“Judge a person by their questions, rather than their answers.” Voltaire, 1694-1778, French Historian, Writer

Typically, every new project begins with a kick-off meeting (SOW). That’s when the writer meets the client’s team and finds out what the job is about. This is when he discovers everything he needs to know to complete the task.

Sometimes, though, the writer gets a little overwhelmed (that’s one step below being overwhelmed) in this gathering by all the new faces, names, and facts. He becomes passive and assimilates everything that the client asks him without asking for more. That can result in missing some information that is very important to the writer.

I recently met with one of my regular clients for a SOW. It was quite informal. We have been working together for years on various types of projects. That’s probably why I went with the usual info dump, but not all the info I needed to know about the white paper she wanted written. About a day later, after she had already started organizing the material, outlining, and researching, I realized she didn’t know how long the document was supposed to be. It was a big topic, and I had been given a pretty big dump of information. The article could have continued for several volumes. I had already presented enough information for a good twenty or thirty pages.

To avoid being in that situation, you need to know what you need to know. Here is a list of questions that will give you the minimum information you need, no matter what the job is. Questions can be put into three groups. The first thing you should know is:

What Project Type It is?

You don’t want to write an executive report when the client expects a user manual. Even if the client specifically says it’s a user manual, white paper, or white paper, make sure you understand exactly what that means to this client for this particular project.

Who is he audience?

Don’t start writing anything without this information; the more specific, the better. Who are they? What do they know about the subject? How will they use the information? This is also the time to learn about the readability index. You won’t communicate with your audience if you don’t write at a level they understand.

Which is the purpose?

You need to know why the client is creating this particular document. Find out how the client expects the audience to think or act differently after reading the document compared to how they thought or acted before reading it.

The second group of things you need to know is:

Which is the timeline?

This is not just a matter of knowing when you are expected to complete the project. A timeline shows when key events must be completed during the process of creating the final deliverable. There may be specific tasks along the timeline that you must complete before others working on the project can complete their tasks.

what are the keys source information?

You need to know who the SMEs are and where to find them. Also, you need to know if everything you need is housed in one place or if there is travel involved. This will allow you to estimate how much time you are likely to spend on individual parts of the task and how much time you will need to complete the entire task.

Will original research be required?

If all content can’t be based on or drawn from existing data, you may need to spend time on the site looking at a process or looking for answers in places no one else has looked. Like key information sources, this information will help you determine if there is enough time to complete the task within the time frame set by the customer. The third group has to do with the document that you present to the client.

Which is the writing style?

This will depend on the purpose of the piece. For some things, you will be formal or academic. Others ask for a more casual style but with some direct selling incorporated. Adhering to a specific style is especially important if your work will be combined with material written by others working on the project. If possible, use similar material written for the company in the required style as a guide.

Which is the go goodbye in the right places. language tone?

You will approach the task quite differently depending on the tone of the document. Depending on the audience and the intent of the piece, you may be asked to write in a serious or lighter tone, even folksy. There are many ways to present information, from satirical to reverent. You want to start with the right shade early on, and then stick with it.

Which is the “Look” of the deliverable?

Even for a simple Word document, you need to know how the client wants the copy laid out on the page and how the illustrations are indicated. This includes margins, indents, and layout style. There may be very specific requirements if the material has to fit in with other documents produced by the company.

Which is the Format of the deliverable?

Clients may require that the deliverable be in a specific format such as Word, Excel and Power Point. The company may have a standard font, type size, and color that you are expected to use to save time in the final format. It may not be enough to convert it to a document in Word. The client can expect it to be in 11 point Ariel Narrow with headlines in PMS-Blue 072. If this is a brochure, you may need to do a writer’s sketch that has the folds and

These are basic knowledge needed even to start a project. Make sure you get answers to all of them. Make a checklist if necessary and take it with you to the SOW. If no information is provided that gives you all the answers on the list, ask questions, even if it’s something you think you should know and don’t. A wise man once said that it is better for the client to see your ignorance at the beginning of the project than your incompetence at the end.

By the way, when I emailed the client with my question, he said he wanted a white paper but also something that I could put into the trade books. The length estimate from him was “Maybe 5 pages max.” You can get into trouble when you don’t know what you need to know.