets may need a complete rewrite, but the section on technology may be perfectly fine. If you don't tell the writer this, he or she may think all the existing copy is unacceptable and spend hours trying to find a different way to say things that have already been said well. In fact, some writing jobs consist of creating a new document simply by stitching together sections of existing documents. If your assignment is one of those, say so at the beginning and save the writer from trying to write original copy for everything.

Don't set up group interviews. They're almost impossible for the writer to control, and the people in them often care more about the impression they're making on their coworkers than about helping the writer. One-on-one interviews are much more productive because the writer can control the conversation, ask dumb questions, and pursue a line of questioning until he or she understands important points and gets the necessary facts.

Do ask for an outline on involved projects. When the project requires writing lots of copy (such as a corporate capabilities brochure) or presents a range of options for content, organization and creative direction (like a web site), you'll save time for everyone by getting an outline up front and showing it to the people who will be reviewing copy. It's much easier to make major changes at the outline stage than after a draft has been written, and doing so will reduce the number of drafts necessary to get a finished product.

Improving the Review Process

Don't have reviewers edit soft copy. When you get copy back from the writer via e-mail, print it and have reviewers mark up hard copy. If you let people change soft copy, you and the writer will have no master record of changes and will have several online versions to keep track of and compare. If you can't hand-deliver or fax copy, e-mail it, and ask reviewers to print it, edit it, and fax it back to you or the writer. One exception to this guideline: if there's just one reviewer, keeping track of changes made online is simple with word processing software.

Don't let reviewers make comments instead of changes. Reviewers who circle an entire paragraph and write No! in the margin are wasting everyone's time, because you or the writer will have to call for clarification. Reviewers don't have to rewrite bad passages in polished form, but they need to give the writer enough information to fix the problem.

Do review reviewers' changes. You know more about the subject matter and your company than the writer does, so be the arbiter on content changes. Look them over before passing them along and tell the writer which ones to ignore.

Don't expect the writer to make every style change. Most reviewers at high-tech companies are technical experts, product managers or lawyers, not writers and editors. Changes they propose to the content of the piece should be made, but many make changes to style and usage based on quirky preferences or half-remembered writing advice. Very often, these changes either make the document worse or change it simply to change it. Give writers permission to use their best judgment.

Do make sure the writer sees the final version. Copy often gets changed in small ways after writers turn in their last draft. Give them the finished, printed piece so they can have a copy for their portfolio and can see the final form for things such as product names and trademark references. That way, they can make those changes themselves in the next assignment.

Eric Ahrendt is a contract writer in Fremont, Calif.